The 3 Act Structure: Writing a Strong First Act

The three act structure is one of the simplest, but therefore most widely applicable, ways of structuring a book. It can be applied to the majority of novels, because most stories naturally have a beginning, middle, and end. It's an intuitive structure that's easy to apply, and can be adapted to suit a huge range of stories. In this series we'll be looking at each act in-depth, starting with act I, or the story's beginning!

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
0:55 - Qualities of act I
2:06 - Character
4:58 - Plot
8:35 - Story
9:33 - Writing tips

LEARN MORE:

FIND REEDSY HERE:

RESOURCES:

[PhoenixCrown]

I like the "dominoes" analogy for the inciting incident. Instead of thinking of the BOOK beginning with the first domino, it's actually the STORY. And the book begins with a look at the world/dominoes before the first one falls.
Some feedback I received on my novel was that it spent too much time following the MC in his normal life at the beginning. It was good feedback, and I cut a lot since then, but I still refuse to just jump into action without context. An epic requires some setup =)
Thanks Shaelin!

[ajrtraill]

I'm terrific with endings but lousy with beginnings. My current tactic is to get momentum, cut as much fat from the beginning as possible and fill in the pieces as the story progresses. Thanks again, Shaelin!

[rachelthompson]

the first plot point is the character taking the step she can't go back on, she must go forward. The inciting incident forces and motivates the decision to take the irreversible step. The first plot point is character decision. The best setups happen inside everyday troubles that show characters' flaws. Better if one foreshadows how such flaws negatively impact the MC's plot and developmental progression.

[LEA]

Brilliant! Thank you very much for this and the series planned Shaelin and Reedsy!

[Carolina-wzqo]

this came in at exactly the right time for me, a great reminder of things to keep in mind at the start of a new project

[DC-skjr]

A beginner's dream come true! Thank you. There are so many layers in writing a story, which is why, i guess, it takes so long to get to some state of mastery. Also, I figuring out that everyone's brain works differently, so even if a video has excellent content, it might not jibe with how you think or work (panster vs. plotter vs. plotster).

[leifashley]

Sounds like your voice is going out, but thank you so much for these awesome videos.

[lakeshagadson]

how I would do it if I was writing a story I would start with a draft and then follow the pages with a list of details as well as well as personality style act as well

[abhayanand]

I love English whether it's reading novels and etc.

[jayashreechakravarthy]

Let’s keep going for another week and not meet until we deeply hate each other.

[jayashreechakravarthy]

Brintha I’m perfectly sane and sober. Know your size.

[asherbrunnert]

How would I go about introducing characters later on in a book or series?

[jayashreechakravarthy]

You think you’ve a choice. You should really look into how I would be affected. Check. Access granted.

[u_t_d_s_h-_a]

Plays have become very discouraging in recent times for lots of literature enthusiasts.

[jayashreechakravarthy]

Punish both Abbie and tsugumi. Very important thing to them, separately.

[johnhaggerty]

The storyteller like her characters is at once ingenuous and disingenuous. The characters do not know they are in a 3 Act Structure.
If the writer can surprise herself then the reader will be surprised too. Colin Thubron's *Night of the Fire* surprised me with the believable.
*Dark Places* (Kate Grenville) *Bellevue Square* (Michael Redhill) *Lamb* (Bonnie Nadzam) are deep, dark and strongly structured.