Story Structure: The 6-Act Structure explained

A formula that frees creativity

We’ve seen this over and over again, in movies, fairy tales, and even stories at work: the hero faces a complicate situation, confronts opposing forces, and eventually wins.

We call this The 3-Act Structure and it’s the most common formula on which all of our stories are built, from the beginning of humanity. But how can a writer take that broad formula and turn it around to have more control over what happens in the story?

In Skyfall, Ian Fleming’s story projected against the 3-acts formula looks like this:

Act 1: Setup – A secret hard drive is stolen. Bond must retrieve it before the critical data on it is accessed and exposed.

Act 2: Confrontation – Bond finds and confronts Silva, a defector, former MI6 agent, who stole the drive.

Act 3: Resolution – Bond kills Silva. M dies and is replaced by Mallory. Bond remains in service.

One of the easiest way to expand the formula into a richer, two and a half hour movie script, is to follow a rather 6-Act Structure, as outlined in Marshall Dotson’s book, The Story Structure Secret: Actions and Goals.

The 6-Act Structure looks like this:

Setup
Act 1: The hero is dealing with an imperfect situation.
Act 2: The hero learns the rules of an unfamiliar situation.

Confrontation
Act 3: The hero stumbles into the central conflict.
Act 4: The hero implements a doomed plan.

Resolution
Act 5: The hero tries a long shot.
Act 6: The hero lives in a new situation.

And over Skyfall, it maps like this:

Setup
Act 1: A critical data drive is stolen. Bond is shot and, apparently, dead.
Act 2: A bomb explodes at MI6, in M’s cabinet. Bond returns, but is unfit for service.

Confrontation
Act 3: Bond leaves for Shanghai, finds out who got the secret data drive.
Act 4: Bond leaves for the island, in Macau, arrests Silva. But Silva escapes from MI6 detainment and attacks M in a security hearing.

Resolution
Act 5: Bond lures Silva into his old house in Scotland and confronts him. Bond kills Silva. M dies.
Act 6: Bond returns to MI6 headquarters and remains in active service, confirmed by Mallory.

The 6-Act Structure details the important stages in the story. It zooms in on what the hero must accomplish step by step to reach his ultimate goal.

While formulaic stories are boring, what Marshall Dotson’s formula can do is to keep the story tight and engaging, and allow you to focus on the deeper meanings of your story.

It’s a quick and easy way to take the burden of form off your shoulders and let your creativity work its best.