The Two Biggest Scenes in Any Novel and How They Relate to Each Other
An exercise to help you plot a path through your story.
Novels are generally thought of as having three-act structures. They’ve been called ‘three act plays’ since ancient times. It would feel wrong to call them anything else.
But the truth is that the three acts aren’t exactly equal.
Every story is a little different, of course, but generally the first and third acts contain about a quarter of the story each, and the second act is a full half. The mid-point climax of the story is smack in the middle of act two — right in the center of the story, bisecting the second act.
In other words, long-form stories really have four acts.
Here’s a quick lesson in story structure:
The first half (or Act I and the first half of Act II) is the lead up to the mid-point. Also known as rising action. Things are building up and building up — anticipation of success is high.
The mid-point is the highest high moment in a non-tragic story.
And the second half (the rest of Act II and Act III) is everything that happens after the mid-point. Also known as falling action. Things start to roll down hill after the…
