How To Structure A Story
When it comes to making a short film (or feature film), the first step is creating a general idea. However, I am going to assume that you have got that part covered. If you have not, you might want to bookmark this page and come back to it sometime in the future. To help speed up the process, reading fiction or watching movies is an excellent place to start.
Moving on, when it comes to creating a script, there are no ‘set in stone' rules on how to go about it or even how to structure it. However, a few specific guidelines will help build your idea into a coherent story. Then, if you wish, jumble at your leisure and Tarantino it up!
Since, there is a lot of information out there on this topic, whether you're reading books, watching YouTube videos, or reading blogs like this one, chances are, you have stumbled upon this exact structure a couple of times. I have comprised information from a few sources that I found to be the most helpful. Some of these sources include Seth Worley's Writing 101 Course, Film Riot, and Write a Novel and Get It Published by Nigel Watts.
So, let's get into it.
THREE-PART STRUCTURE
Act 1: Setup.
Here we are introduced to the leading players as well as the central conflict. We understand the voice, tone, and direction of the story.
Pinch 1: This is when the initial conflict arises (sometimes known as the inciting incident).
Act 2: Confrontation.
This is where we are in the thick of the central conflict, along with some secondary conflicts. We are faced with difficult (seemingly impossible) odds to overcome.
Pinch 2: This is where the conflicts addressed in Act 2 comes to a head, and decisions need to be made. This is often the moment where all hope is lost for your protagonist.
Act 3: Resolution.
Everything boils down to this act. All the conflict, subplots, and challenges arise, and the climax kicks off, shortly followed by the story's resolution.
ACT ONE
To dissect this further, we can break each of these into a checklist, if you will, on the elements you might want to consider for each act. I will go over them all in order of structure.
We are beginning with Act One. As we mentioned earlier, Act One is the setup. In this act, it is essential to consider a protagonist (the good guy) and introduce us (the readers or viewers) to the life our protagonist has been happily living (or not).
In other words:
•Who is your character?
•Where is your character?
These two points are crucial when establishing the equilibrium of your character's life. Or as Nigel Watts calls it from his book Write a Novel and Get It Published, 'Stasis'. We now have established a norm.
Moving on, but still staying in Act One, we have the 'Trigger'. The Trigger is where something happens to lead to evolution. This is essentially the beginning of the rising action. Most of the time, the Trigger is something out of the protagonist's control. This is usually or can be “the call to adventure”. A lot of the time, the protagonist will also play a little hard to get, or establish that he is left this life behind, or made a promise never to do 'said' thing again.
Lastly, in Act One, we have the 'Quest'. In other words, the quest can be described as the desire. This is the event that is the Trigger's direct result that leads us into the rising action. Here is also where our protagonist goes on a quest. This may go one of two ways. A positive quest: quest to maintain a new life, or a negative quest: to return to the old life.
ACT TWO
Act Two begins after the rising action and typically leads to the midpoint/ climax.
Three elements are essential to review in Act Two of our three-act structure. These elements include surprise, critical choice, and climax.
Surprise: an unexpected event that prevents the protagonist from completing a quest. This act may introduce a new obstacle, an antagonist, a new character, etc. This is also where we can present what Seth Worley calls 'b-story'. B-story is essentially the introduction of a side story.
Another element of act two is a Critical choice in which the protagonist must make a decision that reveals the real character to viewers—for instance, choosing the easy but wrong path vs. hard but righteous path.
Lastly, we have the climax. The decision made by the protagonist will lead to our climax.
So a few things that can fit into Act Two are as follows:
The midpoint: this is perhaps a false victory or false defeat.
The dark night: where everything falls apart, is what leads to the critical decision.
ACT THREE
Finally, we get to our last act. In Act Three (most often), the big battle goes down, which leads to the new normal (things are better or worse). Act Three can be broken down into two elements: the reversal and the resolution.
Reversal: an event that results in a significant change for the character, whether it is a big battle or a confrontation (physical or emotional). This is the outcome of the choice made by the character.
Resolution: the protagonist reaches a new stasis. As we briefly touched on earlier, the new normal is established. Things are either better or worse.
Using this structure as a map to illustrate your story and identify holes is very important. Adding cue cards into the equation can make for a more painless and visual process. Write each element on a cue card (there should be about eight cue cards, labeled: Stasis, Trigger, Quest, Surprise, Critical Choice, Climax, Reversal, and Resolution). On the other side of each cue card, write 1-2 sentences about the event that fits into this category. Often, you may identify loopholes or contradictions, but do not be discouraged - this is just a by-product of translating your idea into a structural story. Using this structure will help form a coherent story. On that note, good luck with your writing endeavors, and thank you for reading
Using this structure as a map to illustrate your story and identify holes is very important. Adding cue cards into the equation can make for a more painless and visual process. What you would do is, write each element on a cue card ( there should work out to be about eight cue cards, labeled: stasis, Trigger, quest, surprise, critical choice, climax, reversal, resolution). On the other side of each cue card, write, in 1-2 sentences, the event that fits into this category. Often, you may identify loopholes or contradictions in your story, but don't be discouraged - this is just a byproduct of translating your idea into a structural story. Using this structure will help form a coherent story. So on that note, good luck with your writing endeavors, and thank you for reading.
IN REVIEW
ACT ONE
• Stasis: Establish a Norm
• Trigger: Event that leads to Rising Action
• Quest: Desire that is a result of the Trigger
ACT TWO
•Surprise: The unexpected obstacle (character, event, etc.). B Story: This is where a new character (possibly the antagonist) can be introduced, or any other side story.
•Critical Choice: The protagonist is faced with a difficult choice. We can also add a few elements to this sequence. Such as the midpoint or dark night.
•Climax: Turning point of the story. A result of the choice
ACT THREE
• Reversal (Big Battle): An event that results in a significant change for the character.
• Resolution: The protagonist reaches a new norm. Better or worse.
FOR MORE HELP, BE SURE TO CHECK OUT SOME OF OUR SOURCES BELOW
Video to check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7oi_V7JXCg
Article to check out: https://thediscerningwriter.wordpress.com/2016/04/27/writing-for-prose-the-eight-point-arc/
