The Four-Act Structure and the Circular Shape of Story

When writers start talking about story structure, usually the first things people think of are beats, turning points, and acts. But underneath all of that is a more fundamental question: What is the shape of story itself? Is story fundamentally linear, moving from beginning to middle to end—or does a different pattern emerge? This question […]
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https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/four-act-structure-shape-of-story/

#Podcast #StructuringYourNovel #WritingInspiration #WritingLife #fouractstructure

I tried #FourActStructure plot pointing book 2 and failed miserably. I don’t know enough yet. Instead, I switched to a #Sanderson plotting method: writing down each story arc, then writing down the events, clues, and changes needed to resolve those arcs. With some additional #brainstorming I both learned more about my story and reached my wordcount.

1715 words today, bringing me to a total of 32745 words.

I have three main POV characters with their own arc. I could structure it so each is on a #FourActStructure with the beats hitting at the same time (or subsequent chapters). Or I could stagger them. Or go #polyrhythm and do overlapping three-, four- and five- act structures that have their own cadences but all come together at the end. That last one seems intriguing but I’m not sure if it’s too much math.

Anyone have thoughts?
#MultiPOV
#StoryStructure

1725 words today, bringing me to a total of 29358 words.

I spent the second half hammering out #FourActStructure beats for the primary character in the first book. It’s awesome that I have this now, a skeleton for the rest of the story. I’ll outline more in depth, plus I need to hammer out the other main characters’ stories. And the other books. But this is a good start.

Okay, #WritingCommunity, hear me out, why do we keep calling it a 3-Act Structure when Act II is twice as long as the other acts and is clearly divisible into two parts?

I mean, I know the reason, it's because we tend to frame these things around "beginning, middle, end", but it's confusing and it needs to stop.

#FourActStructure