If you’re anything like me, your first drafts are messy, and the events are a bit all-over-the-place. Editing/rewriting the first draft takes a lot of time and patience, but before you can dig into that you have to give your manuscript some sort of structure. Personally, I like to use the three-act structure.

The Three Act Structure

Act One (the first 25%)

Exposition

• This is the everyday life of the protagonist. The status-quo, as some call it. It shows how things are before they get pulled into their story.

• Ex. Bilbo Baggins in the Shire

The Inciting Incident

• This is the event that drags the character into the story.

• Ex. Gandalf and the Dwarves showing up at Bilbo’s house

The First Act Climax: The Point of No Return

• A climax is the most tense/exciting event of an Act. The first-act climax should bring all the issues the character has been facing together. While the inciting incident drags the character into the story, the first act climax leaves them unable to go back to the status quo; now they have no choice but to continue on the story’s path.

• Ex. Bilbo leaves with the party

Act Two (the middle 50%)

• Here, the character should face a series of obstacles that prevent them from reaching their goal

• Ex. Bilbo faces the trolls

The Midpoint Twist

• The midpoint twist can be a change that happens to the story, or it can be a major plot twist. Something that is not as it seems comes into a new light and alters the fabric of reality, or the characters make a discovery about themselves, or the top suspect is murdered, or the villain turns out to be a good guy, etc. After this point, everything is different.

• Ex. When Bilbo finds the ring

The Second Act Climax

• The second act climax should be more tense/exciting/have higher stakes than the first act climax.

• Ex. The dwarves are captured by spiders, and Bilbo saves them

Act Three (the final 25%)

• By now, every moment should propel the characters closer to the climax. There are a few final obstacles for the characters to face before they reach the final battle. They prepare for the impending storm (if they can).

• Ex. Smaug attacks Lake Town

The Climax

• The Third Act Climax is the most tense moment of the story. This is the thing the characters are fighting for, this is the final battle, this is the moment everything rests upon. The events of the climax itself rely on what kind of story it is. A mystery will have the murderer finally revealed, a romance will have one lead rush to the airport to stop the other’s flight, etc.

• Ex. The battle of the five armies

Denouement

• This is life after the big, world-altering event that is the climax. Though the story is over and things are back to normal, the events of the story means the characters’ lives are changed. For better or for worse, they can never truly return to the status quo.

• Bilbo returns to the Shire

For how this relates to what I call the tentpole method, look below the cut.

Tentpole moments

That gives me nine or so events that “hold up” the story— tentpoles. I look at my first draft, pick out the important events, and write them down.

Here’s an example using Harry Potter:

1.      Exposition: Harry is in the Dursley’s house, it is should how awful they are to him

2.      Inciting Incident: Harry receives a letter from Hogwarts

3.      Point of no Return: Hagrid shows up to introduce Harry to magic

4.      Obstacle: Harry meets Draco, and Snape, who both seem out to get him

5.      Twist: They believe Snape messed with Harry’s broom

6.      Second Act Climax: Harry encounters Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest

7.      Preparations/Obstacles: They face the trials

8.      Climax: It is Quirrell and not Snape who is aiding Voldemort; Harry faces him and gets the stone

9.      Denouement: Gryffindor wins the house cup and the kids go home for the summer

After I make something like this, I fill in the rest of the events. Even if I am going out of order from the original, this gives it some sort of structure. I also add events and remove some that weren’t working.

As my first drafts rarely follow any sort of outline, this ensures that the tension increases as the story goes on, the story follows a nice structure, and I have a decent outline to follow for my revisions.

I like to make a chart that looks kind of like this: