StructureFoundational
Three-Act Structure
A story divides into setup, confrontation, and resolution.
Principle
Each act has a job: orient the reader, raise pressure, deliver consequence.
Takeaways
- Act One ends when the protagonist commits to the central problem.
- Act Two raises stakes through escalating obstacles.
- Act Three delivers a resolution proportional to the cost paid.
Overview
The three-act structure organises story into a beginning that establishes the problem, a middle that complicates it, and an end that resolves it. It is descriptive of how most narratives feel rather than prescriptive of how they must be built.
Examples
- A lawyer accepts a case, faces escalating opposition, and wins or loses at trial.
- A child enters a strange forest, becomes lost in it, and finds a way out changed.
- A relationship begins, breaks, and either reforms or ends.