The Third Act begins with another life-changing plot point. More than any preceding it, this plot point sets the protagonist’s feet on the path toward the final conflict in the Climax. From here, your clattering dominoes form a straight line as your protagonist hurtles toward an inevitable confrontation with the antagonistic force. Because the entire...

The Third Act is what readers, writers, and characters have all been waiting for. This final section of the story is the point. It’s what you’ve been building up to all this time. If the First and Second Acts were engaging and aesthetic labyrinths, the Third Act is where X marks the spot. You’ve found the treasure. Now it’s time to start digging. Like...

Today, I want to talk about learning how to trust yourself as a writer rather than relying too much on other people’s advice. This is a question I receive in one form or another quite frequently from writers, particularly the writers who are just starting out and are trying to find that balance of honoring their own creativity and creative instinct—which...

After the Midpoint, your story heats up. The Second Half of the Second Act is where your plot really begins popping. Your main characters cap the dramatic event at the Midpoint with a decision that allows them to stop reacting and start acting. Almost always, this is born of a personal revelation, even if the characters can’t yet quite put it into concrete...

Halfway through the Second Act, something marvelous happens. There you are, minding your own business, toiling in the seemingly endless desert of the Second Act, when everything changes all over again. Legendary director Sam Peckinpah talked about how he always looked for a “centerpiece” on which to “hang” his story. That centerpiece is your Second...

Every segment of a story offers its own challenges, but perhaps none leaves more writers bewildered than the Second Act. At least beginnings and endings provide a checklist of things to accomplish. The middle of the story, on the other hand, is a yawning blank. You may feel like you’re entirely without a guide as you try to move your characters toward...