Good morning everyone. I don’t know about you but the time line was a bit much for me to put together. I realized how many events I had to schedule in my story f things were going to work. I also realized how many things I left out. But today is a new day and a new task. And for the moment we get to set aside our time line.
I know, it was a lot of work and now we are setting it aside?
I hear you, but fear not. We will return. We just need to let it sit and marinade a little bit while we work on other things. We are going to switch from thinking about all of our little bits of plot elements to pull back a moment and look at the big picture a bit.
I generally find when I switch from minutia to big picture and then back again things occur to me that I wouldn’t see if I was just going in a direct line from big idea to chapter break outs. I find switching back and forth also lets things sit and rest. It sounds strange but often I find that if I work in a straight line then ideas become cemented into place in ways that might not be good for the story. If you work with one plot element in one place in your story every time you look at it then it is going to remain in that place, even if in your heart of hearts you know it should be moved. It’s place is established and set.
If you move around a bit, sometimes elements become more like jewels in a Kalidescope. Instead of thinking this is where that element is and must remain, you are forced to take a step back and decide if that really is the place for it or maybe ask yourself, what if I moved point A after Point C? Which, especially in stories like murder mysteries can make all the difference.
And so we take our lovely timelines and set them slightly to the side for the moment. We are shifting back to big picture. So…
Today, We are going to take a look at our idea and all the plot points we came up with and start grouping them into three acts. Generally speaking your first act will be about 25% of your manuscript, Second act approximately 50% and the third act another 25%.Those are just generalized percentages and not fixed so don’t feel you have failed miserably if when you put together your break out it doesn’t look exactly like that, it is just something to keep in mind as you move through. The center act should be bigger than the act to either side.
So what are these acts?
Act 1: Set Up
Act 2: Complications
Act 3: Resolution
And today’s Task #11 is to write one simple sentence for each Act. Which means we are making our first decision about where we are going to start our tale. Does it start where we thought it would when we first jotted down our idea? Has that changed any?
Our first sentence is for our Act 1 Set up. This Act introduces us to our main character, places them in their world and shows us that this world is about to change. So…Let’s look at our Bob example.
I think I am going to stick with starting Bob working at his Father in Law’s Lumber Yard. So my first attempt at Act 1’s one line summary would be…
Act 1: Bob, is working at the Garrison Family Lumber Yard and his father-in Law does not like the changes he has made to the management.
This gets us from the set up to the something is about to happen. Which is Act 2. Act two is the carnage that rips apart Bob’s world in Act 1. So my example would be something like…
Act 2: Bob fights with his father-in law about management, he tries to pass duties onto family who don’t want the responsibility, he finds out someone is embezzling from the company and that his wife is having an affair and he gets fired.
Now if you have been reading the example, you might remember from the time line that those events are not in the same order. As I started writing them I decided I didn’t like the order and moved them around. Later I will sit with both my time line and the three acts and decide which I like better, but for now, I am going with this.
And so to Act 3 – while we will deal with some of those bumpy bits during Act 2 for the story to feel complete we have to make sure there is some sort of conclusion (or depending on the story a complete lack of conclusion) to the issues raised. We are also heading to the new normal. So if it means that something that we dropped on our is now a permanent condition, we have to let it be so. We just can’t forget to mention it and leave readers missing a piece. So for Bob’s act 3…
Act 3: Bob gets divorced and leaves to start a new life.
All together now our Example is:
Act 1: Bob, is working at the Garrison Family Lumber Yard and his father-in Law does not like the changes he has made to the management.
Act 2: Bob fights with his father-in law about management, he tries to pass duties onto family who don’t want the responsibility, he finds out someone is embezzling from the company and that his wife is having an affair and he gets fired.
Act 3: Bob gets divorced and leaves to start a new life.
A few elements may sound like our Task 2 break out. Perhaps they are close to the same, or perhaps by stating it in a different way something may have jarred loose a bit. If things are a little different in your three Acts than in your time line, take a minute to think about it. Do you like one better than the other? As we take a bit more of an in depth walk through each act, things will start to solidify. But for now, you have completed your Task 11. Well done you. I’ll see you in the morning.
Ten til Midnight 