Three acts.
That’s all you have.
Beginning, middle end.
Yes, you can technically split your book into five acts and four journeys. I originally was a big Dramatica Theory believer, but I found it often was too intrusive and too complicated.
I should probably try it again.
Let’s look at the nechanics of it.
Act One should be 25% of your words. 12,500 words
Act II should be 50 percent of your words. 25,000 words.
Act 3 should be twenty five % of your words. 12,500 words.
You should have noticed I did an “A, Second and Three” thing there. More trying to be funny than to educate.
I have a tendency to short change act III. Try to follow the template.
I mean, if your book is 85,000 words, then just split it in half, and half again. Those are your numbers – 42,500 and 21,250.
That’s your structure.
Act 1 establishes. The house is haunted, people are trying to kill you, Stephen is a knight who is sensitive and a poet, and Sir Butchersalot wants to kill him. Whatever. Everyone should be introduced in Act 1. We should know what’s going on.
Act 2 – really simple. things get worse. People disappear, die. Lies are told. Truths found.
Act 3 – the antagonist really goes overtime. The protagonist is boxed in the corner. No way out. and last minute, someone does something, or the antagonist makes a crucial mistake. The protagonist tosses the zero G disk into MCV. Explosion. End of Line.
There you go. The rest is up to you.
