3rd Actz!

[H.Z.]

This is a vague question, but does anyone have advise they'd like to share on how to do awesome 3rd acts/Pre-climax ending stretches? I'm zen with the endings of my scripts, but I consistently run into problems with the last quarter-ish of my scripts - and by problems I mean endemic suckiness.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Lord of Light]

It all depends on your first and second acts. Try and find a natural way to end your story that follows the introduction of the plot and characters in the first act and the tension building in the second. Make sure that the beginning of third act carries on the tension you built from the second act. Usually though, I find that the pre-climax is essentially the end of the second while the climax and resolution are the third.

But, yeah, I usually have trouble with that part too.

 

[barnaclelapse]

Lord of Light is right. If you've moved the story along and everything else along through your first and second acts, you should have a rough idea by the end of what to do with that third and final act. If you still get lost, don't be afraid to walk away from the script for a moment, coming back to it and rereading those first two acts to get an idea of what you need to accomplish to wrap everything up. Sometimes, running through the story as a reader can clear up your mind a little and give you a picture of how the final moments should play out.

It works for me, anyway.