Act Two

[Jijenji]

I'd like to hear how everyone goes about writing a good Act 2...

What techniques do you use?
How do you summon your creativity for the middle of the story?
How do you go about re-writing it?

Are there any good books or online references specifically for writing the middle of the story?

For me, I find Act I and Act III (or III and IV for that matter) to be my natural strength when it comes to creativity and instinct. I find it much tougher to write a good Act II, as it requires a lot more "grunt" work I like to call it.

I'd like to hear all of your thoughts.

 

[Luke Hill]

Personally, I think of act 2 as being the equivalent of 2 distinct acts, both of roughly equal length, so instead of having say, a 30 page act 1, 60 page act 2, and a 30 page act 3, my screenplays have 4 acts of roughly equal lengths. I've been using this approach for many years now and it's really made a huge difference in my writing - act 2 troubles are never an issue now.

I would recommend you check out "Storytelling in the New Hollywood" by Kristin Thompson (she espouses the 4 act theory).

Good luck!

 

[Anim8]

Act 2(for me):

• where the actions picks up
• all the characters have been introduced in act 1, you build their personalities now
• the tension starts building
• introduce the confrontations/conflicts
• clearly define/show the main characters arc
• subplots

"The Everything Screenwriting Book" is pretty good at breaking down the acts. Also using the 1-3-5 method has helped me quite a bit.
I try to setup a twist in the second act that will unfold in the third. It helps to have the ending and then work backwards from there. Theres usually something in the story that lends itself to the break between acts.

Good luck!

 

[Jijenji]

Hey guys, thanks for your responses.

I guess my question isn't so much about what goes in Act II, but instead how do you actually get the material out of your brain to construct it and get a good story out of it. The best parts of the story are the turning points/act climaxes, the inciting incident, the crisis/climax at the end. But a lot more is needed for a film, and often writers sloppily or unintentionally hack through the middle. Me too.

I find the big points to be easy to create. Very easy. Coming up with a spine though and writing the middle to me is much more challenging, and when I manage it, I'm often not satisfied.

So what's the secret for discovering the middle of your story in the nerve endings of your brain and getting it down on paper? And then realizing it can be better, and making it happen? More research?

 

[Luke Hill]

Wow - that's a tough one. I think there are probably many different ways of addressing what you've mentioned, so I'll give you a few of my own personal thoughts with the caveat that what works for one writer may not work for another...

Getting the material 'out of your brain to construct it and get a good story out of it': If I had to take a wild guess I would say that the most likely problem here is that you're starting your screenplay before you've got your story worked out. I've written 12 feature-length screenplays in the past 15 years and I've tried many different methods - all of which had their merits.

I still play around some with my approach depending on the specifics of the project I'm working on, but now, more often than not, I know what every single scene from start to finish will be, and I have it outlined on paper, before I ever start the actual first draft of the script. That's not to say that things won't change as the actual screenplay begins to unfold, but without this outlining/planning process I found I was much too prone to finding out something didn't quite work or was too vague and muddled after already writing half of my movie.

So it sounds to me like you're starting the actual script before you've finished developing your story. Can you tell someone your story/movie from start to finish? I find this can be immensely helpful as well - describe your movie to someone verbally and you will very quickly find what parts don't work or haven't been fully thought out. Then comes the hard part: going back to the 'drawing board'.

I've found the planning stages, before actual pages of the screenplay itself are being written to be the most crucial part of the process for me - this is where my story is developed and tested and then, once I feel that I've got a great, exciting compelling story, I begin the first draft.

It can be tough to resist the urge to jump right in, but I think you'll find that forcing yourself to put in the extra work up front will pay off in the long run and save you both time and headaches.

One more thing - I've found that there's no 'magical' process in writing that can take the place of plain ol' hard work. Nothing beats putting your arse in that chair every single day to write - whether you feel like it or not. Or as Edison put it, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration."

My $0.02...

Luke