Story structures
Three-act structure
Set-up, confrontation and resolution, with two turning points that move the story from one act to the next.
- Time20 to 40 minutes
- People1 to 8 people
- Steps3
What it's for
Three acts is the default structure for films, talks and pitches. The first act sets up the world and the problem, the second makes it harder, and the third resolves it. The two turning points matter most: the event that launches the story, and the crisis that forces the ending.
The middle act is usually twice as long as the others, and is where stories sag. Keep raising the stakes.
How to run it
Set up8 min
Who is this about, what do they want, and what's the problem?
Raise the stakes12 min
What gets in the way? Each obstacle should be harder than the last.
Resolve8 min
How does it end, and what has changed?
Tips
- In a talk, act one should take a few minutes at most. Get to the problem fast.
- If act two is a list of events, connect them with "but" and "therefore".
Where it comes from
Aristotle observed in the Poetics that a whole story has a beginning, a middle and an end. The screenwriting teacher Syd Field turned this into the three-act paradigm in Screenplay (1979).
Pairs well with
Freytag's pyramid
Five parts of a drama (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution) drawn as a rise to a peak and a fall.
Story spine
Eight sentence starters, from "Once upon a time" to "And ever since then", that give any story a beginning, a turn and an end.
And, but, therefore
Context joined with "and", a problem introduced with "but", and a consequence with "therefore": a story in one sentence.