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Q&A Turning away from the 3-act structure - what guides my pacing now?

For pacing: try subdividing your three acts in more sub-points. Are you familiar with the Seven-point Story Structure? Dan Wells explains it pretty well in this series of short videos. Basically, ...

posted 6y ago by kikirex‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T11:29:10Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43963
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar kikirex‭ · 2019-12-08T11:29:10Z (about 5 years ago)
## For pacing: try subdividing your three acts in more sub-points.

Are you familiar with the **Seven-point Story Structure**? Dan Wells explains it pretty well in [this series of short videos](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcmiqQ9NpPE). Basically, it is a 3-act structure where each act is subdivided into more points.

Now, instead of having: "Normal life / Conflict / Resolution", you can structure your plot following these steps:

- Hook: where the story and characters are at the beginning
- Plot turn 1: what changes in the life of the character
- Pinch 1: what pressures the character to change
- Mid point: the moment the character takes action and crosses the threshold
- Pinch 2: the moment he fails for the first time
- Plot turn 2: when he has the information/power to rise again
- Resolution: where he eventually succeed

Note that Dan Wells does not draw a synopsys following these steps in this order: instead he deconstruct this from the end. For example, if the character ends up rich, then he may begin poor, the midpoint being the MC taking action to be rich (heist, rags-to-riches...). Then he iterates with each subpoint: what pressures the character to change his life, etc.

When each sub-point of your story is defined, it may serve as a good guide for pacing each part.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-03-23T13:30:37Z (almost 6 years ago)
Original score: 2