Of course, nobody’s life is perfect - so the exposition should give readers a sense of the main character's current desires and the challenges that prevent them from getting what they want in lifeĮxample: Dorothy dreams of somewhere over the rainbow The reader (or audience) should get an idea of: The exposition is all about setting the stage. Dorothy dreams of going somewhere else in Act One of The Wizard of Oz (image: Warner Bros.) Exposition To help you see this structure in action, we’ll use 1939’s The Wizard of Oz as an example as we unpack all nine story beats.ĭespite being one of three sections in a plot, Act One typically lasts for the first quarter of the story. Resolution: Pre-Climax, Climax, Denouement Confrontation: Rising Action, Midpoint, Plot Point Two Setup: Exposition, Inciting Incident, Plot Point One Here is what you’ll find in the three-act structure: To help us better understand writers might use this structure to construct a story, we’ll need to dig deeper into what makes up each of the acts. Common story beats in the three-act structure Now that we know the three-act structure, let’s dive into how it works. His belief was that stories must be a chain of cause-and-effect beats: each scene must lead into what happens next and not be a standalone "episode." An old dramatic principle, the three-act structure can be traced back to Aristotle’s Poetics, in which he defines it as one of the five key elements of tragedy.Īccording to Aristotle, each act should be bridged by a beat that sends the narrative in a different direction. The three-act structure is a model used in narrative fiction that divides a story into three parts (or acts), often called the Setup, the Confrontation, and the Resolution.
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