Strategies for Tackling Act II?

[Kelsey]

I apologize if this topic has been talked to death, but I tried searching the forums for "Act II" and "Act Two" and "Act 2" and I still don't know if I believe that nothing actually exists on this topic...

Anyway, I am having a pretty tough time figuring out the second act on my low-budget, character-driven script. The things my character needs to achieve are mental, rather than tangible. I've tried note cards, plotting the hero's journey and filling in, and just writing free flow, but the result is a couple of turning point scenes I love and nothing in between.

I'm too in love with my first act and my characters to give up so easily on this one, so I'm hoping others might have some ideas.

[jcpdoc]

Re: Strategies for Tackling Act II?

I'm going to assume that you have an Act Three, even if it's not yet written. It's hard to make specific comments without knowing the story, but I like rule #9 from the Pixar story rules: When you're stuck, make a list of what wouldn't happen next. It's best when used with ruled #12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself. Then there's rule #6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them.

http://www.pixartouchbook.com/blog/2...e-version.html

As far as the mental vs. tangible goes...find a way to make the mental visible. It might seem impossible, but there is always a way to do this; it's just a matter of finding the right object or obstacle. It may be that your difficulty stems from this problem; if the goal is only internal, then you're half a story short because main characters really need an external goal (and obstacles that make it elusive). What is the mental/psychological goal of the main character?

[JoeBanks]

Re: Strategies for Tackling Act II?

sequences. don't think of act II as one chunk of 60ish pages. its more like four 15ish page sequences, each with their own plot functions and goals/obstacles for the protagonist. if you break down act II into those (somewhat more) manageable chunks, it makes the act II slog slightly less sloggy

[ATB]

Re: Strategies for Tackling Act II?

I apologize if this topic has been talked to death, but I tried searching the forums for "Act II" and "Act Two" and "Act 2" and I still don't know if I believe that nothing actually exists on this topic...

Anyway, I am having a pretty tough time figuring out the second act on my low-budget, character-driven script. The things my character needs to achieve are mental, rather than tangible. I've tried note cards, plotting the hero's journey and filling in, and just writing free flow, but the result is a couple of turning point scenes I love and nothing in between.

I'm too in love with my first act and my characters to give up so easily on this one, so I'm hoping others might have some ideas.

Might be a good idea to posts some details about your story and its plot. I don't think one method really works across all genres/stories.

[bmcthomas]

Re: Strategies for Tackling Act II?

I am having a similar problem with my rom-com. For the first couple drafts, I just skipped over the murky middle, since I am so very happy with my act 3 and mostly happy with act 1. But I don't think "some other stuff happens, then..." is going to fly in the final draft.

[Dr. Vergerus]

Re: Strategies for Tackling Act II?

If you're telling your film dramatically, towards the end of act III you have the biggest crisis of the story.

If you're telling your story dramatically, again, there's a series of smaller crises, of increasing intensity, leading to that big final crisis.

If you list all the crises from beginning to end, you'll have a dramatic outline to your story. You can then develop this outline into a treatment. With that treatment in hand, you should know what to write in act II.

Act II is often so hard to write because we tend to focus too much on concept and premise, instead of story. If you know the ending, you'll find out how to get there. Good luck.

Don't follow blindly a story paradigm like the Hero's Journey (or any other) unless your story is really fitting (e.g., The Matrix).

[Jon Jay]

Re: Strategies for Tackling Act II?

I agree with JoeBanks. Once I have the story firm in my head I write an 8-page outline with each major shift in the story at the end of a page. Each page represents roughly 10-15 pages of script. Doing this forces you not to just think 'things get more difficult' or 'they continue their journey' - you have to actually say what things happen. It's the hardest part of writing because you can't hide. But once it's done it makes the script so much easier.

Without knowing the story it's hard to suggest things; in general I'd say think of a couple of films like the one you're writing and watch them/read the scripts, see if that helps.

[Mr. Earth]

Re: Strategies for Tackling Act II?

It's all about the outline.

A lot of aspiring writers just want to write, and that's fine to scratch that itch, but it becomes a big problem when it means that the necessary prep work and outlining wasn't completed before the first word was typed. And that problem almost always rears its ugly head in Act 2.

But since you're here, what can you do about it? Stop writing and start outlining now. Go ahead and outline Act 1 even though you're happy with it and then think of all the places that can take you in Act 2.

If you still can't come up something you're satisfied with, don't go back to writing on the fly and hoping for divine inspiration. Instead, this is when you really need to analyze your story and try to decide if it really is all that it's cracked up to be--this is also when you really need to ask for honest opinions from people that know a thing or two about writing.

If you know where your going (in a general outline sense), there is absolutely no reason a script can't be completed. It might still be a weak script, but there's no way you should be getting stuck in any section of it--unless you realize you missed something that just doesn't make sense about halfway through.

[RG55]

Re: Strategies for Tackling Act II?

If you do know the Act III, you may try to write Act II backwards, i.e - I got here, so which turn did I take before?
Instead of what happens next, it is what has happened before.
Maybe this will break your block.

It is essential that you find a way to make the internal conflict external, visible. As much internal conflict as it might be, nobody would want to watch a film of a character just moping around, looking at grass growing.

[Bananos]

Re: Strategies for Tackling Act II?

i got a story that goes like this: "there once was a man, then he died". all of act 2 is about why and how he died. usually there's a midpoint. but then we are getting technical. just don't be boring. usually it helps to build towards something, not only the end goal, but small objectives along that path. not necessarily like stepping stones either. it could be like this: act 1: the man wants to be a man but is a scared wimp, he decides to do something that will get him the respect. act 2 break: he robs a bank and is lucky. act 2: he gets respect but needs to learn to rob banks to continue his sweet new life. act 2 midpoint: he succeeds to rob a huge bank and is finally not insecure anymore and at the level of respect he craved. also he finally bangs his love interest. but small indications of future problems arise. he has all he needs but still wants more, he becomes obsessed by robbing the biggest bank, only then can he conquer his biggest goal and sort of take revenge on the bank that bankrupted his dead father(exposition in act 1). he becomes an a-hole, his love interest leaves him. break into 3: the bank robbery goes wrong. he must run with the head investigator, who has been on his tail since the midpoint robbery, in pursuit. the investigator catches up and they fight. in his newly aquired masculine rage he beats the investigator to a pulp. then as he is about to kill him he realises what he has become and puts his weapon down. the investigator kills him in this moment, just as his child from the love interest relationship sees it. his child then says:"screw it, it's chinatown" for some reason. the end.

[Cyfress]

Re: Strategies for Tackling Act II?

The momentum of a traditional act II starts with small successes followed by a set back, followed by the midpoint event which either is a point of no return or a raising of the stakes, the second half of act II starts with the hero admitting some hard truths about himself in pursuit of his goal, which propels the hero into a head on collision with the forces of conflict he has been fighting, the hero and the conflict do battle at the end of Act II which will end on the value that is opposite of your Act III climax. So, if you have a happy ending the Act II climax will be a defeat for the hero. if you have a tragic ending, the act II climax will be a high point for the hero.


There is no secret behind writing a good act ii, just like there is no secret to losing weight. but there are thousands of books dedicated to each of those topics. You have to rewrite, rewrite, rewrite. each time you pass through the act should become tighter, more suspensiful, more entertaining.

[Knaight]

Re: Strategies for Tackling Act II?

When I finally realized that Act Two IS THE MOVIE, things got easier. Think about any movie trailer. It generally includes something having to do with the inciting incident, possibly the break into the second act, and then a whole bunch of big moments from Act Two.

Your second act is where your movie lives up to its premise. It's got the twists, turns, laughs, scares, and set pieces that audiences come out to see. It's the act where your character has entered a new world and is trying to make sense of it all. Without it, there is no movie.

So, if this is DIE HARD, this is when you break out the guns, the C4, the bloody feet, etc. If it's ELF, this is when Buddy comes face to face with NYC, mail rooms, a family that doesn't get him, and yellow ones that don't stop.

Think about your premise and put yourself in the shoes of someone in the audience. If you were paying $10+ to see a movie based on your premise, what would you want to see? Build those moments into your second act. Use them to create rising tension.

Most writers divide their second act in half. I literally write "Act Two A" and "Act Two B" when outlining. Between those, you should have a crazy-ass midpoint that sends the movie in a completely different direction. It helps to think of this as a "point of no return." Your characters are now in so deep that they can't go back. They're in it to win it, or they'll die trying (literally, or figuratively).

Usually, before the end of Act Two, you want a crushing low point. This is that moment where, hopefully, your audience can't see a way out for your character. Every option leaves them fucked. Then, they rise to the occasion, and you have another big moment or scene which sends the story in yet ANOTHER direction. Boom. Now you're in Act Three.

[BattleDolphinZero]

Re: Strategies for Tackling Act II?

Here's something I learned from Derek...

You write forward. What are the scenes that have to happen? Once you get a few of those if you get stuck...

You go to the lowpoint at the end of act 2. Write down all the **** that has to happen to create the lowpoint. So in a buddy cop movie it might be:

-- 2 guys split. They hate each other.

-- The thing that could blow the case wide open is gone.

-- Bad guy has gotten away. (or puts final piece to his plot together)

-- Cop has lost job or wife.

Once you have those four beats (just making them up) you can write backwards because you know this...

-- Have to write a scene where the guys break up (what causes it?)

-- Have to write a scene where the tape gets destroyed.

-- Have to write a scene where the bad guy escapes. (or puts final piece to his plot together)

-- Have to write a scene where my lead gets fired.

You do a lose sketch of those scenes, then you can usually see an order:

-- 1. The tape gets destroyed (because that would dash hope and cause conflict between my two guys)

-- 2. guys fight and have a split. (because of above incident)

-- 3. break POV - bad guy is purchasing the bomb chip.

-- 4. lead good guy reports bad news to his boss and is fired. Or lead good guy gets home, defeated and finds "dear John" note.

Once you do that you know:

-- Need to write a scene where the guys get back together.

-- Need to write a scene where they're back on the case.

-- Need to reward main guy with his badge back or a new job or his wife back.

All this comes from figuring what the lowest point for your hero(es) is. Take everything away from him and the scenes make themselves known.

[Earl S. Court]

Re: Strategies for Tackling Act II?

This thread's come at a great time for me as I'm outlining my second script. The midpoint - not sure I get it 100% yet. I've heard people say things like "the midpoint changes the goal" or like Knaight, the midpoint "sends the movie in a completely different direction". When I hear things like that it makes me think the midpoint always needs to start an almost completely different movie or throw in a huge twist.

Two quick examples - SPOILERS FOR THE ROCK AND DIE HARD BELOW...

In The Rock, Goodspeed's goal is to stop the VX gas rockets being used on San Francisco. Around the middle of the movie the SEAL team are all killed which makes achieving the goal much, much harder and less likely but his goal is still to stop the rockets right? Is the SEAL team getting killed the midpoint?

In Die Hard, McClane's goal is that his wife is freed safely from Hans' gang. To start with he tries to alert the cops to get them to do that, when they eventually turn up in numbers he realises they're useless and that he's going to have to free her himself. Is that the midpoint there?

Is it fair to say that, for an action movie at least, the midpoint is an event that makes the protagonist's goal significantly harder to achieve and is a point of no return?

[Staircaseghost]

Re: Strategies for Tackling Act II?

Is it fair to say that, for an action movie at least, the midpoint is an event that makes the protagonist's goal significantly harder to achieve and is a point of no return?

The midpoint -- I like "seizing the sword", "goddess moment", and especially "inmost cave" (it's shocking how often this turns out to be a literal cave or embrace with the feminine archetype) -- is when the hero gets what he wanted, or thought he wanted, when he began his adventure.

From the story circle man himself:

In Die Hard, John McClaine, having run over broken glass, is sitting in a bathroom, soaking his bloody feet in the sink. It is at this moment that he finally realizes the true extent of his love for his wife, and what he's been doing wrong in their marriage. He (1) has been too stubborn (2). He uses his walkie talkie, acquired in step (4), to give a message to his wife through his benevolent, happily married, gun-shy counterpart: "She's heard me say 'I love you' a thousand times...but she's never heard me say I'm sorry."

It's not enough to hack and slash your way through symbol after neurotic symbol. The hacking and slashing was a process, that process is over, if only temporarily, and we have reached a second major turn.

The definition of "major" being, of course, in relation to your circle's diameter. Our stranded, rain soaked driver has finished emptying the contents of his trunk on the side of the road. He sees the spare tire and he lets out a very slight, very fast sound of relief. That's all. This is a story about a man changing a tire. That's all the goddess we need.