Outlining your novel can be one of the most stressful parts of writing. Though it's not a necessary step in the writing process it can help you keep the details of your story in one place.

What is the Three-Act Structure? 

The three-act structure is a technique for outlining your novel in three main sections. Act One, Act Two, and Act Three or The Setup, The Confrontation, and The Resolution. The charts for this story structure can range from simple to complex depending on how detailed you want your story outline to be.

The most simple way of explaining this story structure is:

• Act One: Get your protagonist up a tree

• Act Two: Throw rocks at him or her

• Act Three: Get them down again 

-www.scriptreaderpro.com

Simple Version of the Three-Act Structure 

An example diagram of the three-act structure. Image from nownovel.com

Act One: The Setup

This is where you introduce your characters, settings, and the inciting incident that brings your protagonists into the major conflict of the novel. Your first few chapters are where you are showing your reader the protagonist's ordinary life and what's important to them.

In your first act, you should have your inciting incident, or the event that happens that sets your protagonist into motion with the major conflict. Another name for the inciting incident is your protagonist's "call to adventure." What is it that is getting them to leave the safety and comfort (or discomfort) of their everyday life? Keep in mind what's at stake for them, what are they going to gain by answering the call of the adventure, and more importantly what they stand to lose should they fail?  

The risks may be great, but they have to be worth it to your protagonist in order for them to leave behind the world they know for the unknown.

Climax of Act One:

This is where your protagonist has no choice but to join the call to adventure no matter what the stakes may be. If they were on the fence about it, this is the event that pushed them over.

Act Two: The Confrontation

Each chapter in your second act should continue to raise the stakes for your protagonist leading up. Your protagonist is going to hit roadblock after roadblock and gain allies on the way. They start to change, grow, and become accustomed to the new world they've been thrown into 

Midpoint: As said in the image above, this is your story's big twist. Usually, an event where things make a dive for the worst for your protagonists. The stakes have grown even more for your protagonist and they have to reevaluate who they are and make the changes necessary to achieve their goal.

Climax of Act Two: Although the stakes have grown, this is where the fight really comes from your protagonist and they start to make progress towards their goal. Your protagonist should be gaining confidence in who they are and keep fighting to gain as much progress towards the goal that they can.

Act Three: The Resolution

Here is where you're going to take the biggest rocks you have and start throwing them at your protagonist showing the strength of your antagonist. Act Three should have your protagonist at their lowest point right before the major battle/climax. 

Climax of Act Three: Your protagonist and antagonist are going to meet in a head-on collision that will decide whether your protagonist will win or lose.  

Denouement: This is where your protagonist faces the story's major conflict and has either won or lost and the conflict has reached its end. Tention fades away and the protagonist either rejoins their old ordinary world or they stay in the new world they have created on their journey.

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The Three-Act story structuring isn't the end all be all of the story outlining, it's purpose is to help you organize the major points in your story and keep track of where your story should be heading. 

Even if you're not typically on outliner, just jotting down a few bullet points about your story can help take a bit of the stress out of writing so all you have to do is sit down and write.

I personally follow a different chapter by chapter outlining method that condenses each chapter into one sentence ideas.

There is no wrong way to write and there is no wrong way to outline. Choose the method that works for you as long as it helps you write your story then that's all that matters. 

Keep writing!

With love, 

B.K. xo

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