Reader Question: Three act structure — good or bad?

Question via Twitter from @xica25:

3 act structure… Good or bad???

Allow me to steer clear of so-called screenwriting ‘gurus’ who may promote some sort of ‘paradigm’ which on the one hand derides three act structure as being somehow antiquated while pimping their own ‘unique’ approach to writing a screenplay.

I can do this quite simply by replacing “three act structure” with three other words:

Beginning. Middle. End.

When we boil it all down, that’s what we’re talking about. Whether we’re discussing 8 sequences, 12 events, 17 plot points, 22 steps, 40 beats, or whatever, a story must have a Beginning, a Middle, and an End.

The story can be told in reverse.
The story can be told in a nonlinear manner.
The story can be told from the perspectives of multiple characters.
The story can be handled in a myriad of ways.

But it will invariably have a Beginning, Middle, and End.

This is how Aristotle put it in “Poetics”:

“A beginning is that which is not itself necessarily after anything else, and which has naturally something else after it. An end is that which is naturally after something itself, either as its necessary or usual consequent, and with nothing else after it. And a middle, that which is by nature after one thing and has also another after it.”

Who would you rather heed: Aristotle or some dude pitching a screenwriting program in a Hilton conference room?

There are — of course! — three other reasons:

Three is a powerful number in nature and human culture.

• Three is first odd prime number and the second smallest prime
• There are three types of galaxies: elliptical, spirals, and irregulars
• Three basic Earth divisions: Igneous- Metamorphic- Sedimentary
• Freud suggested that psyche was divided into three parts: Ego, Super-Ego, Id
• Holy Trinity: Father — Son — Holy Ghost
• The three R’s: Reading — ‘Riting — ‘Rithmetic
• Sunrise — Day — Sunset
• Departure — Journey — Return
• Birth — Life — Death.
• Hegel’s dialectic: Thesis — Antithesis — Synthesis
• Classical music’s sonata form: Exposition — Development — Recapitulation.

In other words, three movements are innate to human experience and Story itself.

Three act structure is what EVERYONE in Hollywood is familiar with.

You read this screenwriting ‘guru’ book or that, and they provide an alternative take. Fine. None of them is as universal in Hollywood script development circles as Beginning, Middle and End. Therefore no matter what, you must be able to discuss your story in three acts.

Beginning, Middle, and End undergird all aspects of the craft.

It’s not just three acts, it’s everything you do in writing a script.

• Every scene should have a Beginning — Middle — End.
• Every sequence should have a Beginning — Middle — End.
• Every subplot should have a Beginning — Middle — End.
• Every screenplay should have a Beginning — Middle — End.

Three act structure — good or bad?

Here’s my answer: Three act structure just is. Beginning, Middle and End is fundamental to who we are as humans. It is the most common vernacular in script development circles. It is essential to writing a script.

How about you? Do you think three act structure is good or bad? See you in comments to let me know what you think.

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