There are essentially two types of Act 2 Turns that every writer should understand. I’m not saying that’s all there are, but these are the 2 most common. Once you learn them, constructing a tight, compelling story won’t seem nearly as daunting.
“Falling Down the Mountain”
Okay, so your hero has made a Decision to launch himself across the threshold of Act 1 by climbing up the mountain. He meets much resistance, stumbles over rocks, loses his Sherpa to a gang of abominable snowmen, and as the summit comes into view he falls into a crevasse.
After deciding to redouble his efforts or change his strategy at the Midpoint, things start to look up. Then, just as he nears the summit -- THWACK! A rival mountaineer kicks him in the groin and our hero falls down the mountain.
He dangles over a cliff, a thin nylon rope the only thing between him and doom. Then the rope begins to unravel, one thread at a time. Just as he’s about to give up and succumb to his fate, he remembers why he began to climb the mountain in the first place.
He makes one last, life-altering decision -- a decision to live, to fight, to win, to make it to that summit. This third decision marks the beginning of Act 3.
Our hero swings the rope, makes it to solid rock, the Sherpa he thought was dead reaches down and pulls him to safety, and the two unflappable men make their final push up the mountain.
Type 1 is characterized by a low point, followed by a decision and a rededication that propels the protagonist into Act 3.
In 40 Year Old Virgin Andy Stitzer (Steve Carrell) and Trish (Catherine Keener) are on their last date, so Trish expects to have sex. But Andy’s afraid, exclaiming metaphorically “This is original packaging!” The two argue something fierce, and after some harsh words, Andy storms out.
He had the summit in sight, but threw himself down the mountain and effectively ended his relationship with Trish. This is the film’s low point (but not the end of Act 2.)
Andy proceeds to get drunk and winds up with a blonde nymphomaniac, but this only makes him realize that the only person he wants to have sex with is Trish the gorgeous grandmother. This realization (and the subsequent decision to leave the nympho’s apartment) marks the end of Act 2 and the beginning of Act 3.
Remember, the forward momentum of a story isn’t motivated by events that happen to the protagonist, but rather by how the protagonist decides to react to those events. In essence, the decisions themselves are the act breaks. If you start thinking about it this way, you’ll never again have to ask ‘which is more important, plot or character?’ You’ll see that the two are inextricably tied together.
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
