Finding crisis (Structure part 2)

Continues Finding Plot Point 2 (Structure part 1).

The crisis is the culmination of all the hero has tried so far. After a marathon of conflict, the hero seems beaten. It was too much for them. The foreign world got the better of them. The crisis can be very dramatic – and as we are close to the film’s end, it has to be.

It is important to notice that the crisis doesn’t necessarily have to be negative. It can be some sort of ecstasy, if that works better for the story. In a story that ends badly, the crisis could be the situation in which the hero almost makes it out unscathed. Victory seems near. But then everything changes and the downfall occurs.

Regardless of the crisis being positive or negative, the protagonist must go through an extreme mental situation. And this extreme situation is at the end of the second act.

Let me lay out the three acts real quick: Act 1 is the state of inertness. In the hero’s known, familiar world everything is at rest. No conflict happens, and therefore, no story. Act 2 is the hero’s process to try. They face negative situations and try to overcome them, to consequentially reach a goal. But as it’s the foreign world the hero doesn’t know what they are doing. Therefore they try. Act 3 is the culmination in which the hero does. No more experiments. The hero follows a direct path which they know to be effective – a final outcome will be reached shortly. Now, the hero has wisdom or knowledge that is essential to resolve the plot’s conflict.

This again speaks for a short third act – seeing someone try time and again is something worth watching. But once the protagonist knows what to do, and does simply that, there’s not much more to show and do.

And it also explains why the crisis is in the second act. It is the finalization of the experimentation stage – the try – to have the hero broken down and short of giving up (or jumping up and down in happiness). Only the energy of the third act that brings some new knowledge or new motivation can break through the crisis and lead to a resolution. Or in other words: For the third act to happen, the crisis must happen. After all, in a story only those things should happen that must.

Let’s get back to the discussion about acts. Using them in the way laid out above (act 1 = inert, act 2 = let’s try, act 3 = let’s do) yields a universal way of dividing a story, and works whether the story ends good or bad. The general direction that is exhibited in the course of a story is that of growth and change. Change means contrast, and that is very important for every good story.

Continued in Finding contrast (Structure part 3).