Can anyone recommend good sources for studying the 3 Act Story Structure?
Since I am interested in the structure itself, it doesn’t seem important whether the book/discussion is on plays, movie scripts, or novels.
Posted by extrinsic (Member # 8019) on :
The Wikipedia topic: Three Act Structure, has general information. References and External Links references several external resources.
Posted by babooher (Member # 8617) on :
That is so weird. I just started using this in a class I teach.
Posted by KayTi (Member # 5137) on :
I can't recommend it often enough, STORY by Robert McKee. It's a book for screenwriters, but the emphasis is on telling a story. A good, compelling, interesting, human story.
He works with the three act structure quite a bit, though he clearly expects the reader to know about the concept already. Even though I hadn't really studied the 3 act structure before reading his book, I found the book immensely valuable and easy to understand (most of the time, LOL. The rest I viewed it as a challenge.)
Posted by jezzahardin (Member # 8782) on :
This blog, by a screenwriter and novelist, really helped me with my understanding of the three acts.
Her writing articles are linked down along the right hand side of the page. Her "Story Structure - Elements of Act..." posts are astoundingly clear, and if you go back through the blog, her posts on act climaxes are brilliant, too. She takes films and breaks them down, showing where acts begin and end, and how.
Jaws, Indiana Jones, The Mist, and Silence of the Lambs are all stories she has analysed and explained.
Posted by Crystal Stevens (Member # 8006) on :
Jezz: would her name be Victoria Lynn Schmidt? The reason I ask is that I'm reading STORY STRUCTURE ARCHITECT by her. It explains the 3 act story structure in detail. It's not the greatest book on writing I ever read, but the whole thing is based on the 3 act story structure.
Posted by jezzahardin (Member # 8782) on :
Hmm, I believe she's called Alexandra Sokoloff. She has received questions about why she gives her instruction away online, especially when there are books to be written on the subject.
Essentially, I believe she teaches workshops and writes fiction, and that she likes to keep those separate. And a blog now and then doesn't hurt anything, I suppose.
In any case, really useful stuff for those interested, IMHO.