What is the three-act structure?

A brief insight into the most common structure for telling stories.

If you have ever looked into learning about writing, taken a course or watched a relevant writing video on YouTube, you probably already know of the three-act structure.

Since it’s the most commonly known structure for telling stories, let’s have a look at what it incorporates, and why it has endured throughout storytelling history.

The three-act structure is probably the oldest framework for writing structure. It’s simple and intuitive, and gives you a rough outline for planning structure.

• The first act. Used for setup and exposition. This establishes the main characters, their relationships, and the world they live in. The first act contains the inciting incident, and the moment of no return for the protagonist. The moment where a huge question has been asked, and the life of the protagonist will never be the same, is usually what marks the end of this act.

• The second act. This is used for ‘rising action’, and typically involves the protagonist attempting to resolve the inciting incide…