Following yesterday’s post about Act One, this post is about the elements that go in Act Two. Since Act Two makes up over half of your story, I am going to divide this one in two and talk about the first part of Act Two. According to Snyder, this should include:
- The B Story: This is where you introduce the secondary plot to your story or what Snyder calls “The B Story”. In many stories, this is the love interest. According to Snyder, the B story serves as a breather from the A story.
- Fun & Games: This is something I had never heard of before reading Snyder’s book. According to Snyder, this is the part of the story where things are going well for the main character. This section is the mirror image of the one at the end of Act Two (called All is Lost). So if your character is going to lose all his money at the end of Act Two, he should have it and like it here. Otherwise, the downfall has no effect.
- Midpoint: Not only is this the middle of your story, it is also the end of all things good. In order for the next part (where everything starts to go wrong) to matter to the reader, everything must be established by this point. If your main character is going to mess up a relationship, we need to believe it is important to him by here. If he is going to fail to achieve a certain goal, we need to believe he wants it and can get it by here.
Again, this is my interpretation of Snyder’s advice from Save the Cat, but you really need to BUY THE BOOK to get the full picture. (No, I don’t get royalties for his sales!) In tomorrow’s post, I will discuss the second part of Act Two. Otherwise know as mwoo-ha-ha… (Okay, maybe not.)
Category: Books I Love, On Writing