Why the Three Act Structure isn’t good enough-Part II

Descending to scene level

Last time we were all here, I talked about the three act structure, and why it’s a great way of creating an over-arching plan for stories, and in particular, my novels.

But for me, that’s not quite good enough. My crime novels are quite heavily plot-driven, and have elements of clues and red herrings, of guilty offenders and of innocent bystanders, of goodies, baddies, and baddies who aren’t actually the culprit. I have main, secondary and minor characters to care about. I have character arcs to worry about, together with character trait similarities and differences.

Writing a novel is HARD.

One other thing – I have found that my brain quickly turns to the leakiest of strainers if I try to hold the whole plot, or even a single act, in my head at once. I don’t know why. I know people who can do that, and that’s to be admired. But if I try to write without a detailed plan, what comes out is a meandering mush of nicely crafted but narratively stunted prose. It ain’t good.

So how far down do I need to go?

As you may have gleaned from the subtitle, it’s down to scene level. In crime novels, shorter chapters are de rigeur. Don’t blame me, it’s how it is. And I find that one chapter per scene, one scene per chapter, is fine for the pacing and drive of my novels. Occasionally, a chapter of mine will straddle a couple of scenes. Occasionally (but rarely), a scene will straddle two chapters. But basically, my scenes are one chapter, around 1,500 words. THAT IS NOT A RULE, before anyone complains about strictures on creative flow. I love writing as much as anyone, and I can assure you that word count is the last thing on my mind when I begin writing a scene. Scene / chapter length comes into play at the first or second edit stage. 

Okay. So last time, I left off this idea at the point where I split my story into Three Acts – actually, Four, since the long Act 2 is subdivided into two equally-sized chunks. And within these 3/4 acts, there are Seven significant plot points. Please see my last post:

[ https://gerald-hornsby.com/blog/2025/02/08/why-the-3-act-structure-isnt-good-enough/

for descriptions. Where do we go from there?

Those eagle-eyed of you will have noticed the shaded-out part of this diagram.

I can now reveal what’s behind the shading:

and I can introduce to you Save The Cat.

Pretty weird title, eh? Screenwriter Blake Snyder (RIP) examined the structure of dozens of hugely successful movies, and began creating his own structure, described in the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet. It shows how many film stories hit certain “beats” in their telling. These beats incorporate, and expand upon, the Seven Plot Points described in the previous post. He also discovered that many times, these beats appeared at distinctive points in each story, measured in terms of the pages of a script.

I transposed these script pages into novel chapters, with a guideline of 40 or 60 chapters.  Some beats only have one chapter / scene. Some have 8 or 9. But don’t forget – nothing is cast in stone here. My novels have between 39 and 56 chapters / scenes in them, despite them all having the Blake Snyder structure.

Oh, and why is it called “Save The Cat”? As part of his analysis, Snyder discovered that if your story hero had some tricky things to accomplish later in the story, including some maybe-not-so legal actions, it was always best to have them Save A Cat early on in the story. It promotes at an early stage (in the reader / viewer’s brain) that the hero is a Good Guy, and we’ll forgive him his indiscretions later on. Also note: they don’t literally need to save a cat – any good selfless and empathetic deed will do.

But let’s dig into the Beat Sheet itself.

Here’s a description of each of the 15 beats (see diagram above), and (typically) how many scenes I give to them:

1 Opening image- 1 scene

A visual that represents the struggle & tone of the story. A snapshot of the main character’s problem, before the adventure begins.

2 Setup – 1 scene

Expand on the “before” snapshot. Present the main character’s world as it is, and what is missing in their life.

3 Theme stated – 1 scene

(Sometimes happens during the Set-up) – What your story is about; the message, the truth. Usually, it is spoken to the main character or in their presence, but they don’t understand the truth…not until they have some personal experience and context to support it.

4 Catalyst – 1 scene

The moment where life as it is changes. It is the telegram, the act of catching your loved-one cheating, allowing a monster onboard the ship, meeting the true love of your life, etc. The “before” world is no more, change is underway.

5 Debate – 6 scenes

But change is scary and for a moment, or a brief number of moments, the main character doubts the journey they must take. Can I face this challenge? Do I have what it takes? Should I go at all? It is the last chance for the hero to chicken out.

6 Break into Two – 2 scenes

The main character makes a choice and the journey begins. We leave the “Thesis” world and enter the upside-down, opposite world of Act Two.

7 B story – 1 scene

This is when there’s a discussion about the Theme – the nugget of truth. Usually, this discussion is between the main character and the love interest. So, the B Story is usually called the “love story”.

8 Fun & Games – 6 scenes

This is when Indiana Jones tries to beat the Nazis to the Lost Ark, when the detective finds the most clues and dodges the most bullets. This is when the main character explores the new world and the audience is entertained by the premise they have been promised.

9 Midpoint – 1 scene

Dependent upon the story, this moment is when everything is “great” or everything is “awful”. The main character either gets everything they think they want (“great”) or doesn’t get what they think they want at all (“awful”). But not everything we think we want is what we actually need in the end.

10 Bad guys close in – 6 scenes

Doubt, jealousy, fear, foes both physical and emotional regroup to defeat the main character’s goal, and the main character’s “great”/“awful” situation disintegrates.

11 All is lost – 1 scene

The opposite moment from the Midpoint. The moment that the main character realizes they’ve lost everything they gained, or everything they now have has no meaning. The initial goal now looks even more impossible than before. And here, something or someone dies. It can be physical or emotional, but the death of something old makes way for something new to be born.

12 Dark night of the soul – 3 scenes

The main character hits bottom, and wallows in hopelessness. The Why hast thou forsaken me, Lord? moment. Mourning the loss of what has “died” – the dream, the goal, the mentor character, the love of your life, etc. But, you must fall completely before you can pick yourself back up and try again.

13 Break into three – 1 scene

Thanks to a fresh idea, new inspiration, or last-minute Thematic advice from the B Story (usually the love interest), the main character chooses to try again.

14 Finale – 8 scenes

This time around, the main character incorporates the Theme – the nugget of truth that now makes sense to them – into their fight for the goal because they have experience from the A Story and context from the B Story. Act Three is about Synthesis!

15 Final scene – 1 scene

Opposite of Opening Image, proving, visually, that a change has occurred within the character.

Note: the internet is full of interpretations of the beat sheet for many genres. If you want further reading, there are some great books on the subject, such as:

and many others.

So, for each beat, I write a description of that part of my story broadly conforming to those definitions above. BROADLY. Flexibility is key here. But then, as I’m writing the narrative for each beat, I make myself aware of the number of scenes which fit within that story beat, and then write the story for each scene.

Then, by pasting all of the scene descriptions into one document, I can create a short form version of the novel, which I can read through, amend, change scenes around, rewrite scenes, and so on, BEFORE I start writing the manuscript. Creating the STORY first cuts down on huge manuscript rewrites later on. 

It really does.

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Why the 3-Act Structure isn’t good enough

And how I make it better

Anyone entering the world of storytelling, be it through film, TV, books or any other medium, will soon get to hear of the Three Act Structure. 

What’s the Three Act Structure? It’s a way of splitting a story into 3 parts (Acts, if you will) in order to create a satisfying reading or watching experience.

First described somewhere around 400 AD by Aelius Donatus (a Roman grammarian and rhetoric scholar, would you believe), it’s been around for a while. You can read more about Donatus HERE: [ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aelius_Donatus ] if you really want.

In more recent times, screenwriter and screenwriting tutor Syd Field wrote a book about it in 1979 called Screenplay: the Foundations of Screenwriting which brought it to further prominence. And you can read a lot about it everywhere on the internet, good and bad. 

So what is the Three Act Structure?

As always, Wikipedia is a good place to start:

[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-act_structure ] 

So, to make things simple, the 3AS defines a story as having a Beginning, a Middle, and an End (sometimes us story folks like to refer to the acts as the Setup, the Confrontation and the Resolution). These three sections are understandable by young children, and even dimwits like me.

Here’s a picture to look at:

and another, slightly more detailed picture:

And here’s a really good video to watch – it relates the 3AS to popular films to make it easier to understand:

NB. Don’t be put off by the fact that this, and many other resources, are based on screenwriting for films. They are using the medium of video to tell a story, exactly as we novelists (traditionally) use the medium of ink and paper to tell our stories.

So there’s a brief introduction for those new to it. So, what’s my problem with it?

I find that the Three Act Structure is just too damned vague.

To a certain extent, it’s a ‘me’ problem. I’m unable to hold a complete plot of a crime story (my choice of writing genre) in my head, all at once. I can’t even hold all the twists and turns of a single 20,000 word act in my head.

So for my purposes, I need to split it into some smaller chunks that I can hold in my head.

In my previous life as a software author (amongst other things), I learnt at an early stage  of my career to split large projects into smaller ‘lumps’. We used to call it Functional Decomposition (splitting projects into individual functions), and it really helped me deal with major software projects. And so it is with long-form fiction. Refining and iterating the plotting process brings me down to a single scene at a time, which plays out in my head as I’m sitting here, writing it.

So, how to dig out the scenes from the acts?

Here’s the first stage:

You will see that my workflow diagram (above) shows the 3 acts (I split the middle act into two equal halves, because it’s easier for me and suits my genre) but then, within those acts, several plot points (which are similar to the plot points shown on the earlier diagrams). Note these plot points fit within (and are contained by) the 3 act structure.

Plot point 1 – The Hook and Setup. The Hook is, literally, what hooks your reader into the story. It exists within the first couple of pages, and it’s the thing you imagine a prospective buyer would read when they pick up the book in a bookshop or library. You have a minute, at most, to grab your reader and make them want to buy / read the book. The Setup is when you introduce your reader to the characters, perhaps the location, maybe introduce the theme, but give them enough to answer the question: “What’s that book about?” They need to know that the story is going to be interesting enough to keep them engaged until the last page.

Plot point 2 – Plot Turn 1. This is a very specific feature of the story. Some might call it the ‘trapdoor moment’ – not that anyone’s going to fall down a hole in the floor. It’s the point at which your main character has a choice to make: are they going to return to their normal life (which would be very boring), or are they going to go forward within the story? This could be the point where the private investigator decides to go ‘all in’ on a case, or a hero will set out on their journey, knowing that they can’t go back. The trapdoor closes behind them.

Plot point 3 – First Pinch Point. A story isn’t a story without conflict. When the main character starts their journey, they might understand it isn’t always going to go smoothly for them. Whatever their aims, someone or something is going to get in their way, to try to stop them. The killer doesn’t automatically confess at the first interview. Journeys through an environment have dangers and risks. Caroline’s dream job isn’t going to be without its difficulties.

Plot point 4 – Midpoint. Sometimes called the mirror moment. It’s not that it just happens to be the middle of the book. It’s called a mirror moment because it can be used to reflect the character’s journey back at them, making them realise how far they’ve come. It can also be used to mirror the opening scene, but with the changes already in place. Half of your employees have left because they think you’re an awful boss, so your character might look at the desks in the office, as they did on the first day, and now note the number of empty chairs.

Plot point 5 – Second Pinch Point. Conflict! Always more conflict! The more the merrier! In this second pinch point, the main character comes up against another obstruction, a roadblock. They’ve already dealt with one major problem, but now they’ve got another, and this one’s even worse than last time! This is the point at which they ask themselves if they’ve got what it takes to go on, to solve the case, to reach the destination, to get the girl / boy / thing of their dreams. They may even cry “O Lord, why hast though forsaken me?” Is this the end of their journey?

Plot point 6 – Plot Turn 2. Of course that wasn’t the end of their journey. They find a solution to their problems. Sometimes, a mentor might step in to help them, or they discover a magic amulet, or they finally translate the secret scroll. Or a witness comes forward with new information, or someone finds a gun hidden in their garden. Now, our main character can move forward with a spring in their step and a renewed vigour for the task ahead. 

Plot point 7 – Climax, Resolution and Finale. Having fought through all the trials and tribulations, the hungry beasts, the devious criminals, they’re ready to finish this thing off. There may be one or two little twists still to come, but nothing’s going to stop them now. We end up with the final battle, the final confrontation, the Agatha Christie-like reveal of the murderer. In the resolution, we finally release all the captives, or explain to the hapless detective how the murderer was uncovered, or we fall into the arms of our lover at last. The finale is simply the final scene, often mirroring (again) the opening scene. In my book Last Orders, in the opening scene my main character is sits on a low wall, unaware of the direction their life is about to go.  In the finale scene, she’s again sitting on the low wall, but she now understands so much more, she has changed and grown, and all of her problems have been solved… for now!

If you find this all too complicated, my method is fairly simple and straightforward. There are more complicated ideas around!

In the final part of this series, I’ll talk about the further levels I create, stage by stage, down to scene level, and the use of the Save The Cat Beat Sheet.

Please check in again soon!

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Do you plan your writing?

Recently, I watched an excellent programme, from the BBC, on the Renaissance period, entitled “Renaissance: The Blood and the Beauty”, featuring the artists Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael. And what struck me was how many initial sketches artist’s make before putting brush to canvas. And then what struck me was how similar this was to my method of creating a large piece of work.

Da Vinci was renowned for his study of anatomy (including dissection) and repeated visual studies of parts of the body. Raphael’s sketches indicate more detail (and, arguably, greater artistic talent) than his paintings. [ https://news.artnet.com/art-world/raphael-drawings-ashmolean-991430 ] Michelangelo produced numerous preparatory sketches for his Last Judgement, covering the wall behind the altar in the Sistene chapel. [ https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/02/27/michelangelo-s-last-decades-british-museum ]

One of Michelangelo’s preparatory sketches
And here’s the character in the finished work!

Interesting discussion here: [ https://www.florenceinferno.com/the-last-judgement-michelangelo ]

When Michelangelo received the commission from Pope Julius, he didn’t immediately put up his scaffolding and mixed his paints and plaster (the work on the Sistene was in the form of frescos). He thought about what he wanted to depict. The main work is divided into 3 sections (3 acts, maybe?) – the Creation, the Creation and Downfall of Adam and Eve, and three stories of Noah. All around the main work are smaller pieces, identified in the following diagram:

[ https://smarthistory.org/michelangelo-ceiling-of-the-sistine-chapel-3  ]

Coming back to the point – from way back in the 15th and 16th centuries, and almost certainly before that, creatives have been preparing small ‘sketches’ for their work before applying paint to a canvas. Composers will ‘noodle’ on instruments before sitting down to compose. Very few people can approach a large blank canvas (real or metaphorical) and begin creating immediately without any planning. 

One of the biggest causes of writers’ block is fear of the blank page. 

My process involves levels of design, beginning with simple, overall statements, and then breaking the story of the story into smaller and small pieces. I’ll talk about this more next time.

One thing I want to say about my novel writing process up front:

I AM A PLOTTER

Us writers love to see how other writers do things – the writing. What is the secret to their success? What hours do they work? What’s their writing room look like?

And in this world of the right way and the wrong way to do things, writers are (apparently) either plotters (otherwise known as planners) or pantsers (otherwise known as a discovery writer). A pantser, by the way, writes the book by the seat of their pants – they sit down in front of a blank page, and begin writing. I know, weird, huh?

I have been accused of ‘over planning’ – creating a shorthand version of the story, scene by scene. To me, that makes sense. On the other side of things, writers talk loftily of “just seeing where the characters and the creativity takes me.” I don’t mean to criticise, but if that works for them, then great. But I don’t like to spend month after month rewriting and rewriting, trying to knock the thing into some shape. I know, I’ve been there.

So, on occasion, my friends and colleagues like to have a laugh at my expense, to which I shrug and smile. For me, my process is perfect.

And the fact that, over 500 years ago, creatives were using a similar process – to break down a major project into small, manageable pieces, – might indicate that I’m in good company.

More next time.

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DAY 22A – #MonthOfBlogging #June2024 #MonthOfWriting

Sorry for hijacking this series of blog posts, but I just wanted to let you know that my new book, LAST ORDERS, is now up for pre-order on Amazon.

So go and pre-order it now, and start loading up your Kindle for the summer holidays.

CLICK HERE: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Last-Orders-Witford-Mystery-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0D5DM5RBC/

The ‘blurb’:

In the quiet seaside village of Witford Market, Suffolk, a tight-knit community lives and works in peaceful harmony. Against this blissful backdrop, the owner of a local pub dies in a freak accident.

Newcomer Emma Stafford, here to stay with her sick mother, uses her training as a Metropolitan Police Crime Scene Technician to informally investigate the death. At the same time, she makes a momentous decision – one which will change her life dramatically.

At first, she is suspicious of the many offers of help, but as the days go by, she begins to understand how the community works, and she enlists the help of her best friend and new friends in the community.

How will she juggle the three pressures on her – a criminal investigation, preparations for her new life, and supporting her mother in her last days? Will she be successful, or will she fail all three challenges?


If you’re looking for other books to take on holiday with you, can I offer you my box set of the 1st 3 books of my “Body” series? They’re fantastic value!

https://gerald-hornsby.com/body-box-set/ Three cozy crime novels for only £3.99!

Reviewers have said:
“What a great read!”
“All in all, this is a great and entertaining read.”
“A coastal cliffhanger; and I bet you won’t get there first.”

If your taste is more in the thriller genre, I have a box set of my thriller books, written under the Jack Warwick pseudonym. Please feel free to check it out! Again, great value.

https://gerald-hornsby.com/thriller-box-set/ Four full novels for £4.99!

Reviewers have said:
“If you’re looking for a page turning story with a great plot then look no further. Brilliant characters and great plot.”
“After reading Jack Warwick’s novel Deceit I was really looking forward to Meltdown and it didn’t disappoint. Looking forward to more from Jack Warwick!”

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LOOKING FORWARD to 2024

BOOKS – FICTION

This is the year the Witford Market Mysteries gets released! Oh yes! Book One is in first edit, Book Two (part-written for NaNoWriMo last year) is about quarter written, Book Three is planned, and Book Four might be the Christmas episode I’ve written and abandoned several times. The problem has been that I want the Christmas episode to come out just before… Christmas. I know. Crazy, huh? So the Christmas story has been the first, then the second, then the first again, and now it’s going to be 3rd or 4th. The problem is that in the first book, you are introducing your characters for the first time. So there’s more back story exposition, the relationships between the characters is different, and the conflict and tensions are different. So yeah.

I’ve emptied the well of short fiction I have, and I’m unlikely to write sufficient quantities to make another collection anytime soon.

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Looking back on 2023

For some reason, I didn’t do a review and a forward plan last year. I can only think I was reviewing the purpose of blogs and newsletters and so on. There was some discussion that blogs are fairly self-indulgent, and only serve the person writing it.

The same applies to vlogs and YouTube videos, too. I’m watching vids which point out “no one cares about you, no one’s interested in your life.” And I can get onboard with that, a little.

SO WHY AM I WRITING THIS BLOG?

Probably a good question. And the answer? I want to record what I’m doing, how I’m thinking, what has been good – and bad – about 2023, and what I should be looking forward to in 2024.

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NANOWRIMO – the planning (1)

Over the years, I have listened to many authors speaking on their process. It’s always interesting to hear how “the professionals” do it. I remember one author (whose name I have genuinely forgotten) who told a group of aspiring writers that during the editing process, he rewrote his completed manuscripts at least 10 times.

I thought I had misheard.

But no – he wrote, and rewrote, his whole manuscript for each novel at least 10 times.

At the time, I hadn’t published any novels, and I was keen to hear other people’s methodologies. But ten complete rewrites sounded completely bonkers to me. Surely, there was a better, more time-efficient, way?

Indeed there was.

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It’s NANOWRIMO time, and I have no choice

NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, comes around at the end of October each year. From a local challenge in San Francisco in 1999, with just 21 participants, it has grown to a global event, with hundreds of thousands of writers joining each year.

As you might expect, with a name like National Novel Writing Month, the idea is to write “a novel” in a single month – the 30 days of November. The actual size of the “novel” is determined as 50,000 words, which means participants need to write an average of 1,667 words per day to be successful in the challenge.

I first heard about this challenge in 2003, and it sounded like fun, so I signed up. And I “won” – the prize being a downloadable certificate and the self-satisfaction of having written a whole bunch of words in a single month.

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Does fast writing really work?

On May 1st 2022, I’m launching my course: The Efficient Novelist. It shows, in detail, and with many supporting resources, how I create, write and publish four novels a year.

Why do I do that?

There are two reasons:

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You may have questions about The Efficient Novelist

Do you want to become a full-time author?

Are you interested in progressing your writing career, attracting more readers and increasing your royalties?

If I told you that I had developed a process to create and publish a new commercial fiction novel every 3 months, which gains me readership and increases my sales, would you be interested? Do you have any questions which might stop you signing up?

Here are a few I’ve been asked already.

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