This week: Three-Act Structure Edited by: Jeff  
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Adventure is worthwhile in itself."
— Amelia Earhart
About The Editor: Greetings! My name is Jeff and I'm one of the regular editors of the official Action/Adventure Newsletter! I've been a member of Writing.com since 2003, and have edited more than 400 newsletters across the site in that time. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me directly or submit feedback in the comment box at the bottom of this newsletter.
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Three-Act Structure
If you're the kind of writer who's done any kind of reading or research on narrative construction, you're probably familiar with the three-act structure. It's one of the simplest, most common, and most popular story structures out there. Chances are, even if you're not formally familiar with it, you can instinctively recognize it in stories that you read or watch.
The basic format looks a little something like this:
(click to enlarge)
A story following this structure can be broken down into three main parts:
I. Setup
II. Confrontation
III. Resolution
Across those three main parts, you have some basic elements:
1. Inciting Incident
2. Plot Point 1 (a.k.a. Point of No Return)
3. Midpoint (a.k.a. Twist)
4. Plot Point 2
5. Pre-Climax
6. Climax
7. Denouement
If you overlay those elements, you get the following general plot:
A character goes about their normal life until something extraordinary happens (inciting incident). Eventually the character reaches a point of no return where they can't just go back to their normal life again. That's the SETUP. As the story unfolds, the action increases until there's a twist in the middle of the story that sends things spinning off into a new direction. That new direction has a couple of key developments that build on each other (plot point 2 and the pre-climax) until you have the big finale (climax) (all of which is the CONFRONTATION, and then the denouement deals with the fallout from those events and gives us our RESOLUTION.
You can find this structure in all kinds of places, but let's look at a couple of popular stories. The Pixar animated film CARS and Universal's first JURASSIC PARK film.
CARS
1. Inciting Incident - There's a three way tie in the Piston Cup race between Lightning McQueen, Chick Hicks, and The King. Another race is announced to settle the matter of who's going to win the Piston Cup (and presumably, who will get The King's coveted Dinoco sponsorship, as it's his last race).
2. Point of No Return - Lightning inadvertently ends up in Radiator Springs and can't get to the Piston Cup race until he can get out of this backwater town that he hates.
3. Midpoint (a.k.a. Twist) - Lightning discovers that the judge (Doc) used to be a racer and won an unprecedented three Piston Cup finals.
4. Plot Point 2 - Lightning learns from Doc what it really means to be a racer, and gains a newfound appreciation for the people in Radiator Springs (as well as lessons learned from them).
5. Pre-Climax - Lightning shows up at the Piston Cup final and uses everything he's learned. After some initial doubts, he sails to an all-but-assured victory.
6. Climax - When Chick Hicks causes the The King to wreck, Lightning has to choose between winning the race and doing the right thing (in this case, going back and helping The King finish his last race even if it means letting Chick Hicks win).
7. Denouement - Even though Chick Hicks won the race, Lightning learned about the true spirit of racing (and being a decent person). Dinoco offers him the sponsorship, but he passes up on the opportunity to stick with his existing sponsor who believed in him when he got his start, and he relocates his racing headquarters to Radiator Springs, bringing business back to the forgotten town.
JURASSIC PARK
1. Inciting Incident - John Hammond convinces Grant and Ellie to visit his park.
2. Point of No Return - Grant and Ellie are amazed to see real, live dinosaurs roaming around.
3. Midpoint (a.k.a. Twist) - The storm causes the dinosaurs to break free, and the T-Rex attacks the Jeep.
4. Plot Point 2 - Nedry dies and we realize the park can't be restored.
5. Pre-Climax - The power is restored, but the raptors are also freed.
6. Climax - The raptors chase everyone and the T. Rex ends up killing them.
7. Denouement - Escape from the island.
The really nice thing about this three-act structure is that it's scalable. As a general rule of thumb, you're looking for the setup to be approximately 25% of the story, the confrontation to be about 50% of the story (with half before and half after the midpoint twist), and about 25% of story to be the resolution... give or take. You don't want to be too dogmatic or rigid about these things; the main priority is to tell a good story, not to inflexibly adhere to some artificial metric. That said, it can be helpful to use them as general targets or guidelines.
If you're writing a 100,000-word novel, that's 25,000 words for each section.
If you're writing a 50,000-word novel, that's 12,500 words per section.
If you're writing a 120-page screenplay, that's 30 pages per section.
If you're writing a 2,000-word short story, that's 500 words per section.
As you explore longer form types of writing, you'll want to consider things like subplots (which can have three-act structures of their own). As you explore shorter form types of writing, you'll want to consider what you can remove that isn't absolutely necessary (maybe you combine the midpoint with plot point 2, or the pre-climax is only a few sentences instead of hundreds of words).
The nice thing about the action/adventure genre is that a lot of stories in this genre are about external forces, so the elements like inciting incidents and rising action and twists are often something clear and tangible. As you're considering writing your next action/adventure story, see if applying a story structure template like the three-act structure can help you think about where to take the story, and how to keep it compelling. 
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"New & Noteworthy Things" | "Blogocentric Formulations"
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Feedback from "Action/Adventure Newsletter (March 5, 2025)" about starting my tenure as a regular Action/Adventure newsletter editor:
Congratulations on your first editorial as the Action/ Adventure Newsletter regular editor, Jeff. About your question, what kind of things I hope to read... I love masked heroes' secret identity being unveiled especially after they save the world. I only remembered Spiderman 2 and a scene from an old non-English series. That train-stopping scene in Spiderman 2 was epic! I can't get over it.
— Elycia Lee ☮ Well-Fed 
Welcome Jeff.
— Monty 
It is easy to read the formula to write an action/adventure novel. However, actually writing one isn't that easy. How do you ramp up the intensity? How do you build to the climax? take act 1 and show the elements, the same with act 2 and 3.
— Quick-Quill 
Thanks for featuring the start to my story! I want to mention if it weren't for this newsletter I wouldn't have the beginning that I have. It was a tremendous help and I'm glad that it paid off.
— J. M. Kraynak 
I am a sponge when it comes to improving my writing. Anything is appreciated even if I've read the subject before because learning about the same information presented differently helps clarify and make a dent in my memory. Re[atition makes for emphasis.
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It's great to have you working on the Action/Adventure NL, Jeff.
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Action/Adventure: April 02, 2025 Issue [#13063]
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