Whether the three-act story structure is new to a you, or a favorite, take a visual tour.
May these different images and links of the different ways to think about the three-act structure spark your creative juices.
This post is part of a series on visualizing your novel.
Straight Plot Over Time
Writers for Writers
Three-Act Structure
From “Structure Lesson #2”
Reedsy Blog
How to Write a Novel Using The Three-Act Structure
” Within each Act is a number of different “beats” — a plot event. According to Aristotle… “
Visual Story Network
3 Act Structure
A different take on a classic, taking crisis to a low point
Rise and Fall Over Time
Steven’s Balagan
Balagan’s 3 Act Structure
A deeper dive into the three act, balancing the protagonist’s journey with story tension
Euan Mitchell
The Three-Act Story Model: A Frameowrk Not A Formula
A detailed look at the three-act, with information on character
Different Views
Live Write Breathe Janalyn Voigt
Plotting a Novel in Three Acts
Aristotle gave us this story structure.
The Moral Premise Stan Williams
Story Diamond
“While it looks complicated, it’s very simple and helpful in holding off writer’s block, although it is no substitute for a well-formed and fell-fed imagination. “
Savannah Gilbo
Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! Beat Sheet
How to Outline Your Novel with Save the Cat!
No Hiding Darell Wolfe
The W Story Structure – 4 Sequence Story Structure
“Out of everything I’ve ever read on story structure for fiction writing, the W-Story Structure makes the most sense to me.”
Detailed
Live Write Breathe Janalyn Voigt
Plotting a Novel in Three Acts
Aristotle gave us this story structure.
The Moral Premise Stan Williams
Story Structure Basics – 13 Major Beats
“Perhaps most difficult to obtain is an even emotional roller coaster effect throughout the story…”
If you are visually-oriented and producing a novel, take a look at different ways to chart your story — with plot diagrams and more. Story charts and plot diagrams can get the creativity train moving, so take a tour of the multiple-act framework, the wheel, and more.
Other posts in this series will cover other ways to visualize your story.
Multiple Acts
The three-act story structure predominates, but novelists also use the four-act, seven-act, and more variations on this theme
Visual Story Network
3 Act Structure
A different take on a classic, taking crisis to a low point
Rage Against the Page
4 Act Story Diamond
Takes the multiple act structure away from the x,y plot of time and action (or good stuff)
Vox
5-Act Story Structure
A different take. Do your ideas fit? Based on Breaking Bad. Visual originally from Storyboardthat.com
The Storyality Syntagram
The 10 Act Structure
A different take. Do your ideas fit? Based on Breaking Bad. Visual originally from Storyboardthat.com
Inspired Storytelling: Engaging People & Moving Them To Action
Derek Murphy, Creative Indie
The Plot Dot
“It’s kind of a plotting journal, with lots of blank pages, so you can sketch out each of your scenes in a tried-and-tested plot outline that focuses on the major, unskippable scenes that should be included in most fiction. “
Rage Against the Page
A Round View of the 4-Act Story Diamond
Stretch Your Brain
Live Write Breathe Janalyn Voigt
Plotting a Novel in Three Acts
Aristotle gave us this story structure.
Dr. Wheeler, Carson-Newman University
Freytag’s Pyramid
“A diagram of dramatic structure, one which shows complication and emotional tension rising like one side of a pyramid toward its apex, which represents the climax of action. Once the climax is over, the descending side of the pyramid depicts the decrease in tension and complication as the drama reaches its conclusion and denouement.“
diyFMA
Story Mapping
” One of my favorite ways to outline or plan a story is to map it out like a subway or road map…”