Act II

“Brigitte,” Installment One of Tales from Vlaydor, is available on ebook and audiobook. Follow the link to find them on Amazon:

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The following is a transcript of this episode. I complete transcript can be found on the show’s webpage.

[00:00:00] Last week we talked about act one And this week, we are going to have a lot to say about act two, as we continue talking about writing structure today on writing in the tiny house. Hello. Hello. Hello, and welcome back to writing in the tiny house. I am your host Devin Davis, and I am the guy in a tiny house.

[00:00:46] Living in Northern Utah, who is here to share with you the different ways that you can get that work of fiction out of your brain and onto paper, no matter how busy you believe that you are, as far as housekeeping stuff goes, you should notice that the graphic to writing and the tiny house should be back to normal.

[00:01:08] If it is not for you, please let me know so that I can manage some different things. On my end. I changed the graphic for last week. We are back to what it should be, and I will have last week's graphic back up when we go through our episodes in June, when we celebrate pride month. So today.

[00:01:30] We are going to be talking about act two. We are covering structure with writing fiction. And last week we talked about act one. And so what happens after act one? I said, act one is filled with a lot of introduction. The character needs to be introduced the setting the world.

[00:01:51] And then there needs to be that decision that carries the reader and the story into act two it can be a decision to act. It can be a decision to decide a plan. It can be a lot of different things, but there is a certain turning point to get to act two with act two. A lot of fun things can happen. Act two is about the same length as the other two acts combined.

[00:02:23] Very roughly speaking it is. Half the length of your entire novel, or at least it should be, this is where the adventure happens. This is where your main character goes out into the world and makes mistakes and learns things either about the world itself or about the sinister plot that gradually unfolds or about different ways to overcome an obstacle.

[00:02:50] All of this self discovery stuff is what happens in act two. And it can be super fun. It can also be a disaster. So I think that I said previously with act one that all of this stuff is scalable, which means that in a book you can have act one, act two, an act three, and you also have the same structure in a trilogy.

[00:03:15] Which means the first book counts as act one, the second book act two, and the third book act three. And with all of these, it is really easy to lose track of what happens in act two. With a trilogy, it is usually the second book that gets kind of. Just because the second book usually doesn't have the climax of the entire trilogy.

[00:03:43] Narrowing the scope back down to just one book and the three acts within a book act two, doesn't have the climax act two is all of the rising action to the climax. So that means all of the fun things happen. And basically this is where you get to step in and start breaking your character's legs.

[00:04:07] There is a huge problem with act two called saggy middle syndrome. That is, when the middle of the book is boring. It is sluggish. It doesn't develop anything. It can be filled with plot holes. It can be filled with plot conveniences. It can also be filled with like segues With the different directions that the story is pulled into, that don't really progress a story arc. It can be the side quests. It can be the piddly little sub characters that don't really play into the overall story, but the author decided to take us there. And you get to ask yourself why?

[00:04:56] So a lot of times with act two and with the saggy middle syndrome, we start breaking our characters legs, but we need to have the big picture in mind so that each of the steps and each of the obstacles and each of the self discovery moment. Come up to the very end of act two, which is another turning point.

[00:05:22] And then in act three, we get the climax and the resolution. So with act two, you fill it with a bunch of things that are exciting to. That are fun to read that, develop your characters and make them more believable. And that enhance the story arc that you are creating. It enhances the overall point of what you're doing with your story.

[00:05:50] So there are a couple little devices that you can put in there. Some of them are called the anticlimax. It's when tension builds and the plot goes in a very easy to understand direction. And then. Twist happens now. Twists are fun. If you have twists all over the place in act two your reader is going to have whiplash from that.

[00:06:15] And so I recommend like one or two super good twists and they all need to tie into the resolution at the end. It's really fun to have a twist that unless you get to the. You think the twist was just kind of a tacky thing to do. And then the author brings up that twist and why it was a thing just because in the resolution, sometimes we revisit all of those things.

[00:06:42] We revisit the reasons for the twists, and then you see that it ties together in a really intelligent way and in like a really clever, cool. And so that is what act two is all about. It is the hell ride of your story. And so if you are writing fantasy fiction, it gets to be super exciting. If you are writing contemporary fiction, it can be just as exciting, but you need to make sure that the story arc is building that the stakes are also building.

[00:07:15] You need to make sure that there is something at risk and you need to make sure that there is a damn good reason. For the climax enact three. And you need to make sure that the stakes are very high in order to get there, make sure that the characters are struggling, make sure that they are learning and growing.

[00:07:39] If you take it easy on your characters and you avoid all those things, first of all, Your story will be very easy to write because it's not going to require a lot of brainwork from you at the same time. It will be a drag to read for the very same reason. So go ahead and think about what act two is for your work in progress in act one.

[00:08:09] Think about that turning point, that decision, that choice. Move on with the story. That's where act two starts. And then think of the ways that you in your work in progress are building the story arc along are building the characters themselves and making sure that the stakes are super high. And then when we get to act three, which we will talk about next week, make sure that you deliver on all of that in your climax and in your resolution.

[00:08:48] So with act two saggy, middle syndrome, like I mentioned earlier is a very real thing. It is also completely avoidable. If you are a pantser. Like me, I'm going to tell you that it's okay to outline, but if you don't know where things are headed in act two, it's okay to brainstorm with a friend.

[00:09:12] Even if you don't write things down, it's okay to have that clarity so that all of these major points can be hit on or can be touched on. During act two so that you don't get saggy middle syndrome with your book.

[00:09:29] And that is it for today. Just a reminder that "Brigitte,"Installment One of Tales from Vlaydor is available on Amazon as an ebook and on Audible and Apple Books as an audio book. And I provide advanced reader copies of these short stories as I release them to my patrons. So become a patron today by visiting patreon.com/writinginthetinyhouse to support both my writing and this podcast. And lastly, be sure to follow me on social media. My Instagram is @authordevindavis and my Twitter handle is@authordevind. Thank you so much for spending some time with me today and have fun writing. We will see you next time.