HOW TO OUTLINE A STRONG OPENING ACT

I’ve just realised act 1 is basically chapter 1 -3 in my book 😮😮 edit: i’m worried that is too condensed,

You should still edit the draft tho

Foreshadowing is so awesome. I rewatch movies / reread novels and suddenly realize there is a minor detail early that becomes very significant later on. SO satisfying!

I'm trying to analyse some stories I know well to see if I can detect these parts.. So in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone I'm seeing multiple incidents.. The disappearing glass at the zoo that let Dudley fall into the snake's terrarium and set the snake free.. But also the letters from Hogwarts, and then finally the arrival of Hagrid. So did Rowling use multiple inciting incidents here or should we consider this as one collective inciting incident? Or is the incident at the zoo just the inciting incident and the rest are actually the build-up or something? Because I would think that the sorting ceremony (where Harry's fear of rejection by the magical world becomes clear) is really that moment where he has to face his fear and see what happens. I suppose you can see this structure as a guideline more than a checklist to follow rigorously and be dogmatic about. Rather more like something to guide the creativity in the right direction?

I really love your videos but i definitely disagree with your opinion on negative character arcs. Classics like wuthering heights and dorian gray, a show that is considered to be one of the greatest shows ever created- breaking bad, all of these have negative character arcs

Thank you so much for your help.
Inside has helped me tremendously in my writing.
Even though I'm not where I want to be Yet. I am definitely.
Going further than I ever thought I could.
With your help.

Thanks Abbie,

This is helping me plan my graphic novel. Im still figuring out how the 3 act atructure will apply in comics but this truly help push me in the right direction.

So my problem is that whenever I try to come up with my characters desire is, it never fits in with my story! Please help me! I can figure out my disbelief and fear but the goal/desire never works

I like how you reminded us that what we write impacts our real world. So why not make a positive impact rather then something negative. I am glad you decided to throw in that bit of advice in regards to character arcs

i kinda disagree with you about negative arcs; think about all the backstories for villains, alot of them are great.

i mean come on, theres no way you cant like Heartless

This is amazing

I thought negative character arc become a trend now...many webnovel author execute it amazingly

I´m quite late to the discussion, but I disagree with avoiding negative character arcs as well as the assumption that no one cares about the character´s world. I specifically and primarily look for well-executed, unique or less common settings. I also prefer to have some initial information about the world or context to understand precisely what I can expect from the book(s). When I only learn about the character, I tend to ask myself questions about the circumstances of the external world that (indirectly) influence the character, their life, and the story. To me, it´s about "setting the tone" of the story, hinting at the direction it takes, and the author´s imaginations and choice of words. Solely knowing about the character and their personal state don´t make me want to read a story. It seems I´m more of a "informations first, emotions second"-person with a love for world building then; or a person who may not have understood your statement correctly because English is not their mother tongue.

your videos helped me so much while i wrote my first published novel in 2020 and even now i come back to your videos for advice such as this. the story is about how the plot affects the characters! yes! amazing!

You low key kinda threw shade on horror writers, or at least negative endings/arcs 😭

I'm using the 3-Act story structure for my Warrior Cat fanfictions! Looks at my 100+ characters all with their desires, fears, and misbeliefs Jesus help me!

What genre do you usually read/watch/write

I ain't cutting to no chase. Now, concerning Hobbits...

You make instructional videos exciting to watch. Love the enthusiasm.

Do u have to write an outline and do u have to use the 3 act story structure bc i find it quite complicated. Bearing in mind i started writing my novel without knowing who you were x

Take Walter white from Breaking Bad. That show was soo good and it’s considered one of the best shows out there. And the main character had a negative character arc.

Sorry Abbie but I gotta disagree with your take on negative arcs

Everytime I watch another video of yours, more of my WIP is revealed to me lol thank you so much!

the take about negative arcs is so braindead

As a fan of Philip Roth, I just agree that the protagonist always needs a positive character arc. If that was the case, he would never be able to write a single novel.

Dose a protagonist really needs a fear or desire? What if It's like there are two besties. Both are girls then one turns into a boy and they grow up then kind of started to fall for each other and but at the plote twist it is shown that the bestie who didn’t changed was just making all of this in her head. The girl didn’t turned into a boy, is was all in her mind. So there isn’t any fear or desire is there?

Is there anyway I can personally talk to you? I really need help with my crazy story. I'm only 12 and it's my first time writing so don’t know much about how stories are written, what makes the readers curious to know what is going to happen next, how to make people fall in love with my story, do I need to add everything that is in the basic story structure etc. So, is there anyway I can talk and discuss with you about my story and how I want it to be. I'm really going crazy right now, thinking how to write it. That one thing, how things are happing in the story. Can I get a little help here please🥺

I suppose that the 3 Act Story Structure is so popular that I just realized I had been using it before I even knew what it was! 😂

Can the inciting incident start the fear? Does the character have to be messed up before the it happens? My MC is basically a child when the inciting incident happens and doesn't have any major misbeliefs or issues. So is it ok to start their issues and journey at the inciting incident?

Negative character arcs for your protagonist...
No one: <crickets>
Spider-Man: 👀
Venom: "tater tots!"
🤣🤣🤣

I just cut the entire first portion of it and directly jumped to the they’re in jail part.

no one :
literally no one :
writers : I am god

me : spams negative arcs

Hi! I'm loving your channel and series so far, but would you be able to give examples of these in popular movies and/ or books? I sometimes struggle to differentiate elements like the inciting incident or first plot point!

the book im writing is a tragedy where the main character goes from average Joe to heinous villain but remains a hero in his own mind. It has a similar idea to the show breaking bad. It's arc follows as the character makes more and more morally questionable decisions while being manipulated into believing he is a truly good person. in the end he is punished.

3;:27, I have a doubt, if my character's misbelief, what he/she thinks he/she gets wrong about the world, is the exact opposite of the message I want to convey, then is that one way to make a story? Because I'm getting confused since in an anime 'My Hero Academia' I'm pretty much sure that the author wanted to convey that friendship has real meaning and power and that one should always aim to help others, similarly in another anime 'Demon Slayer', the author wanted to tell that we should help anyone and everyone in need as it always comes back to us in another or similar ways, but in both the cases, the main characters of both the animes, 'Izuku Midoriya' & 'Kamado Tanjiro' respectively, already believed like the author wanted to convey the message. They both already had this positive belief of friendship and helping others, in other words, their journey was not against but alongside their misbelief. I think they basically honed their skills alongside their belief and acheived their goal.

SO IS IT REALLY COMPULSORY FOR THE THEME TO BE MY CHARACTER'S MISBELIEF (what my character thinks he/she gets wrong about the world)??




also, I wanna mention, since its about the THEME and NOT the CHARACTER'S GOALS, its not about their goals but abstractions, i,e., their belief and misbeliefs.

What do you think about Flaubert's Mme. Bovary? Isn't she a negative arc example? But I love this book, and I am surely not the only one who does.

Too much pressure for the first draft. So you have to rewrite it...part of the gig!!!
I go in knowing that....I can mess up on the first draft. Whew!!

Nothing earthshattering, my characters just won't shut up.
Then I realized I have nothing for them to do!!! So...a panster has joined the chat and found a seat. Yay!!! Hope my characters pay attention. Hey... y'all...listen up!!!

I used to hate outlining, but now I'm obsessed with it. I'm actually outlining my first story right now. Thank you for showing me the importance of outlining.

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those videos of yours are really everything. before that I had the whole story in mind , characters, why it does matter , world, magic system... but I had no clue how to put everything together until now , I'm watching your video and putting the pieces together and it worked so well , so I'm truly thankful

What if the inciting incident takes place before the book even starts?

i love this series

Positive character arc -- it seems like a dying trend. Old westerns had a good guy who wore a white hat and bad guys who wore the black hats. Roddenberry described an idealized future society on the sidelines of the stories in the Star Trek universe. We had inspiration for a better world. Then came this trend of tying to show that people aren't just good or bad but there is both in everything. I get that. However, think it has taken so much of the beauty and hope in the world away from us. Not having even fiction to create role models and pictures of a better world leave the real one darker than ever..

Abbie -- you are so good at what you do. I imagine you spend enormous amounts of time practicing and editing video clips.

Don't set up the world. I wish more webtoon authors knew that. So many first chapters are long ass intros to a thousand year struggle between factions and lengthy magic rules expositions. Characters usually don't show up until episode two.

I do appreciate the insight. I'm not here to disapprove, only to listen. When I write I am transported to another world. Writing is art and doesn't always has to follow a specific structure. You made good points, but it is also the aspect of experimentation. It doesn't always work, but is part of the journey. This is my humble opinion. Onward!

negative caracter arch is something that fits more in horror /crime storyes. I personally like the negative caracter evalution more for it is far more realistic that passative one.