Writing Act One: The Setup – An ESSENTIAL and SIMPLE Breakdown

So you’ve prepared your story idea and want to put pen to paper. But where to start? No matter if you’re preparing to write the beat sheet or redrafting a finished product it’s always worth putting extra care into your first act.

While it might not be as exciting as the brilliantly executed plot twist at the end of act two or the satisfying, tear-jerking ending, act one is a vital opportunity for your screenplay to start as it means to go on. As brilliant as the rest of your screenplay might be, nobody will read or see it if they’re turned away by a slow or disjointed beginning.

Act one is your hook, your selling point, your set-up. It is one of the most important parts of writing and also the most useful. But how do you execute a gripping act one? We’ve broken down some key steps to get you started; an overview of what NEEDS to go into your act one.

Writing Act One

Writing your first act or rather, the period of time before your story really kicks off with the truly dramatic event (the inciting incident), is essential to several elements of your screenplay. Character, theme, tone and your story world are all introduced here. While act one doesn’t give us the overarching conflict just yet it helps to set up and foreshadow that which is to come.

Act one is your status quo. It is how you show the audience what your world and characters were like before the conflict came along and turned it all upside down. Be it a city right before the outbreak of a zombie plague, a happy couple before the scandal that ruins their relationship, a miserable protagonist or the group of cheerful teens before the killer arrives.

When structuring your first act it should be building up to that dramatic moment where the central conflict comes into play. Whatever structure you choose for your script having that build-up is essential. If we began in the middle of the conflict without prior build-up, it would likely be jarring for the audience.