Writing Act Two: The Conflict – An ESSENTIAL and SIMPLE Breakdown

So you’ve finished act one. You’ve got your beginning and you probably have some ideas about your ending, but how do you create your middle? What happens between the end of the first act and the beginning of the third? Well, appropriately enough, writing act two is next on the agenda.

Act two is the core of your story. The central, overarching plot and all your character arcs come into play. It’s for these reasons that writing act two is a dangerous part of the scriptwriting process. It’s easy to fall into the slump of a boring second act, no matter how action-packed or eventful you make it.

So how do you write an interesting second act? How do you make sure your audience stays captivated as well as keep the story going? In this article, via six key steps, we’ll look at how you can keep your story going and create an interesting, compelling centerpiece for your story.

1. Introduction to Writing Act Two

Act two is ultimately where the big change in your story occurs. This act needs to keep your story moving towards the climax. However, it needs to do so naturally and without rushing to the conclusion.

Act two is generally much more freeform. It’s where you can really get into the weeds of your story, exploring its layers and contours. You aren’t introducing or resolving your story as you would be in the first and third acts. That said when writing your second act need a few things to happen:

• Your story needs to build to the climax.
• Your characters need to undergo significant character development.
• You need to create a series of obstacles for your characters to push the story forward.
• You need to develop your overall world.

These are essentially the building blocks of your second act. As long as you cover these elements you can be a bit freer with how you choose to develop your story. As always with screenwriting, by making sure you follow a basic structure you give yourself the freedom to explore without getting lost. The above essential elements are the starting map to act two’s vastness.