Act 2B -- deciding where to go after the midpoint changes the story world.

At the same time, it might be the most fun one to write. So many choices!

What I call Act IV -- ACT III in the real world.

I can get there well enough, but have a tendency to rush to the finish leaving me pages short.

Keep Writing!

Act II and Act III (my stuff has four acts) so ... the middle, usually.

Sometimes, though, the end as well.

It's interesting. 3-act structure has been so prevalent in the culture of screenplays, but more and more I see people talking about 4 acts. In the paradigm I teach (Narrative Throughline), I have it both ways: Three acts in the Plotline (External World), but Four acts in the Themeline (Internal World):

Disunity - Deconstruction - Reconstruction - Unity

Decon is what Luzid might call 2A and Recon is 2B.

I always fear the latter portion of Act II and yet it never is nearly as bad as I think it is.

I usually don't sweat Act III, figuring endings are easy and then it's twice as bad as I thought it would be.

Strange business, this movie writing stuff, eh?

Probably why I have about 20 Act Ones sitting in a drawer, unfinished. Why?

Fear of Acts Two and Three, of course.

I tend to drift towards character-driven writing -- which tends to get messy in my three or four act structure.

To me, once you have the protagonist sorted out...it's just about driving until you run out of gas...stopping by here and there to fill up the tank.

Does that make any sense to anyone out there? -- (or am I the crazy one?)....

But hey, if you stick a knife at my throat...and I was feeling pressed to say something smart....

I would say the final act is always hardest (wrapping things up and saying good by in a way that makes sense).

Henry Cruz

* blog - HenryCruz.com

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Hands down, the second act. It's a beast. I can come out of the gate introducing the world and its characters pretty easily but once I start building the second act (I definitely believe in splitting the second act into two acts) it can get rough. Especially the latter half.

Act three hardest, I think. Act one is easiest. Act two is somewhere in between.

Act three is hardest because I have problems to fill the time with something worth looking at. I have problems finding obstacles big enough. It feels like I fill the story with situations for my hero that do not really belong there.

I agree with William.

Act II is the beast.

M.

HAHA -- adding this late. Mostly because I saw the update -- and yes, the last half of Act Two is the hardest part of a script for me to write...

...and I can tell you why.

For me a movie is split in to two parts. The first half is all uphill. It's plotting and planning and planting -- it's construction.

By the time you hit the midpoint, things are starting to roll downhill. Sure, there's still a few things left to setup to punch the Third Act, but for the most part its about the pay offs.

It's a definite shift in my mentality as a writer. And to be honest, 'pay offs' seem too easy, to me. I just can't ever be surprised by them. It's sad, I know :/ Which makes me think I'm doing something wrong.

Back on point, by Act Three, if there's still stuff to setup, I've f'd up somewhere. So the end of Act Two is making sure the script is on solid ground to charge through Act Three.

By the time I get to page 75 - 85 the script needs to be super tight, so I can just sit down and crank out that killer finale. But this is where I fight myself for no apparent reason.

The "making it tight" is a wrestling match with a horde of dilemmas -- procrastination, deviation, and just downright not liking the script anymore to finish it.

I love writing Act III. I think it's the easiest. Act I can be tough, but it's more or less a tricky puzzle, that once put together the sense of accomplishment feels great. But, man, oh man, the end of Act Two -- I'm on a bit of a wing and a prayer, hoping everything works right, hoping it reads how I think it's supposed to be. Hoping that it makes sense. And ultimately, hoping that its been entertaining up until now.