Cindy’s presentation can be found on our website at https://www.portlandwritersmill.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/What-Novelists-Can-Learn-from-the-Movies-4.pdf : Please don’t share the link.

She gave us a very clear explanation (with examples) of the 3-act plot structure, which, apparently, dates from the time of Aristotle. If it’s lasted this long, as a way of telling stories, there’s got to be something to it!

Three Act Plot Structure

See Cindy’s notes for the image. Her graph of a story appears as three consecutive bumps, starting with

• Act 1
  • Exposition – the world and characters as they are
  • Inciting incident (top of the bump) – the catalyst for the story. Something happens—big or small—something that draws the reader in.
  • Plot point 1, where the first bump (act) ends and the second begins. The protagonist makes a decision to go… forward, on a different path… something that makes the reader go forward with reading as well.
• Act 2 is long, twice as long as act 1 or act 3. It’s the place for trials and tribulations, subplots etc.
  • Act 2’s bump starts with rising action
  • Then at the middle there’s a mid-point—a twist, perhaps; something big happens; in a mystery it’s probably another death.
  • Then the bump goes down to plot point 2—the dark night of the soul, the point where all is lost and you don’t know how the protagonist will get out of this. In a romance, this is probably the big breakup. In other stories, perhaps the protagonist has got everything they thought they wanted and this is where they realize it’s still not enough.
• Act 3 is your final act
  • The bump rises through a pre-climax to a climax – a battle (real or internal) that brings the character arc to real change
  • Then there’s the resolution, where the author makes sure all the questions have been answered.

Someone asked where a prolog fits in to this. Well-known authors can get away with long prologs, because the reader already knows they want to read on. For the rest of us, a prolog might be used if setting up the inciting incident would take too long to keep the reader’s interest (for example, in a murder mystery with a long setup); so start with the incident, in the prolog, then go back to how it all began.

Another question concerned sequels and series. Cindy said genre novels are often easier to sell as series—fantasy, scifi, mysteries… and movies. She always knew the Ivy Meadows mysteries would be a series, with details about her character’s relationship issues to be resolved later. (The series is now complete, if anyone wants to get the complete set!)

She said she works out her stories according to the 3-act structure before writing them. But she might change the plot points once she starts writing. New characters might surprise her, or unexpected clues might become important. At this point, she makes notes:

• Introduce this clue earlier
• Bring this character in sooner
• Move this scene to somewhere before that one

Examples

Cindy offered us the example of the Wizard of Oz, which Matthew seemed to know by heart!

• Exposition:
  • Dorothy dislikes her home life.
• Inciting incident:
  • The tornado whisks Dorothy away.
• Plot Point 1:
  • Dorothy decides to follow the Yellow Brick Road to find the Wizard.
• Midpoint:
  • The Wizard is a fake (or at least a flake) who can’t help Dorothy.
• Plot Point 2
  • Dorothy is captured by the witch.
• Climax:
  • Dorothy melts the witch.
• Resolution:
  • Dorothy returns to Kansas, now understanding  that there’s no place like home.

Together, we worked on analyzing the first Star Wars movie (episode IV)

• Exposition:
  • Luke dislikes his home life. Interesting that this is the same in both movies
• Inciting incident:
  • Help me Obiwan Kenobi—Luke meets the robots and Leia’s hologram.
• Plot Point 1:
  • Luke sets off to find Obiwan.
• Midpoint:
  • Luke, Obiwan, and Han are captured by the Death Star.
• Plot Point 2
  • They escape, but the Death Star is going to destroy the rebel base

• Climax:
  • Death Star destroyed.
• Resolution:
  • Medals are handed out.

Cindy noted that when movies work well, she can see this 3-act structure in them. And when they don’t quite work, if often means they didn’t follow the structure. An example, she suggested, might be comparing The Village to Signs, both by M. Night Shyamalan.

How and When to Open Your Story

Movies open with the inciting incident – it must happen before pg 10 of the script.

Novels might be less strict, but Amazon’s look-inside feature shows the first 10% of the book, and this must include your inciting incident.

Another “rule” is to include a “question”—something the reader wants to know—in that first 10%. For example, “It was only a teeny fire” invites the reader to wonder how, why, when, where… or “If she could only get home without crying” invites questions of why she’s crying.

Someone asked why James Bond movies (always successful) start with a totally unrelated scene. This might be called an “Opening Gambit” and it works in Bond movies because we expect it. That said, the movie itself is more about the world and the excitement than the plot.

Avoiding On the Nose Dialog

Would anyone really say “I’m sorry, but I’m just not physically attracted to you”?

On the nose dialog is when characters say exactly what they mean. Cindy invited us to come up with more likely phrases:

• It’s not you, it’s me (which invites a story about me)
• I’m going to be very busy (which invites questions what they’re busy doing)
• I’m sorry, I’m married (which could result in lots of fun dialog—“So am I” perhaps)
• We have enough in common to be friends, but not to share a life (so where will this friendship take them?)

If your characters are saying exactly what they mean, look again. Look at their intentions.

Dialog should show emotions and thoughts, rather than telling them.

Reading aloud helps us see if our dialog sounds real. For a screenplay, the author hears the actors read, and maybe changes the dialog so they’ll read it differently. For novels, you need to be your own actor.

Perfecting Your Timing

Find the right rhythm by reading aloud, then use:

• Punctuation and dialog tags—some chapters can be written entirely as text messages, where the same character sends lots of short texts.
• Paragraph and section breaks—a section break is like a new scene in a movie; still the same chapter
• Sentence length—short sentences and fragments set the timing
• Chapter endings
  • Ending on a hook can be overused
  • End on a small resolution—maybe your character goes to sleep
  • As you read, you might realize your chapter could end sooner—delete those unnecessary final sentences

Utilizing Meaningful Action

Meaningless action: Any action that doesn’t add a deeper meaning to the scene.

Meaningful action: Any action that causes the reader to experience the most important meaning of the scene on a deeper level.

• Ask yourself, “What is the best action for this scene?”
• Try to avoid “talking head” scenes – definitely not good for movies!

Example: A man and woman are discussing their future as a couple. She wants to get married and he’s hedging. How might action show this?

• He’s looking at his phone.
• He’s walking ahead of her.

Rewriting for Maximum Impact

Your first draft is probably horrible. But once it’s written, you can see how it fits into a 3-act structure. You can cut pieces that wander. Find the inciting incident and maybe move it.

Movies have a “beat sheet” where each beat is a scene with a little story arc. Ruth gave us this link: https://medium.com/the-1000-day-mfa/understanding-story-beats-and-how-they-relate-to-scenes-e7fdc2ecc50e

In a screenplay, at around 110 pages, the list of beats may not be very long. With a  novel it will be much longer, but it’s well worth creating a beat sheet after you’ve written that first draft. Then try looking at the beats backwards:

• Does it further the story?
• Is it entertaining?
• Does it feel right?

As you go through them, circle beats that need to be changed or moved or removed. You may need to move something before the midpoint to propel the story forward. It will take a lot of time, but it’s worth it. And your book will be much better if you take lots of time over this stage.

Favorite Resources

Cindy shared her favorite resources:

• Story by Robert McKee a big book but really, really good—this is the one she recommends first.
• Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder. The title comes from the idea that your protagonist has to be worth rooting for. Maybe you don’t need to like anyone in a modern TV series, but you don’t devote as much time to watching an episode as you would to reading a book. Readers need a reason to care.
• Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
• https://www.screenwritingu.com/ – they offer free 1-hour sessions every Friday. They’ll try to get you to sign up for an expensive course, but the free sessions are great.

Basically, you have to know the rules before you can break them successfully.

Avoid analysis paralysis. Wait till you have an idea. Then read to someone else.

Endings

Endings are where the character and plot arcs end—Cindy may come back to tell us more about this sometime… please!

• Character arc: Your protagonist needs to grow, even if the book’s part of a series.  Ivy Meadows grows as a person, PI and actor.
• Plot arc: There’s a mystery to be solved, but
• Series arc: Part of the character/background mystery is not solved till the end of the series.

Give your character the “ending they deserve.”

If a novel doesn’t “end” the reader ends up feeling cheated and won’t read anything else by that writer. After all, they’ve put lots of hours of their own time into reading.

Difference between screenwriting and Play-writing

In screenwriting, you write visually, make your point with action and setting. An interesting exercise is to be rewrite the initial scene—the exposition—with no dialog at all.

• A character takes Top Ramen from a nearly empty cupboard – they’re poor
• Walks past a wall decorated with movie photos, all including the same person – they used to be in movies
• Gazes out window at a cinema showing the same movie with different stars – they’re past it…

In a play, the story is usually smaller, as much about the character as the situation—maybe slice of life. It’s not visual; it’s dialog driven.

Final Questions

• How does an author switch off and just read?
  • Maybe set a time: when you’re tired, when your brain is switching off.
  • Set a place: in bed?
• How much research goes into mystery novels?
  • While writing the first draft, might realize you need to know, say, how to kill someone who has a particular job. Research this early, to avoid writing yourself into a corner. There’s a CrimeScene listserv where authors share questions and answers:  <Crimescenewriter2@groups.io>
  • Later you might want a scene in a particular place. Just leave notes—write this later—and keep on with the story.
  • Always ask yourself, what does my character want and how does it fit into the story.