Day 22 - What's Important About The End of Act Two

If you refer to the printable story grid as discussed on Day Four you will see two important beats nearing the end of Act Two.

In my current project I am writing these scenes today. What is happening in my script is that the main character gets an opportunity to find love, and believing she's learned her lesson charges full steam ahead -- in the wrong direction.

When the other shoe drops (and she loses it all; end of act two) she realizes that she wasn't using the right tools. The right tools are usually covered up by "all the things the main character is afraid of" and naturally that's not the first, or even second place your character wants to look.

But ultimately, after all else fails, there's no other way around it. Because of everything else that has happened in the script (character growth specifically) your main character will now be able to face that fear and succeed. That's your act three in a nutshell.

Let's look at Jaws (it's in instant play on Netflix and an all-time great movie in regards to character arc and I'm sure not to spoil it for anyone).

As a refresher - the POLICE CHIEF is afraid of the water - actually he's just plain afraid of the chaos of life - and water symbolizes* his greater fear. He's moved his family to Amityville Island to try to protect them from the violence and insanity he's witnessed as a cop in the big city. What could go wrong? Well, violence and danger returns in the form of a super shark.

In the second half of the second act, the Problem Returns Stronger when the shark eats someone right in front of the Chief's son - who was supposed to be safe in the lagoon. Now tourism is going to be dead unless they kill that shark. So our chief Battles Back Using The Wrong Tools. He hires Quinn to kill the shark.

This isn't a bad plan, it's not wrong in the sense that it isn't logical or a practical next step. It's the "wrong tools" because again our hero is still clinging to his fears. He's not facing them himself, he's hiring out. He gets on the boat, which shows growth, but the entire time he's looking the quickest way back to shore and safety. This is where the Chief delivers the classic, "We're going to need a bigger boat" line. This line is so memorable because it is exactly the type of thing we expect the chief to say, because he is a consistently drawn (realistic) character.

This all lends itself to set up a great climax in the third act where in fact, our hero is in the water, battling the shark himself. With quick thinking and good aim he blows the shark to kingdom come. And what is the closing image? The chief is swimming in the water back to shore.

Viola - happy writing!

*More about symbols and theme after we finish the vomit draft. DON'T think about that now. Not yet.