How To Write A Great Act Three In Any Novel

Act Three marks the culmination of the story's central conflicts and character arcs. It's a phase of the highest stakes, of win or lose, of intense emotions, and critical decisions that take us right to the Denouement. Each chapter in this section plays a crucial role in shaping the final outcome of the story.

Understanding the end of your story is perhaps the most crucial phase of structuring your novel, whether you are a plotter or a pantser. During Act One, you need to be clear what the Quest is, who the central character is, what the stakes are, but as long as you lay these out in a good, clear order, you should be fine. In Act Two, you can have a lot of variety and flexibility, as you indulge the Fun And Games, as you hit the Midpoint then let The Bad Guys Close In.

But Act Three is all hard structure. It’s all plot points and delivering on your narrative promises. Much too often, writers race to the end in an exhausted rush, thinking in some panic, ‘How on earth do I finish this?’ But that’s a mistake. Honing the premise and first few chapters of your novel is great for getting your book noticed. But nailing the end of the story is what has your readers gasping with surprise and telling their friends about it. The end of your book is actually truly where its heart exists, or perhaps, its magic and skill. It is like a glorious piece of orchestral music. It is in how it wraps up – and those moments after – that makes the hair stand up on our necks.

The Hard Structure of Act Three Explained

There is a basic three–part dramatic structure to Act Three. You should not only try to develop a final act that coheres to this because it is laid out in Classic Novel Structure, but also because it is going to make your life so much easier doing it this way. It immediately creates a satisfying, propulsive and complete resolution of your novel and delivers on all that is expected from the end of the Quest, and it is really very straightforward to follow.

Part 1: The protagonist finds a way out of the Dark Night Of the Soul during the early part of Act Three. The way forward will not be immediately apparent, but gradually they will find faith in the Quest again.

Part 2: At the mid–act pinch point, a reveal or twist, or some other dramatic action, will usher in the Climax, the final major act of confrontation and conflict that will bring about the resolution of the Quest.

Part 3: The Climax completes, and the Quest resolves one way or another, and the protagonist – all surviving characters, in fact – enter the new world after it. Go back to the Opening Image/Hook, and let the story end resonantly for the reader.

That’s it. This three–part structure for Act Three is how to end any novel. Other routes may be available, but this structure will not let you down.

The Difference Between The Climax And The Denouement

The climax of a novel is the peak of the story's tension and conflict, where the protagonist faces their greatest challenge which leads directly to the outcome of the plot. It's the moment of highest drama and intensity and shows what the external resolution is, the narrative facts of it.

In contrast, the Denouement follows the Climax and shows the internal, emotional and philosophical meanings of the resolution, for the characters, for the reader, for the whole novel, as well as tying up loose ends and revealing any other consequences of the outcome.

The Climax delivers the pivotal dramatic moment in the completion of the Quest, while the Denouement shows us the new world that exists after the Quest is complete: its outcome, giving closure and a return to equilibrium.

This is an excerpt from How To Write A Novel Chapter By Chapter available here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Novel-Chapter-Outlining-ebook/dp/B0DJ8TMVWL?ref_=ast_author_mpb

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