March’s Buzz:

THE SECOND ACT: THE MEAT OF YOUR STORY
(Copyright 2004)

by
Kathryn McCullough

For the key beats and sequences of the second act, check out the October 2003 Buzz essay, “Sequences: The Building Blocks of A Script.” For tips on overcoming one of the major hurdles in a second act - developing the concept into a full-fledged story - look at December 2002’s Buzz, “Now What? Moving Beyond the Premise.” For some other common problems in the second act and how to deal with them, see below.

Repetition

Scripts tend to sag in the second act because plot and character beats repeat themselves. The central tension has been set up, but the action seems to run in place as the hero and villain face off over and over, or the two romantic leads spar and make up over and over, or the protagonist makes several attempts to achieve his goal and hits one obstacle after another, with no change in his character or circumstances.

Make sure that every scene and sequence moves your story forward in some way. If the hero loses a battle with a villain, it must result in a change of some kind. For instance, the hero’s ally may get killed, leaving the hero alone in his quest. Or the hero may gain an ally when one of the villain’s lackeys joins him after the hero saves the lackey’s life. In either case, the protagonist’s situation has changed significantly, forcing him to act in a new way and/or come up with a new strategy. This type of development keeps the story moving and the audience hooked.

Another form of repetition is when beats from the first act are rehashed in the second act. If the heroine is shown in the first act to have a difficult relationship with her mother, then any scene between mother and daughter in the second act must reveal how the relationship and/or the heroine is changing due to the events in the plot.

Magic appearing/disappearing characters

In a first draft certain supporting characters introduced in the first act may fade from view in the second act, while new ones pop up. In rewriting it is important to identify these characters and either make them more substantial or drop them.

It is fine to have “one-string characters” who are only necessary for a specific plot beat, such as a clerk in a store. However, if a character is introduced as an important figure, such as the hero’s best friend or brother, and then vanishes in the second act, this will be perceived as a glaring flaw in the script. In most cases this character should be cut from the script and his lines and action given to someone who sticks around. If the character is necessary to the story, then work to weave him into the action throughout the script.

More common and problematic are key characters who pop out of nowhere to solve some problem or provide some convenient information. For instance, if the hero gets fired in the second act, then we need to see the boss well before he gives the hero the axe. Setting up such characters early on makes their dramatic beats credible rather than contrived.

Insufficient character and relationship development

Developing the characters and their relationships is one of the biggest challenges in writing a screenplay. However, believable character growth is often what separates fair scripts from superior ones. Stories with characters who change significantly appeal to both actors and audiences, and they give your story emotional depth.

It is usually not difficult to figure out how you want your character to change; the difficulty comes in finding a way to show this change bit by bit, instead of having the hero suddenly see the light and become brave or mature or empathetic in the last scene.

One way to deal with this is to write an emotional outline, similar to your plot outline. In each sequence, determine where the character is in his growth. How does he feel about what is going on? Has he changed at all yet? If so, how, and more importantly, why? The events your hero experiences in each sequence should have a specific effect on him.

Lack of complications

Video game developers make their games addicting by constantly increasing the tension and difficulty at each level of play. Slaying one dragon leads to a dozen more dragons charging towards you. Winning one race shifts your car into a higher gear and more obstacles are thrown in your path. Use this same approach with your story, but translate it into dramatic and emotional terms. The formula for a compelling second act generally follows this formula: Every time things seem to be going well, they get worse; and every time things seem like they can’t get any worse, they do.

Failing to milk the climax

The climax of your story, which comes at the end of the second act, is the high point of your script (even though it is most likely the low point for your hero). Make sure you don’t gloss over this key sequence. This is often the set piece that your audience remembers most vividly, because it contains the most intense emotions and dramatic substance. Think of the scene in TOOTSIE where Dustin Hoffman reveals his true identity during a live taping of his soap opera.

The second act will no doubt take up the bulk of your rewriting efforts, and you may need several drafts to get it right. Even once you do, your work is not done. The third act provides your final impact on your audience, and it requires care and attention too. Tune in next month for third act solutions.