I love to write the first twenty pages of screenplays. I also love to write the endings. But, the second act drives me insane!
The second act starts between pages 20 and 30 and consists of about 60 pages right in the middle of the story. If the second act falls apart or gets boring, you will lose the reader. And, if you lose the reader, your screenplay will never get made into a movie!
I’m writing the dreaded second act of “the screenplay” right now and, although I’m not stuck, I feel like I’m mucking about in a pond of mud.
So, I decided to spend a couple of hours with Syd Field, Linda Seger, and Robert McKee. After perusing their books, and others, this is what I’ve learned…
During the second act, something must happen. And whatever happens must cause something else to happen, and that should cause something else to happen, etc…
Things need to get complicated in the second act, the “plot must thicken!” Scenes will need to build on each other. So make sure there is a reason for each and every scene!
Robin U. Russin and William Missouri Downs state in their book “”Screenplay, Writing the Picture” that the second act is where we find “conflicts, crises, obstacles, complications, or reversals; rising action ; and the protagonist’s ‘dark moment.’
Syd Field uses the word “confrontation” to describe act two! Remember, as you write, many conflicts are solved, but there should always be another bit of trouble for the protagonist, and it should be right around the corner.
Make sure to eliminate exposition as you write the second act. Remember the most important rule … show, don’t tell!
Lets say that Dick and Sally need to ”argue” in your story. Have them argue while they’re jogging around the block. Or better yet, have them argue while they’re being chased around the block by a couple of hoodlums! Then make sure one of them trips while they’re running… Maybe Sally trips and her glasses fly off and Dick stomps on them and crushes them… Get the picture. Something happens, which causes something else to happen, which causes…
Movies with great second acts are the movies that you hate to see end!
