Lesson 6

[Nat Melvin]

Natalie’s Creating Your Action Structure

WIL: Having looked at my story from different perspectives, dilemmas, and turning points, it greatly improved the flow, added more tension, escalating conflict, and elevated story logic. Great lesson! Can’t wait to get to a writing phase.

3-Act structure:

A lead character in an action scene – Brie navigates her car in the busy parking lot under duress

A challenging situation that creates conflict – community protesters picket the entrance, Brie and Cooper argue against/ in support of fairgrounds acquisition.

Gives us an insight into the character – Brie’s values are community oriented, Cooper’s values are profit and control based

Opens a question that is key to the story – Story question: Will the fairgrounds stand against Cooper’s aggressive acquisition scheme?

Opening

While having difficulty finding parking to the State Fair, Brie and her (husband/or fiancé?), Cooper, witness community protesters holding banners, picketing entrance to the fair. Brie supports protesters, Cooper opposes, based on his deal with Brie’s father who agreed to sell the land to Cooper’s development company.

Brie’s two children from a previous marriage fuss, eager to get on the rides. Brie is late for her chaperone duties she signed up for her son’s class. Cooper blames Brie for not being properly organized and not being a better mother.

Inciting Incident

Cooper meets with Turner, Brie’s father who owns the fair. But, influenced by community moves against the acquisition, Turner has a second thought and refuses to sell the land to Cooper’s development company. Cooper is pissed, and threatens Turner with legal actions, etc.

Cooper makes a call to his mafia partner asking to bring his goons to proceed with the Plan B.

First Turning Point at end of Act 1

Brie continues her chaperone duties, but her son wants to see Grandpa, and takes off. While looking for her son, Brie runs into her ex, Ronnie, a man with a shady past, former fair employee fired for negligence. Ronnie brags that he cleaned up, soon will have a decent place, and will get back visitation rights (mentions friends in high places). Brie has bad feelings about all his. (Maybe sees him exchange glances with Cooper).

Mid-Point

Brie’s Halloween “Trick or Treat” rides start malfunction, causing frustration among kids and their parents. She asks Cooper to find the cause and see if he can fix it while she tries to keep kids busy with something else.

Second Turning Point at end of Act 2

With the escalating frequency of rides’ malfunctions, Brie realizes that Cooper devised a plan to sabotage her father’s integrity by doing something devastating, and tragic – collapsing the Ferris Wheel. Cooper tries to sway Brie to his side, as in “save your father from embarrassment”, threatens with the law suits and potential jail time. Cooper offers her to make a choice between her family, or her useless, drunkard father with his dilapidated fair. And – Cooper threatens Brie to withdraw financing of her passion project – building her own Pilates studio.

Crisis

Brie runs to tell her father about Cooper’s sabotage plan, but gets locked in the maintenance room by Cooper’s goons.

Climax

Brie manages to break free, but she can’t find her father anywhere. Finally, she spots him together with her son — inside the Ferris Wheel’s cabin, as it starts to move.

Resolution

Brie saves her son, her father near dies, but manages to stop the wheel, Cooper falls to his death.

• This reply was modified 1 year, 10 months ago by  Nat Melvin.