The First Half of the Second Act (Secrets of Story Structure, Pt. 6 of 12)

Every segment of a story offers its own challenges, but perhaps none leaves more writers bewildered than the Second Act. At least beginnings and endings provide a checklist of things to accomplish. The middle of the story, on the other hand, is a yawning blank. You may feel like you’re entirely without a guide as you try to move your characters toward where they need to be for the ending to work. Fortunately, if you pay attention to solid story structure, you’ll find that the middle of the story has a checklist all its own. The Second Act is the largest part of your story, comprising roughly 50%. It begins after the First Plot Point at the 25% mark and continues until the Third Plot Point at the 75% mark.

Within the Second Act, we find three structural beats, once again falling at eighths within the overall structural timing:

• The First Pinch Point – 37%
• The Midpoint (Second Plot Point) – 50%
• The Second Pinch Point – 62%

This week, we will discuss the First Half of the Second Act, which includes the First Pinch Point. Next week, we will devote an entire post to the Midpoint, and the following week we will cover the Second Half of the Second Act and the Second Pinch Point.

Character Reactions in the First Half of the Second Act

The First Half of the Second Act is the “reaction phase” of your story. This is where your characters find the time and space to react to the First Plot Point. Remember how we discussed the First Plot Point being definitive because it forced the characters into irreversible reaction? That reaction, which will lead to another reaction and another and another, creates your Second Act.

The First Plot Point hit your characters hard. Now, their lives are no longer running on the same smooth paths, and they have to do something about it. If you examine the First Plot Point in a story, you will see it is the characters’ reactions to the event that change everything and create the story. Even when the First Plot Point incorporates a life-altering tragedy (e.g., the murder of Benjamin Martin’s son and the burning of his plantation in The Patriot), the characters could conceivably continue their lives more or less as they had before. It’s their reaction (e.g., Martin’s becoming the “ghostly” militia leader who terrorizes the British army) that allows the chain of events to continue—and create a story.

This is why introducing characters and other crucial elements in the First Act is so important. If you fail to properly set up the protagonist as someone who would logically react in the way necessary to facilitate the Second Act, your story will implode. When searching for the appropriate Characteristic Moment to introduce a character, consider an event that will reflect, inform, or contrast the character’s reaction to what happens later at the First Plot Point.

For the next quarter of the book, until the Midpoint, your characters will react to the events of the First Plot Point. They will take action, but all these actions are a response to what’s happened to them. They’re trying to regain their balance and figure out where their lives should go next.

For Example:

• In my medieval novel Behold the Dawn, the characters spend this part of the book on the run from the bishop who wants them dead.
• In Brent Weeks’s The Way of Shadows, the protagonist spends years reacting to the orders of his master.
• In Lew Wallace’s Ben-Hur, the protagonist is forced into a reactionary role as a galley slave after he’s unjustly captured and sentenced at the First Plot Point.

Just because the characters are comparatively reactive in this phase does not mean they are passive. However, even though they are making choices and trying to move forward toward the plot goal, they are not yet able to be genuinely effective in doing so. Not until they reach a Moment of Truth at the Midpoint will they see themselves and the plot conflict in a clearer light. This will then allow them to switch into an “active phase,” in which their choices and actions become increasingly informed and calibrated in the Second Half of the Second Act. This is why the First Half of the Second Act is often where the character is learning the rules of the game—whether those are the nuances of a new relationship, the tricks of the trade in a new job, survival skills, or the social structure of a new neighborhood.

The First Pinch Point

The First and Second Pinch Points are paired beats, both occurring in the Second Act, one prior to the Midpoint and one after. Although pinch points are just as structurally integral as plot points, they won’t always be represented by huge scenes. Their primary role is to provide a “pinch” that reminds the protagonist of the formidable obstacle represented by the antagonistic force and what is at stake should the protagonist fail.

The First Pinch Point takes place halfway through the First Half of the Second Act at the 37% mark. Here, the antagonistic force can flex its muscles and impress with its capacity to disrupt the protagonist’s forward momentum. This moment serves primarily to set up the change of tactics the protagonist will soon learn. By reminding readers of the antagonist’s power, the First Pinch Point raises the stakes and foreshadows the central turning point at the Midpoint. Like all major structural beats, the First Pinch Point should focus on the central conflict rather than a subplot.

For Example:

• The antagonist might jab at your protagonist’s weakness, as in Ever After, when the wicked stepmother exults to Danielle about the probability of her daughter marrying the prince.
• The protagonist might fail in his fight against the antagonist and be mocked or reprimanded for it, as in the film Warrior when Brendan’s brother Tommy rejects his attempts at reconciliation.
• If your story features your antagonist’s POV, your First Pinch Point might simply be a reminder of what the antagonist is planning, as in Captain America: The First Avenger when the Red Skull murders his superiors and goes rogue or as in The Empire Strikes Back when Emperor Palpatine tells Darth Vader that Luke Skywalker is their new enemy.

Character Realizations After the First Pinch Point

Although the entirety of the First Half of the Second Act is a story’s “reaction phase,” the degree to which the characters shift out of reaction and into action will steadily evolve as they learn new skills. By the time they reach the Midpoint, they will encounter a definitive turning point that offers a concrete epiphany about themselves and the nature of the plot conflict. The events at the First Pinch Point will contribute to that process.

Whatever the characters learn at the First Pinch Point, even if it is just that the antagonist is more formidable than they thought, will fuel their continuing growth toward effectiveness in the plot. The section after the First Pinch Point and leading up to the Midpoint will solidify a state of realization for the protagonist. Think of these realizations as clues leading the characters to the major revelation at the Midpoint. A story’s most significant revelations—those that irrevocably change things for the protagonist and thus turn the plot—should be saved for the main structural turning points. However, most stories will require a chain of minor realizations that evolve the characters’ perspectives leading up to these seismic shifts.

For Example:

• In Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, the Midpoint declaration of love is preceded by the section in which the protagonist must internally grapple with and admit he is in love with a woman who is not his fiancée.
• In Little Women, the Midpoint revelation is Jo’s quiet Truth that life inevitably changes as everyone begins to grow up; this is preceded by a section in which many smaller changes occur, including her best friend Laurie going away to college.
• In The Martian, the Midpoint revelation is the stranded astronaut’s acknowledgment that he will probably die on Mars if he continues his current tactics. This is preceded by a section of small tragedies that successively limit his ability to survive.

Examples of the First Half of the Second Act From Film and Literature

Pride and Prejudice: After Bingley leaves Netherfield Park at Darcy’s prompting (the First Plot Point), Elizabeth and her sisters can do little except react. Jane goes to London to visit her aunt and to discover why Bingley left. In the absence of Mr. Wickham, Elizabeth pays an extended visit to her friend Charlotte (the new Mrs. Collins). While there, she again meets Mr. Darcy and is forced to react to his perplexing attentions.

It’s a Wonderful Life: Even after the First Plot Point in which his father dies of a stroke, George’s life could have progressed exactly as he wanted it to. But when he reacts to Mr. Potter’s attempts to close down the Building & Loan by agreeing to stay in Bedford Falls and take his father’s place, his life is forever changed. For the next quarter of the movie, we find George adjusting to life in Bedford Falls. When his brother Harry (who was supposed to take George’s place in the Building & Loan) gets married and takes another job, George is again forced to react. He accepts he must stay in Bedford Falls, and he marries Mary Hatch—reactions that build upon his initial decision to preserve the Building & Loan.

Ender’s Game: After joining Bonzo’s Salamander Army, Ender struggles to stay afloat in Battle School. He learns to fight—and win—in the zero-grav war games. He makes friends and enemies and sets in motion the events that will later cause the standoff between him and the bully Bonzo. Everything he does in the First Half of the Second Act is a reaction to his presence in Battle School in general and his promotion to Salamander Army in particular.

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World: Captain Jack Aubrey and his crew spend the First Half of the Second Act reacting to their second sighting of the Acheron. After turning the tables on the enemy ship, Jack subsequently loses her during a tragic accident at Cape Horn and is forced to devise new plans and methods for managing his crew until they reach the Galapagos Islands.

Top Things to Remember About the First Half of the Second Act

1. The characters should react promptly and irrevocably to the events of the First Plot Point.
2. Because the characters’ lives and plans have been significantly altered, they must find new ways of dealing with the world in general and the main antagonistic force in particular.
3. Their reactions should be deep and varied enough to create the next quarter of the story.
4. Their reactions must be dominoes, moving the plot forward and deepening the weave of scenes, subplots, and themes.
5. Often, this section is where the characters will gain the skills or items necessary for the final conflict in the Third Act.
6. At the First Pinch Point, the protagonist will be pressured (either in person or even from afar and without knowing it) by the antagonistic force.

The First Half of the Second Act deepens character development and foreshadows meaningful elements. Even in fast-paced action stories, this will often be the most thoughtful portion of your story as you finish building the foundation your characters will stand upon during the Climax.

Stay tuned: Next week, we will talk about the Midpoint, or Second Plot Point.

Wordplayers, tell me your opinions! Do ever you struggle with the Second Act in your stories? Tell me in the comments!

Related Posts:

Part 1: 5 Reasons Story Structure Is Important

Part 2: The Hook

Part 3: The First Act

Part 4: The Inciting Event

Part 5: The First Plot Point

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