FFC #43 - Victory is Upon Us

TGRF's Fan Fiction Chronicles - Entry #43

The weird thing about the three-act structure is that once you understand it - really understand it and know how it works - you start to see it everywhere. I'm starting to see it in places which aren't even stories. Point in case. My writing endeavors are currently in the last half of their second act.

In the middle of act II there's a midpoint, where everything becomes clear and the main character makes a resolution to charge forward. This midpoint is followed by a series of victories, where everything goes right for the main character. I feel like I'm starting on those victories. I'm a little worried, because the 3-act structure says that following those victories will be the deepest and darkest failure yet, but... we'll consider that later.

Point is, things are on fire with my writing. I've mentioned it before, but I've always been frustrated when I would look at something simple, like a short movie or a picture book, and be unable to figure out how the writer put it together (more complex things were out of the question). Well, I can do that now.

It started as a sense about where in the 3-act structure things were. Now I feel like I'm fully on board. I can look at a book or movie and tell what parts are being condensed or stretched out, and I can tell the purpose of each scene, and what they are building towards. I have a framework, built from a combination of character arc structure and plot structure, into which I can plug any idea, and in a matter of minutes know the gist of how the story would unfold. That's something I could never do before.

And now I'm writing the prequels to Eternity, and for the first time since I started writing fan fiction, I am not plagued by problems. There aren't any questions of how to get from point A to point B, or what should happen at point C, or how to convince character Y of idea X. The structure takes it all in and explains it. I feel like I can outline and write a full-size fan fiction in a matter of weeks, where before it could take me half a year.

...

I'm sure that feeling will die down soon, and I'll start having problems again. But until then, it's full steam ahead. I have powered through the development and outline of the first of the five prequels, and am ready to begin the writing (I actually already started the writing, but then realized I needed to slow down the first act; so I'll have to rewrite it). If the speed I am working at currently holds, I should be able to write all five prequels in five weeks. Maybe six.

Past experience is telling me that will never happen, but we'll see. I'll keep you updated.

~TGRF.