Act breaks?

Well, I spend way too much time watching movies, and I know that they're all divided into 3 acts. I just don't really know how to find them. Is there a way I could figure out how to use the three-act structure for writing so that way I could figure out what goes into each individual act rather than trying to figure out what could fit into a single chapter?

For developing any story, you might want to try the Snowflake Method. You can read about it here.

The idea is you start with your premise, then go into deeper and deeper layers of detail. Honestly I should crosspost this on Writing Excuses since its such a good site.

Well, not every story precisely follows a three-act structure. Most of them do, sure, but trying to write something to such a structure that isn't inherently tied to it—a stage play, for instance—strikes me as forcing something that, assuming your story is that kind of story, should really just come naturally.

Interesting. The idea is pretty basic, and a bit more calculated than I normally go for, but it's a good way to at least figure out how to, say, explain a work to someone, or to give form to a very hard-to-capture idea.

edited 11th Jun '12 9:10:29 AM by JHM

This is one take of the three-act structure. The articles it leads to are a bit hefty though.

But, if I recall correctly, another website summarizes the three-act structure like this:

• Act I: You set the stage, introducing all the characters, the setting, and such. It ends with the central problem kicking into gear.
• Act II: The plot gets complicated, with twists and turns. It ends when the protagonist messes up big time, plunging into a stage of despair.
• Act III: The protagonist recovers with a new plan, and confronts the central problem in the finale. After the problem is solved (or the protagonist fails), the plot winds down to a conclusion.