# Three-act beat sheet

From "Three-act structure: the acts, the turns and where they fall" by the
Feldar team: https://feldar.com/guides/three-act-structure

Free to use, copy and change. Positions are shares of the finished book's word
count. Treat them as a check after drafting, not as targets to write to.
At 80,000 words: 10% = 8,000, 25% = 20,000, 50% = 40,000, 75% = 60,000,
90% = 72,000.


## The book

Working title and target length (words):
Protagonist:
What they want:
What they need:
The question the book keeps asking:


## Act one (about the first 25%)

### Opening (page one)
What is wrong in this life?
What will be different on the last page?

### Inciting incident (about 10%)
Chapter:
What happens that cannot be ignored?
What question does it raise?

### Plot point one (about 25%)
Chapter:
What door closes behind the protagonist?
What do they choose to do?


## Act two (about 25% to 75%)

### Rising complications (25% to 50%)
Chapters:
Attempts, and what each one costs:
First pinch (about 37%), the opposition at work:

### Midpoint (about 50%)
Chapter:
What do they learn that makes the first half look different?
How does the goal change, from want toward need?

### Tightening (50% to 75%)
Chapters:
What can no longer be undone?
Second pinch (about 62%), the opposition at full strength:

### Plot point two (about 75%)
Chapter:
What do they lose, and what does the loss make clear?
How did their own flaw or earlier choice cause it?


## Act three (about the last 25%)

### Climax (about 90%)
Chapter:
What choice could only the changed protagonist make?

### Resolution (the last pages)
What is the new normal, and what did it cost?
Final image, and how it mirrors the opening:


## Check

Has the protagonist committed by a third of the way in?
Does the midpoint change the goal, not only the size of the obstacle?
Is the climax decided by the protagonist, not by luck or rescue?