Modeling the Three-Act Plot Formula

Plotting a story is often difficult for many (most?) writers. This post may make the job a bit easier.

According to Aristotle's analysis, a plot consists of three interrelated parts, among which there is a series of cause-and-effect relationships. Every story (or play, which is what he was analyzing in Poetics) has a beginning, a middle, and an end. (The ancient Greek plays he watched were three-act plays.)

With this structure in mind, the basic plot formula of 1. CAUSE, 2. ACTION, and 3. OUTCOME can be used to generate many specific plot models. Any of the models can produce either a comedic or a tragic outcome, depending on its development.

Here are a few such models, some with an example from a book, a short story, or a movie.

1. Problem
2. Solution
3. Outcome
   
   

Example: As Good as It Gets

1. Seduction
2. Sex
3. Outcome
   
   

Example: Fatal Attraction

1. Masquerade
2. Unmasking
3. Outcome

Example: The Crying Game

1. Victimization
2. Vengeance
3. Outcome

Example: Sudden Impact

1. Stalking
2. Assault 
3. Outcome

Example: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)

1. Temptation 
2. Resistance 
3. Outcome

Example: Joan of Arc (LeeLee Sobieski)

1. Options
2. Selection
3. Outcome

1. Submission
2. Dominance
3. Outcome

Example: The Story of O

1. Dominance
2. Submission
3. Outcome

Example: The Collector

1. Role
2. Reversal
3. Outcome

Example: The Final Girl

1. Curiosity
2. Experiment
3. Outcome

Example: The Moviegoer

1. Anxiety
2. Confession
3. Outcome
   
   

1. Opportunity
2. Pact
3. Outcome

Example: Faust

1. Twins
2. Swap
3. Outcome
   
   

Example: The Parent Trap

1. Twins
2. Share
3. Outcome

1. Dissatisfaction
2. Novelty
3. Outcome

Example: The Wizard of Oz

1. Change
2. Adaptation
3. Outcome

 

Example: King Henry IV, Part II

1. Threat
2. Response
3. Outcome

 

Example: Alien

1. Isolation
2. Challenge
3. Outcome
   
   

1. Novelty
2. Trial
3. Outcome
   

 

1. Process
2. Change
3. Outcome

 

Example: The Fly

1. Perspective
2. Violence
3. Outcome

 

Example: Death Wish