Screenwriting : Three Act Structure and Originality by Abraham Adzashoja

On Originality and Three-Act Structure

I love the three-act story structure. I really do. But when I talk about stories, I usually do not place too much emphasis on structure. This is because I believe in the naturality of a story. Stories evolve spontaneously, so I believe that for a storyteller to be able to give life to his story, he has to be real and natural instead of been overly dramatic.

Do not get me wrong. As a screenwriter, I cannot dare undermine the importance of the three-act structure. But what I do when writing is that I forget about everything and just focus on telling my story. Sometimes as storytellers, we must not seek to only satisfy the audience’s craving for drama. We owe it to the owners of the story (that’s in the case of a real story) to be as original, real and natural as possible.

Perhaps nothing buttresses what I’m saying more than a scene in the movie, Peter Rabbit 2. There is an interesting conversation that goes on between the Mea, and the board of the potential publishers. The representation may have been comic, but it passed a strong message to me as a storyteller. The board suggests the title of the movie they want to make off the book, ‘Peter and the Rabbits in Space’. It seemed fanciful and something that would sit well with the audience, but the very important component it misses is naturality and originality.

Putting the Rabbits in space would sure excite the audience, but it would be a betrayal to the real story of the rabbits. In another instance, there was a drawing of Peter and the Rabbits on skateboards. It was hilarious and entertaining, but unnatural nonetheless. Such ideas are not bad; they could work for other stories, but not this one.

Why am I pointing this out? The three-act structure is the standard way of rendering stories for maximal cinematic and professional experience. But sometimes it can distort or even efface the originality of the story you want to tell. If we are not careful, what was meant for good will become the undoing of a great story.

I personally think a good story told in truth is better than the three-act structure. In that same board meeting in Peter Rabbit 2, Nigel tries to cover Peter with a space shield and almost chokes the poor creature to death. That is exactly what happens when we don’t respect our characters enough to let them have their originality.

What I’ve found over the years through my experience as a storyteller is that almost all stories have the three-act structure naturally. You just have to tell it correctly. So in this case, the structure fits into the story, and not the story trying to fit into the structure. This is the way it should be.