Screenwriting : 2nd act blues? by Adrianna Agudelo

Let your characters go off rails, have fun, and do something unexpected! I find thinking about it doesn't help - reach out for others' opinions, workshop it, act it out with improv, just anything to get out of the logic and into the fun.

Split it in half - Act 2A and Act 2B. I find even portions easier to work with than odd ones sometimes. :)

Lew Hunter's Screenwriting 434 is great for this issue.

William Martell also has an "Act 2" book/guide.

My approach - may/not work for you. To me, first comes a theme/idea/concept (not well organized). I write a killer opening with a strong hook, then I write the ending/resolution, Only then do I create a basic plot map (outline) to get from opening (point A) to the end (point B).

I break the storyline into 4 Acts, each Act into 2 segments and each segment into 2 basic (master) scenes. That works out to about 16 slices of about 7 pages (mol). My brain can usually handle those little 'chunks'. The whole thing is flexible and often veers off course. That's okay because it keeps me involved in the story development. You'd be surprised at what some of your characters suggest.

I'm writing a light paranormal drama right now and just today one of my characters told me that that I'm writing 'Romeo and Juliet' but she can't commit suicide because she's already dead. Yeah that makes sense - it's one of those little meanderings that keeps me involved in the storyline and helps me stay interested thru Act II.

You need to find what works for you.

Had scripts written, optioned and even produced before even knew there is a three act structure to mind upon...word is, focus on the story, develop a good components within the treatment and the acts will place themselves just in place...

My experience has been that, if I try and focus on character building moments; more specifically, making sure each character of importance gets moments to shine and that contribute to furthering the plot, my second acts tend to be more focused. I try to include two elements in each scene: 1) how can I show this character's personality and 2) how can I move the plot to it's next beat. Just try to keep it simple, that's what works for me.

A lot of people are good at intros and finales as it's all world-building and plot solving.

The middle is where all the character development and theme tends to be. It's the real meat and potatoes of the story where everything unwinds. It's very easy to get lost and it takes some practice to get through intuitively.

A good understanding of the Hero's Journey monomyth is the place to start. You can then find find a structure template/process which works well for you to build your stories around. The results are mainly the same, they're just different approaches so don't let anyone tell you one is better than the other.

Ultimately you need a basic roadmap to follow which keeps you heading in the right direction while giving lots of inspiration and motivation. This should result in having too much content but being able to distill it down into the most entertaining and well-paced story possible.

Also, Sean laFollette's "The Failed Filmmaker" class has a great tool on second act development and reaching your "50% goal". Check him out. He really helped me!