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Question on Acts vs Parts

TrapperViper

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Morning Everyone,

Hope you are all doing well and getting a chance to enjoy the summer amidst this crisis.

As a few of you might be aware, I am writing an Afghanistan war novel that takes place between the summer of 2008 and the summer of 2009 and am almost at the 50% mark. Last year I vacillated between writing this as a 3 act structure or a 5 act structure but after reviewing Save the Cat writes a Novel, Story Grid, and KM Weiland, I resolved to keep the novel as a 3 act structure.

I have a hard outline of each scene and where it falls within each act.

However, the scenes themselves can be grouped into specific time periods.

Act 1 ends in a climax on June 30th, 2008.

Act 2 begins July 4 and and the midpoint of the novel (50%) culminates in a "false victory" for the protagonist on July 21st.

Then the story fasts forward to about 6 scenes totaling 10k words between September 27-30.

Then fast forwards again to December December 21 to December 25 (again about 5 scenes totaling 10k words).

Then we jump to March 3rd to March 30th, and Act 2 ends.

Act 3 begins in May and the climax occurs shortly thereafter.

So....I have the novel in 3 acts but the timeline can be separated into 6 "parts"


Apologies for the long winded opening to a question, but can I separate the acts into "parts?"

Example:
Act 2, part 1=July 4-July 21
Act 2, part 2 = September 27-September 30
etc.,

Can any of you offer any examples of novels where this has been done before successfully?

Any other advice or insights would be very much appreciated. Thank you!
 

Woollybear

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The acts as I use them personally have to do with the character arc, their emotional transformation. This view has been influenced by the book Writing Deep Scenes: Plotting Your Story Through Action, Emotion, and Theme by Martha Alderson and Jordan Rosenfeld.

Time points are independent of this.

More broadly, time, to me, sometimes fills the role of an additional 'sense' to add. As I sit here typing to you, part of my mind is planning my day (the future, all the tasks on my list including my daily jog and getting a COVID test before visiting an elderly relative, etc, and another part of my mind wonders whether I should be procrastinating, but the coffee is lovely.) The reason I bring this up is (a. it's relatable--you understand this state of mind, and it contextualizes things in a way you too have experienced--kind of like an additional sense), and b. there are plenty of examples of a nonlinear time frame in literature, and if you'd like to read the theory of structuring a story in this way try Draft No. 4 by McPhee. He's got a nice example of writing a story of a bear encounter both linearly and nonlinearly.

In other words, without reading your manuscript, my instinct is to tell you not to worry that you fast-forward and have discrete time-units. The important part is what your viewpoint character is going through. Of course, there are examples of books that do use blocks and chunks labelled Part A, Part B, etc, too.
 
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InkFinger

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...my instinct is to tell you not to worry that you fast-forward and have discrete time-units. The important part is what your viewpoint character is going through.

Woolybear gives sage advice.
 

InkFinger

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This will be followed by two deletes. Weird, but the system hung up and then my response posted four times.
 
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MythMonger

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Apologies for the long winded opening to a question, but can I separate the acts into "parts?"


Are you talking about labeling your book as Act I, Act II, Act III like you would chapters? IE, the page would have Part 1, Act I, Chapter 1 on it, which would be followed by Part 1, Act I, Chapter 2?

You should feel free to organize your book the way you want, regardless of what act it's in.
 

TrapperViper

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Thank you all. Yes Mythmonger, that is sort of what I was thinking about doing.

I think I figured it out now. I'm going group more chapters together and I'm going to label the chapters. Labeling them seems to separate the timelines in my head better for me...I'm optimistic it will be the same for the reader.

Act I
Chapter I: "Purpose Justifies Glory"
Chapter II: "The Theme"
Chapter III: "The World of War"
Chapter IV: "The Team"
Chapter V: "Here"
Chapter VI: "His First Glimpse"
Chapter VII: "The Commander's Boss"
Chapter VIII: "The Counter-Insurgency"
Chapter IX: "His Decision"

Act II:
Chapter I: "A Real War Story"
Chapter II: "The Enemy"
etc.

At least that's what I figured out this morning. I'm sure it will change up a bit. I think a better way to define my problem is that I was trying to figure out how to group scenes together into a specific time period. Labeling the chapters seems to have helped accomplish that.
 
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MythMonger

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I can't think of the last time I read a book with Acts in it. Not saying it doesn't happen, just that I haven't seen it.

I just want to make sure you're not feeling compelled to label your book into three acts because of the "Three Act Structure."

But, of course, if that's how you want to label things you should feel free.
 

Lakey

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I’ve seen books structured this way but it’s usually called “Part 1”, etc., not “Act 1,” etc., with each part further divided into chapters. It’s not at all uncommon; different parts sometimes reflect changes in POV, sometimes jumps in the timeline, and sometimes ... just some story structure that the author felt like highlighting.

:e2coffee:
 

frimble3

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I think that 'Acts' sounds like a stage play, sort of theatrical - which could be the effect you are going for, either 'theater of war' or 'something occurring which is deeper than what is physically happening'.
And, for chapters and chapter headings, if they give you clarity in the writing process, stick with them. Once the work is completed, see if they still work for you. If it's a big complicated story, it might be useful for the reader to remember where they are.
 

mccardey

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In my experience the structure of the novel kind of resolves itself during the writing. I wouldn't make too many hard and fast structural decisions too early. But that's me - I'm an inveterate pantser.
 

indianroads

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In my experience the structure of the novel kind of resolves itself during the writing. I wouldn't make too many hard and fast structural decisions too early. But that's me - I'm an inveterate pantser.

Plotter here.
The structure of the overall story usually becomes evident when I'm laying out the plot points. Usually sections are derived by either a drastic change of location that steers the story in a different direction, or a change of POV character.
 

Woollybear

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Also a plotter, but a heavy reviser.

I find the beats (from a 'beat sheet' or 'turns and twists' or 'plot points/pinch points' or whatever other structure is out there that people use) do form naturally ... but also these structural analyses are a great resource during revision.

When the saggy middle happens in my writing, reviewing these structures helps me adjust toward a better draft. "Dark night of the soul" for instance. I'm not likely to really punch that or develop it in drafting, but in revision, I can say "Oh, right, this can go darker, here."
 

TrapperViper

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Thanks everyone for providing your own personal insights to this question. They remain very valuable.
For me, I started writing it all as a "panster" and some of you looked at my first efforts and highlighted the problems with a lack of conflict, plot, choice in each scene, etc. I acknowledged my problems and sort of swung the pendulum in the hard opposite direction and created a very detailed scene index spreadsheet that correlates to the methods I referenced above. For me...the planning has been immensely valuable because its added structure to everything I write and I'm finding the process a lot easier. Since I know where each scene is going to end it seems easier for me to start and get there without a lot of needless exposition or unnecessary details.

Writing is fun:)