Act I: The Turn Into Act II

13 Guiding Questions for Writing the Break into Act II

Learning Objective: By the end of this post, you will know how to use three key beats to create a compelling ending for the first act of your story.

In our first craft lesson about Act I, we broke down the twenty guiding questions that can help us write an effective opening for our stories. In our last craft lesson, we analyzed the three beats that we can use as guideposts for creating conflict in our first acts. Today, we’re talking about the three beats we can use to end act I and propel our stories into the fun and games of Act II.

We’ve been using a metaphor from Eric Edson’s book, The Story Solution, to structure our understanding of Act I and its three key parts:

1. A trap is set for the protagonist.

2. The protagonist steps into the trap.

3. The trap springs shut.

As we discussed in our previous lessons, each part consists of three story beats.

• A trap is set for the protagonist.

  • The Ordinary World Beat

  • The Core Wound Beat

  • The Call to Action Beat

• The protagonist steps into the trap.

  • The Meet the Bad Guy Beat

  • The Enter the Trap Beat

  • The Take the Risk Beat

• The trap springs shut.

  • The Leg in the Bear Trap Beat

  • The Turn into Act II Beat

  • The Revised Goal Beat

Today, we’re breaking down how to spring the trap on our protagonists. This lesson contains spoilers for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Gladiator, and Fullmetal Alchemist. As always, take anything from this lesson that helps you and your writing life and leave everything that doesn’t.

The Trap Springs Shut

At the end of Act I, there are often three beats that spring the trap shut and force the protagonist to embark on their transformative journey:

1. The Leg in the Bear Trap Beat

2. The Turn into Act II Beat

3. The Revised Goal Beat

Act I endings are most effective when two crucial things happen. First, the story throws the protagonist into a new, unfamiliar situation. Second, it’s impossible for the protagonist to go back to the state of the world as it stood at the very beginning of the story. 

Here are some examples of effective Act I endings:

Ghost Protocol

Cobalt frames Ethan Hunt for the Kremlin explosion, and Ethan must catch him to clear his name.

Gladiator

Commodus murders Maximus’s family, and Maximus sets out for revenge.

Fullmetal Alchemist

While trying to resurrect his late mother with forbidden alchemy, Edward Elric loses his arm and leg and vows to get his body back.

Effective first acts end with a life-changing moment that leaves the protagonist completely shocked. Following that life-changing moment the protagonist's external goal for the rest of the story becomes crystal clear. Ethan is framed, so he wants to catch the real bad guy. Maximus’s family is dead, so he wants to avenge their deaths. Ed loses his arm and leg, so he wants to get them back.

In order to set up this life-changing moment and the new external goal that follows it, we must first create the Leg in the Bear Trap beat.

Leg in the Bear Trap Beat

Up to this point in the story, the protagonist typically has (1) experienced the inciting incident, (2) met the bad guy, and (3) taken a risk to fix their broken place. 

In most western stories, the risk the protagonist takes backfires. As a result, they find themselves in a situation where their leg is caught in a figurative bear trap. In this moment, the protagonist must now make a significant choice in order to survive literally or metaphorically.

Here are three guiding questions to help you create a Leg in the Bear Trap moment for your protagonist: