Five Act Short Story: Lesson One

In my previous blog, I explained the Five Act formula for structuring plots that William Shakespeare used for every play he ever wrote. Now I'm going to use it to outline a short story that I wrote. Thing is, though, that this short story is a story that I know well, but that I wrote badly. In outlining it, I hope I can improve it. This, being only an outline of the story, will read vaguely. Tell me how it reads to you, and if you like it.

Act I: Introduce Main Plot/Characters/Conflicts

• Main characters of this story: Trick and Moxy
• Trick: a good looking and talented boy with an overdeveloped sense of justice
• Moxy: a good looking and quiet girl who likes to think and be alive and just get along with things
• Main plot: Trick is introduced as a person who is usually kind and generous, but he has recently been controlling. That seems to Moxy to be out of character.
• Main Conflict: Trick has decided that it's his mission to rescue a boy named Hugo who gets picked on a lot. Moxy disapproves of this plan.
  

Act II: Introduce Secondary Plot/Characters/Conflicts

• Moxy likes trick, and she is suppressing it. She has a boyfriend, and she doesn't want to think of Trick that way, and he's never encouraged her to do so.
• Trick is comitted to give a speech at a club meeting tomorrow.
• Moxy's friend, Elizabeth, is introduced: she's abrasive and honest.
  

Act III: Plots Are Complicated

• Moxy refuses to talk to Trick about casual things (invitation to a party). Elizabeth calls her out on this and forces Moxy to really consider how she feels about Trick.
• Trick bails on the speech he'd comitted to give, going further against his character as Moxy understands him.
• Moxy confronts him, and becomes angry.
• Trick behaves resolutely chauvinistic.
  

Act IV: Resolution Suggested, and Described as Both Impossible and Inevitable

• Elizabeth says Trick needs to be taken down a peg.
• Seems impossible: Trick is too awesome, in the eyes of our perspective character.
• It would solve all the problems: A Trick with a lesson in humility would be a Trick restored to equilibrium.
• Maybe this would help Moxy, too.

Act V: Climax and Conclusion

• Trick gets into fight with the people who were harassing Hugo.
• And loses. Moxy genuinely fears for him.
• He realizes that he doesn't have to control everything.
• Moxy begins to actually see him for who he is.

Right. There's the story. Outlining it like this has helped me. Does it make any sense?

Next lesson: um...something good. It's a surprise!