- Level:
- Beginner
- Lessons:
- 14 Lessons
Act 5: The Plan
Your characters are hatching a plan to tackle whatever mess they've found themselves in.
- Reading Time
- approx. 4 min
Act 5 is where your characters make “The Plan”, they begin the process of becoming proactive rather than reactive.
What is Act 5?
The plan is a critical phase in the story where your protagonist starts taking decisive action. This is where the story shifts from the uncertainty of Act 4 into a period of apparent progress and momentum. Your protagonist has emerged from their wilderness period with allies and begins to develop and execute a plan of action that seems solid on the surface, even if it doesn’t yet address the deeper thematic issues they need to face.
After losing their farm to corporate interests fueled by profit-driven greed, Theodore organizes local farmers into a cooperative. They create detailed business plans, secure funding, and set up distribution networks. The cooperative squabbles about income distribution, but their plan is working.
Why is Act 5 Important?
Act 5 serves multiple crucial functions in your story. First, it builds reader investment by showing your protagonist actively working to solve their problems rather than just reacting to events. This act also deepens the emotional connection between reader and protagonist—as we watch them execute their plan with determination, our simple liking of them transforms into genuine investment in their success. We care about them.
Additionally, Act 5 provides an opportunity to demonstrate your protagonist’s growth while subtly highlighting their remaining flaws. The setbacks they encounter during this act should specifically relate to their weaknesses and resistance to embracing the theme, creating a perfect setup for future developments.
Jen assembles a team of hackers to pull off an elaborate data heist. Each team member brings unique skills, the security systems are mapped out, and their timing is perfect. Jen focuses on making sure each member does exactly what she wants.
How to Write Act 5
Act 5 unfolds in three phases.
- Beginning: At the start of Act 5, focus on establishing the plan itself. Show your protagonist working with their allies to develop what appears to be a well-thought-out approach to their problems. The key word here is “appears”—while the plan should seem logical and reasonable on the surface, make sure attentive readers can spot how it fails to address the deeper thematic issues your protagonist needs to face. For instance, if your theme involves learning to trust others, your protagonist might create a plan that still keeps them in complete control, refusing to delegate important tasks to their allies.
- Middle: By the midpoint, demonstrate how your protagonist and their team handle difficulties while executing their plan. This is where you want to implement a “two steps forward, one step back” approach to pacing. Let them achieve some victories, but pepper in setbacks that specifically connect to your protagonist’s character flaws. The important thing is to show that despite these obstacles, they’re making real progress. Unlike the desperate scrambling of Act 3, your protagonist should now have the resources and support to adapt and keep moving forward. This creates a sense of momentum that pulls readers through the story.
- End: By the end of Act 5, bring all the pieces of the plan together for what seems like smooth sailing ahead. This is where you want your protagonist feeling confident and your readers getting excited about their apparent success. Of course, we know this success can’t last—otherwise, we wouldn’t need Acts 6 through 12—but for now, let your protagonist enjoy their victories. This apparent success makes the coming complications more impactful and gives you room to explore how your protagonist handles both triumph and eventual setback.
When writing Act 5, pay special attention to pacing. This act should move more quickly than the contemplative wilderness period of Act 4, but don’t rush through it so fast that you miss opportunities for character development. Each victory and setback should reveal something about your protagonist and their relationships with their allies.
Key Moments
The following are just some ideas for key moments that are part of Act 5. Each can serve different purposes and not all are required.
- The Brainstorming Session: Picture your characters huddled around a table, scribbling on napkins, or pacing back and forth as they cook up their master plan. This is where you get to showcase their problem-solving skills, or lack thereof.
- The “Eureka!” Moment: Someone’s going to have a lightbulb moment. It might be your protagonist, or it could be that quirky sidekick who’s been surprisingly quiet until now. Either way, there’s going to be a lot of excited arm-waving and “This is it!” declarations.
- The Montage: Okay, so you can’t actually have a montage in a book, but you can create that feeling. Show vignettes of your characters prepping, training, or gathering resources.
- The Initial Success: Give your characters some wins! Let them feel like they’re on top of the world. It boosts their confidence and rewards the reader.
- The Growing Bond: This is where readers start to really care about your characters. Show them working together, sharing quiet moments, or even bickering like an old married couple. It’s all part of the charm!
- The Looming Threat: While everything seems to be going swimmingly, don’t forget to occasionally remind the reader that the Big Bad is still out there.
Wrapping Up Act 5
Consider these questions as you write Act 5:
- How does your protagonist’s plan reflect both their growth from Act 4 and their remaining blind spots?
- What specific setbacks would best highlight their need to embrace the theme?
- How can you show their allies supporting the plan while perhaps harboring doubts about its deeper flaws?
- What small victories will be most meaningful to both your protagonist and your readers?
- How can you use this act to deepen the readers’ emotional connection to the characters, making us really care about what happens to them?
Take time to make your protagonist’s plan feel solid and well-reasoned, even if you know it’s ultimately insufficient. This investment in the plan’s credibility will make later complications feel earned rather than arbitrary, and it will help readers understand why your protagonist believes in their approach despite its thematic blind spots.
Act 5 is about building momentum and reader investment. While you’re setting up future complications, this act should feel largely positive—a time when your protagonist is finally taking control and making progress. The fact that their plan doesn’t address the theme creates dramatic irony that will pay off later, but for now, let them and your readers enjoy the satisfaction of watching a plan come together.
Matthew trains rigorously for a weightlifting rematch against their rival, developing new techniques and studying their opponent’s every weakness. Their physical preparation is flawless, and they’re channeling their pride and anger about their prior defeat.
This lesson was taught by:
Corey Ostman
After spending three decades writing science fiction for machines, he now writes science fiction for humans. His brain is almost entirely in the future, so if you encounter him, you’re likely experiencing a form of temporal rift.