Novelcrafter
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The 12 Acts Structure (Novel Clock)
Level:
Beginner
Lessons:
14 Lessons
Introduction Lesson 1 / 1

Novel Clock: A Ticking Timebomb of a Story

Learn how to structure your story using the 12 Acts, a guide to creating compelling narratives that keep readers hooked from start to finish.

Reading Time
approx. 5 min
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Ever feel like your story is a bit of a mess? Like you’re not sure how to take the reader on a journey that they want to read? The Novel Clock is here to give your story structure, take your reader on an emotional rollercoaster, and make the story impossible to stop reading by organizing it into twelve distinct Acts.

Twelve? Yes, this is no mere repackaging of the Three Act Structure. I’ve always felt the classic Three Acts, with its beginning, middle and end to be particularly unsatisfying. It doesn’t give the beginning writer enough structure to get them going. As my colleague Kate would say, it’s not actionable. Hence, twelve Acts.

A visual chart of the Novel Clock

  1. Hand of the Villain Moment
  2. Car Crash
  3. Can’t go Home
  4. Feather that Tips the Scales
  5. Face of Doom
  6. False Win
  7. Protagonist’s Lowest Point
  8. True Win

A Little History

This was taught to me by my screenwriter friend EM Nelson, who in turn learned it from Larry Riggins. Larry originally called it the 12 Acts: a movie screenplay is 120 pages and dividing it into twelve Acts delegates a neat ten pages to each.

After two years of workshopping the 12 Acts with my writer’s group (many thanks go out to Erik, Nenita, Lia, Les, Carla, and Debbie), I’ve taken this screenwriting framework and adapted it to fiction writing, calling it the Novel Clock.

While it may have started as a screenwriting tool, rest assured the Novel Clock can be used for any form of fiction writing, including poetry and flash fiction:

  1. For movies, each of the Acts is roughly ten minutes long.
  2. Novels tend to have three or more chapters per Act.
  3. Short stories might cover an entire Act over the course of a single beat.

Also, the pacing of the Acts in movies is relatively linear, roughly ten minutes per Act. As an author you have full control to expand or contract each of the Acts as your story dictates. Although I like to keep the pacing uniform in my Acts, that’s a completely personal choice. Don’t feel constrained, it’s not a formula but a form. Some authors may only flesh out certain Acts to start off with, you don’t need to know every detail of your story as you fill out the Acts.

Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything in the beginning. We’ll be breaking down each Act in subsequent articles. What follows is an overview of the Acts, just to give you a flavor of the overall structure. If you’ve read our like-care-love character arc lesson, I’ve pointed out those transitions below. We’ll tackle the use of theme in later articles.

The 12 Acts

Before we go into detail on each Act, let’s do a quick overview (you can also print this out and use it as a reference while you write). Don’t worry if you don’t know some of the terms yet. We’ll explain them as we go.

  1. Act 0: The Hand of the Villain

    Wait. Didn’t I say there were twelve Acts? This isn’t really an Act, it’s more like a sneak peek at the trouble brewing, even if your hero is blissfully unaware.

    Imagine you’re at a magic show, and the magician gives you a glimpse of the rabbit before it goes into the hat. That’s Act 0. It can be as long as a prologue, as short as a paragraph, or even just a sentence, and can easily be placed at the start of Act 1.

    Remember that I said you’re in full control? That means you might not even want an Act 0, depending on your story.

  2. Act 1: Welcome

    Here’s where we meet our hero in their natural habitat. We get to see their strengths and we also see their weaknesses. They have minor successes and minor failures. We like the hero despite their flaws. What’s important is to establish the main character, their environment and their rough edges.

  3. Act 2: The Car Crash

    Boom! Something big (or small) happens that turns your hero’s world upside down. It could be an actual car crash, of course, but whatever it is the main character’s life is going to change. They might be relatively unaware that the crash has taken place.

    The crash is also tailored to the genre. In a murder mystery, it might be the discovery of the body. In a romcom, it could be the two love interests meeting for the first time. What’s important is that the crash sets your main character in motion, giving a reason for what is to follow. You can think of it as a little nudge that starts their adventure.

    If you’re aware of writing terminology, the car crash is somewhat akin to the inciting incident. However, there are multiple moments in the Novel Clock where the main character gets a kick to keep moving forward.

  4. Act 3: The New Normal

    Your hero is in denial. They’re like a kid plugging their ears and shouting “La la la, I can’t hear you!” to the universe. But eventually, they realize there’s no going back. If the hero is fully aware of the car crash, their denial will be strong. They will do everything in their power to get back to their Act 1 world. If the car crash was subtle, they might not even be in conscious denial and might still think they’re in their Act 1.

  5. Act 4: The Wilderness

    Our hero is lost, confused, and probably in need of a good therapist. They might pick up a wise mentor or a snarky sidekick along the way instead. By the end, something small but significant gives them a nudge in the right direction. This Act can be thought of as the final pause before the real action gets underway.

  6. Act 5: The Plan

    Time to get organized! The hero and their new pals come up with a brilliant plan. It’s foolproof! It’s genius! It’s… probably going to fail spectacularly, but they don’t know that yet. Unlike the wandering of Act 4, we see in Act 5 a real sense of purpose. The story now has a trajectory, onward and upwards! We liked the hero in Act 1, but now we’re invested and begin to care about them.

  7. Act 6: We Were Wrong

    Oops. Turns out that plan wasn’t so foolproof after all (what a surprise.) The hero gets a glimpse of how bad things could get if they don’t step up their game. It’s like looking into a future where pineapple on pizza is mandatory—terrifying. We’ve halfway through the clock but the real emotional rollercoaster is just beginning!

  8. Act 7: Try, Try Again

    Our hero is nothing if not persistent, that’s one reason we care about them. They dust themselves off, make a minor tweak to the plan, and give it another shot. Note that I said minor. It doesn’t work, but at least they tried.

  9. Act 8: False Win

    Finally, some success! Unlike the minor tweak in Act 7, the hero thinks they’ve got it all figured out. They’re on top of the world! A rushed story, or a movie that perhaps ran afoul of budget might stop here. But not the Novel Clock. Why is the villain smirking?

  10. Act 9: Pit of Despair

    Rock bottom, folks. Everything’s gone wrong, the villain seems invincible, and our hero is at their lowest point, everything in their life has fallen apart and there’s absolutely positively no hope. Our care for the main character now turns to love.

  11. Act 10: Epiphany

    Just when all hope seems lost, the hero has a breakthrough. It might cost them something (especially someone) dear, but they finally understand what they need to do. This is ultimately tied to theme, which we’ll get into in subsequent articles.

  12. Act 11: The New Approach

    Armed with new understanding, the hero takes another swing at saving the day. It’s tough, it’s messy, but this time, they’re on the right track. If the story is part of a larger series, it will probably leave breadcrumbs for the future and especially for the final Act.

  13. Act 12: The End

    Wrap up nearly all the loose ends! The hero’s grown, the day is saved (mostly), and everyone’s a little bit wiser. Maybe there’s a hint of more adventures to come…

Et Voila!

And there you have it! The Novel Clock in all its glory. These aren’t iron-clad rules, but more like helpful guideposts. Feel free to take detours, scenic routes, or even teleport between Acts if that’s what your story needs.

Your creative wheels are likely turning. Let’s channel that energy! Each lesson ahead will focus on a single act—breaking down its storytelling function, offering concrete examples and providing tailored exercises to apply these concepts to your work-in-progress.

This lesson was taught by:

Profile image of 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.