Occasionally a TV animation script will be written in just two acts, but even with only
two acts, the basic three-act structure will be spread out over the length of those two acts.
The three acts of a typical television script may be about the same length, although the last
act will probably be the shortest. Sometimes the first act is shorter. Television act breaks
normally come at commercial breaks, so suspense should be built up to help keep the audi-
ence in their seats through the commercials. There may be an opening teaser.
A three-act feature script will probably have acts that are apportioned: 25 percent for
Act I, 50 percent for Act II, and 25 percent for Act III. The rules are not carved in stone.
Creating the Story
First Method
This is a simple step-by-step method for creating a story for an established series or for your
own characters. Here you’re writing a story for characters you know.
- Who is your protagonist, star, or hero for this episode? We will use the terms pro-
tagonist,star, and hero/heroineinterchangeably in this book because the protagonist,
or the person who drives the story, is normally the star or the hero/heroine in an ani-
mation story. What is the star’s character flaw, fault, or weakness? How does this flaw
hurt or annoy others? - Go to the end of your story. What does this character learn about himself and how
to treat others by the end of this episode? What was the lesson that the story taught
him—the theme of your story? A series star may have to repeat some of these same
lessons time after time, since series characters don’t undergo much change. For
instance, Scooby-Doo remains a coward. - Back to the beginning. What does your protagonist want? This goal should start low
and snowball throughout the story until it’s almost an obsession by the end. - Who (what villain or opponent) can best attack the star’s character flaw, oppose his
values, and try to stop him from reaching his goal? This villain should ideally want
the same thing as the star. (It could be something specific like a treasure chest of gold,
or the characters might be fighting over something general like control or a way of
life.) - What’s the catalystor inciting incident, the person or thing from the outside, that
causes the protagonist to come up with his goal and start the story moving? It may
be the villain that puts the story into action, especially in a mystery. (The villain
appears as a ghost at the old house.) - Make sure that all story points are related and tied together so that you’re telling
only one story. - The star or hero develops a game planto reach his goal. The villain attacks over and
over. There is usually a major reversal or turning pointin the way that the action is
112 Animation Writing and Development