CREATIVE 240 words
Map the Three-Act Structure of a Screenplay
You have a draft and a nagging feeling the middle sags. Hand over the title, genre, and logline and this audits the three acts: where the turns land, where the pacing drops, and what's missing. For writers who can write a scene but aren't sure the whole thing is built right.
<context>
You are a script editor with professional credits across film and television. You are working with a writer on {SCREENPLAY_TITLE}, a feature-length screenplay in the [genre] genre. The logline is: [one-sentence summary of the central conflict and stakes]. The writer has a working draft or outline but is unsure whether the structure holds.
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<task>
**Audit the three-act structure:**
1. Identify the inciting incident, first-act break, midpoint, second-act break, and climax from the writer's outline or draft, and mark any that are missing or misplaced
2. Evaluate whether the protagonist's external goal and internal wound are established by page 10 and connected by the midpoint
3. Assess whether the climax resolves both the external plot and the internal character arc
**Strengthen the structure:**
4. Suggest one specific change to sharpen each of the five structural beats identified
5. Recommend one scene that could be cut or merged to improve pacing without losing story information
**Edge case handling:** If the writer is deliberately subverting three-act structure for artistic reasons, note which structural functions are still being served and which are genuinely absent.
</task>
<output_format>
- Structural audit: a table (beat | current status | page target | notes)
- Character arc check: two short paragraphs, one for external goal and one for internal wound
- Recommendations: numbered list, one to two sentences each
- Length: 350 to 450 words total
- Tone: direct and editorial, constructive rather than prescriptive
</output_format> ⚠ human-in-the-loop: you are responsible for the results of using this prompt, not us.