I have just begun reading The Science of Storytelling by Will Storr. Already I am fascinated, although I also wonder how I ever had the audacity to think of myself as a writer. In the introduction he writes, ‘The standard five-act plot is successful not because of some secret cosmic truth, or any universal law of storytelling, but because it’s the neatest way of showing deep character change.’
I am desperately trying to figure out if my novels and stories have five acts and hoping that if I squint out of one eye and blur the edges, I might be able to argue for three or maybe four. Oh well, I think, it’s never too late to learn!