Screenwriting : Act II by Joseph Follansbee

It depends on how good a writer you are.

Michael Elliott I’m very good, but it’s still a slog. ;)

I know the feeling! For me, the "midpoint" of a script is crucial to keeping the audience in the story and I think it's true when you're writing it too! So if I hit that midpoint sequence and I'm struggling, I usually take it as a sign that my midpoint isn't strong enough and I need to go back and look at my outline/beats/character arc to make sure the story is firing on all cylinders

Truthfully, you should have that all figured out (or a close approximation)before you start writing

Starting a journey is exciting. The end goal is exciting. But now we have to get from here to there. I feel like there needs to be a screenwriter's equivalent of "it's not the destination but the journey itself that's important." How do we find joy in the middle? Perhaps it's in the details. We metaphorically stop and smell the roses? That's just my two cents.

Michael Elliott I agree. I have several pages of notes, including multi-paragraph character explorations, as well as a two-page beat sheet. And it's still a slog, lol.

Maybe you need to adjust either your open or close....maybe both in order to get your second act to run smoother. In "Nobody's Heroes", a Vietnam-era drama, I had to create more action in Act One that required changing the location and the pace of an entire battle scene, including having the protagonist become severely wounded. Then I added an expanded love scene, clarified and provided more depth tp the antagonist's situation. Sounds like a lot but it wasn't really because I just built on the skeleton of what already was there. Made all the difference. You have to think beyond just the second act and examine to story overall...start to finish.

Here's an on-demand webinar that can help, Joseph Follansbee: "The Secret to Cracking Your Script's Second Act" www.stage32.com/education?p=8944839655731

I find it's hard to keep up the momentum when you know you're on the downward slope. Mostly because I never feel that I'm ready to actually end it.

Act 2 is all about the midpoint, IMO. I'm a fan of Eric Edson's "The Story Solution," where he explains the difference between the first plot-point, which he labels the "Stunning Surprise No. 1," and the midpoint. According to Edson, the first PP is not a scene or a sequence of scenes. Edson describes the 1st PP as a punch to the jaw. In my screenplay, The Old Master, my protagonist is fighting for the world championship when a headbutt knocks his eye from its socket so that it dangles onto his cheek, dashing his hopes and dreams of becoming champ. So the 1st PP happens in a flash, like a lightning strike; but, Edson explains, the midpoint is a series of scenes that represent the death and rebirth of the protagonist, where he is forever changed as he steps through a door of no return. In my screenplay, the Jim Crow era black boxer is ordered by his white manager to take a dive and lose his championship, but he refuses, so his infuriated manager betrays him in an attempt to steal the championship. The black boxer realizes the betrayal and fires the manager, who warns him not to squeal to the press about the fixed fight, but he does go to the press, so walks through a door that makes it impossible for him to return to his previous life. For me, understanding the midpoint as a sequence of scenes made a suspension bridge out of the midpoint that freed up the "slog" and made the second act much more manageable.