WEBTOON Advanced Stories, let's wrap it up like this
GCC Academy
Filling in the story in act 2
Hello this is Hyerim Yang
a cartoon story writer and
a professor at Chungkang College of Cultural Industries
teaching storytelling
In the previous lecture
we talked about how to start off a story
If there is character and content
what comes next is beginning and ending off the story
and I said we should especially pay attention
in how the protagonist changes from the beginning and at the end
But a lot of you taking that lecture
might have thought like this
Yeah, I get that the protagonist must change
But then what about the middle part?
I think what comes in the middle is more important
I think the middle is more fun
Can we just skip that part?
Today, we are going to talk about
that act 2 that is between
the fixed act 1 and act 3
In the last lecture, I used the metaphor of a long trip for story making
The start and the end are the important things for trips as well
For example, if you prepared a lot for the trip
and took off without forgetting about anything
and got back safely
that would be a good trip completed
I used the expression 'good'
but it's more like 'safely'
Why do we travel?
Do we travel to be safe?
If you wanted to be safe
you just wouldn't go on a trip in the first place
We travel to have fun
To enjoy
The fun of traveling
isn't in the departure or arrival, but in the process
Stories as well, the fun part comes in act 2
I usually use the cartoon One Piece as an example
I think a lot of you
would have read the cartoon One Piece
In act 1, the protagonist Luffy
claims that he'll become a pirate king
Then what happens in act 3?
The series isn't over
No it's not
It's not and I don't think it will easily but
we know it already
Luffy will become a pirate king or not
If what I said feels to nonchalant
it might be better for you to go back to the lecture stories-beginning
Anyways, even though One Piece isn't over
we know this
Because beginning and end are bound to match
Luffy said he'll become a pirate king in act 1
so there's only yes or no
But if I told someone
'One Piece is a cartoon where Luffy becomes a pirate king or not'
would sound very dispassionate
and not fun either
But the cartoon One Piece
is loved world wide
since the beginning of its publication
Why would that be?
Was the beginning so cool?
It is
I will become a pirate king
But would that be the only reason?
Or is it like 'I must find out if he becomes one or not'
If that's so they could just wait until the ending is released
The reason why people read it now
is because the process is fun
When we read One Piece
Does he become a pirate king in this episode?
Maybe in the next one? Not yet?
We don't do this
And to be more frank
before I said this
many of you would have forgot about
where this story is heading towards
What is One Piece about?
If I asked this question
not many would say that
it's a story where a boy named Luffy
goes through many things to become a pirate king
What people usually say is
Isn't it about pirates?
Or adventuring in the ocean?
Fighting?
That's what they say
Of course if I were interviewing you
or a professor asked their student
then the answer might be different
but usually we think of that cartoon
like that
There isn't a pirate king in the readers' minds
Don't you think this shouldn't be?
I said that act 1 and 3 are the most important parts of the structure
but pirate king isn't in the readers' minds?
Isn't that a huge problem?
Don't we have to talk about
pirate king in every episode?
The author shouldn't
but for the readers, it doesn't really matter
The author must remember
that this is an adventure to become a pirate king
The reader just needs the enjoy the process
because then the author will
take them to the end, act 3
Publication of cartoons is a journey for the author
but also for the readers
The differences in these journeys
is that the author needs to pioneer every step of it
but that the reader just needs to follow the author
And the reader can't reach where the author doesn't go
That would be the biggest difference
So the author must think
where to go in that journey
For example we're gong to part ways once we see
the Statue of Liberty' must always be in the author's head
so that the path isn't messed up
The reader can forget about the Statue of Liberty
They can just enjoy the process
and be like 'Oh that's the Statue of Liberty'
Is it over then?
This is not a problem at all
Readers don't go on the journey to get to the end
and the same gores for cartoons
So does he end up with her?
Do they get married?
Does this character become a cartoonist?
This isn't their only interest
but they read it because this part, this episode is fun
I want you to think of a webtoon
that you like right now
If you try to think of you favorite part
or what remains in your head the most
it is likely that it isn't from act 1 or act 3
When I say this
you might think
then why did you emphasize act 1 and 3 so much
in the other lecture?
I can give you a firm answer
It's because we need to get back safely
There are fun journeys
and there are safe journeys
and if act 2 take charge of the fun of it
act 1 and 3 takes care of the safety
It's the departure and arrival
Of course fun and safety are
just as important
but to pick one
getting lost
or not being able to come back
would make a fun journey
of no use at the end
But this is just my opinion
and other writers
might think, whatever if we don't get back
having fun is the most important part
and all that matters
Or also even if you were going to go to Busan
if there is a very cheap flight
you can just take that flight
from Gimhae airport
which is also not bad
Having fun is all that matters
This could be for some
I don't think that this is wrong
A trip being executed as
its original plan
means safety, so arriving well
coming first
so that's why I said act 1 and 3
are more important
and the identity of my story
When starting off the story
I emphasized the word intention a lot
The intention of my story
Why am I telling this story
and what is the identity of this story
That is defined in act 1 and 3
A story of a coward becoming a hero
Something like that
So in the beginning of a story
the identity needs to be set up first
to get help in filling up act 2
Depending on if I'm going to Busan
or I'm going to America
where I should be tomorrow differs
I think that would make it easier to understand
As we were talking about 3 act plot
I had mentioned the definition of act 3 by Syd Field
Syd Field said that act 1, 2, and 3
have their own roles
which are setting, conflict, and resolution
So in the beginning, the setting is introduced
We see the word setting here and there
but here let's define it as
subject and character
Because what we first had prepared was
subject and character
so let's think of it this way
The protagonist is a middle schooler boy
who thinks he's a timid coward
But he's actually very righteous
and has potential
But then one day as he was trying to save a kid from a car crash
he finds out his super power
What's happening?
Am I flying?
But then government agents appear
and say that they'll eliminate him
Do you see the subject?
Or the character?
The character is definitely there
The protagonist is this kind of character
and has this personality and such
And there's also an event
He finds out his superpower
And there is also an issue there
involving the government agents
You could think that the subject of this story
would be superpower
and within that
one where a superpower is considered illegal
so the protagonist has conflict with the government
You could read this out as well
This is act 1, setting
The next is act 2
Act 2's role was conflict
Conflict, let's take on the story we were talking about
to imagine the second episode
The protagonist just found out his superpower
but government agents say
they'll eliminate him
The protagonist will fight against them
since he doesn't want to die
But it won't be easy
When the protagonist is left in a dead-end crisis
suddenly other people
with superpowers show up
For example on top of a building
'That's enough!' as one person appears
and stops the government agents
and tell the protagonist
'follow us if you don't want to die!' and save him
'The government considers superpower as a threat'
'so they'll try to kill you no matter what'
'and we are also being chased by the government'
The person will tell the protagonist
these information
And as this happens a new group
the superpower friends will appear
These friends
might say something like
We think that us having these superpowers
must mean something
So our goal is to help people
Something like this
It's good
The protagonist will think
Good, I also wanted to become someone that helps others
because he was timid in act 1
and he was very self-conscious
about that fact
so he'll think, 'I'd love to help others'
'with this power if I could'
But to do that he needs to become a criminal
as the government thinks of the friends as
a group of criminals
so them and him as well will be wanted
and his family will also think he's committed some crime
That bothers him
And also the friends
won't always be perfect
Some of them might say
'Hahaha I'm a hero'
or say 'A hero can do this'
and kills the government agents in a cruel way
'Nobody can stop a hero'
Then the protagonist might stop them
saying 'that's not what a hero would do'
I'm talking about very detailed stuff
but from what I've just said
It might just look like I'm saying whatever
but there are many conflicts here
First, the government wants me dead
But I don't want to
This is a conflict of life between me and the government
Second, conflict between the friends and the government
And among the friends
some are saying 'we're heroes'
'so whatever we do is fine and for the people'
'we can destroy the government' and the protagonist
feeling iffy about them, so not an outright
conflict but an emotional conflict
Lastly there is another very important conflict
'What am I gonna do?'
I have already found out my superpower
but am I going to fight against the government
with these friends and say that this is the right thing?
But I can't just obey
and die right away either?
What should I do?
This internal conflict, a conflict with oneself
This is also a very important conflict
or a struggle
You can think of it as a struggle as well
These various conflicts will keep happening in act 2
The example I gave you will be just a tiny part of it
and there will be much more
Fight with this guy then be chased by this other guy
then someone bullies the protagonist
but then again they regret doing so
The protagonist can't decided which is
the right thing to do
Many conflict will happen
and the protagonist will grow
but most of the time, this will lead to larger conflicts
For example, this kind of episode could appear
A secret agent is after the protagonist
but then the agent gets in great danger
The protagonist was going to just run away
but then
helps the secret agent
that was after him trying to kill him
But if this happens
the superpower friends will say he betrayed them
and get angry
and maybe become enemies with both groups
The group that was after the people with superpowers
wanted to eliminated them from the beginning
so the protagonist is an enemy to them
and here the protagonist saved someone that is
trying to kill the friends
so he might be left completely alone
if the friends say he's a betrayer
This could be the highest point in all conflicts
because how intense would the protagonist's internal conflict be
Was my choice the right choice?
What should I do?
And there's also physical conflict
The conflicts with both groups
have intensified
These conflicts
explode at the end of act 2
This explosion brings
a decision to make for the protagonist
The protagonist must make his mind
Act 3 is resolution
where the conflicts are solved
A lot of people have this misunderstanding
saying that they aren't good with act 3
I hear this pretty often
So when I ask them why
they say that the protagonist always must become happy in act 3 in 3 act plots
They must win
So I ask them why
For the conflict to be resolved, the protagonist must win or become happy
Isn't that right?
It's actually not
The resolution here has a very firm definition
so it just means that the conflict is gone
That it's no longer a conflict
For example the protagonist might die
or they could become very unhappy
but they will have made a certain decision
As the largest conflict occurs at the end of act 2
the protagonist must make a decision, I mentioned
What am I at the end of the day?
What is it that I want?
Things like this
But the protagonist might choose to die
For example the friends
Let's say that the friends have been preparing a weapon
that can kill all the secret government agents
to overtake them
and that the protagonist knows this
And he can't just let this be
so he goes to his enemies
and wants to tell them about this
but if he does that, he's betraying the friends
So he contemplates
and finally chooses to risk his life
and go see the secret agents
that are about to be killed
and tell them that they won't be able
to survive the attack
but nobody believes him
and his life falls in danger
and he might also die
So the protagonist ends up dying
but we had a foreshadow
in act 2, for example
where he saved the secret agent
That agent holds the protagonist as he's about to die
and asks why did you come here, you didn't have to do this
you didn't have to do this
and the protagonist says
everyone run away, there's a bomb here
and the agent's heart falls apart
but tells him that they'll make everyone escape
and let's say the protagonist dies
smiling, feeling relieved
The protagonist died
Is this a resolution?
It is
Because the protagonist made his choice
and died the way he wanted to
So the timid boy in act 1
and the protagonist who died because he wanted to save people
even knowing no one would believe him
are completely different persons
He's died but
Every time I say this
I feel like I've become a sociopath
The protagonist died
but that doesn't really matter for the story
It is important, the readers will be sad
but apart from that
what's important in terms of the story is that the protagonist has changed
and left as a changed person
so in the readers' minds
the protagonist's decision will be left as a meaningful one
You can also save him if you want to
When the protagonist is in danger
the agent comes and saves him
and says "what are you doing here?"
"Everyone here will die soon"
'Isn't that a good thing for you?'
"I never wanted anyone to die"
He could say something touching like this
then the agent, whose only goal was to kill the protagonist
might ally the protagonist
and try saving everyone
But what's important is
that the situations have changed from act 1
More specifically
that the protagonist has lost or gained something
In the dying scenario, he lost his life
but became a true hero in everyone's heart
instead of a timid boy
Or no one knows he's the hero that saved
the whole world
but gained a happy life
with many friends
This is also okay
If there's nothing that's a problem anymore
that makes a good act 3
Finishing the story after concreting act 2
Act 2
is a process from act 1 to 3
Like the example I just gave you
the timid protagonist becomes a hero
How?
The answer to that is in act 2
Act 2 is a step where the plausibility
to the ending is being accumulated
How do we make the ending plausible?
Events
For example
there is a protagonist who just loves fighting
Act 1
He gets into many conflicts
and faces many enemies
These type of genre
Are you the strongest of this school?
I'm from that school
Let's see who's the best
So they fight
and others as well
So he becomes the best one in this town
of Seoul
So act 2 is full of fights that the protagonist loves
Those are there
and in act 3
the protagonist stares into a sunset
and says
Fighting was never fun to me
Everything feels useless
and the story ends
Will readers understand this?
So if they question what is this ending?
the author says well, it's a plot twist
This happens time to time
but this isn't considered a plot twist
Readers are confused
The author might say that's it
I wanted to leave the readers confused
This happens
but this is more of a scam
and I think this makes no sense
It isn't a problem
to write such an act 3
A protagonist who is a good fighter, act 1
after many conflicts, act 2
realizes that fighting is useless, act 3
Great
let's say they wanted to write such a story
But then in act 2, what they
should have done to build plausibility is
What did the protagonist do?
Fighting many people and becoming even stronger
Fighting is fun
The protagonist shouldn't have been like this
It should have made the protagonist more and more exhausted for some reason
When new people to fight appears
they aren't happy, rather sick of it
This should have been there in act 2
Or other people's advises
Are you good?
What?
You look tired
I'm the best in this town and I look tired?
And then
says something like "Say that again!"
so that people are like, "Something's wrong with him"
These should have been there
so that the feeling of loss in act 3
seems plausible
So the author actually
didn't show any internal conflict
and just say "It was there, I just didn't mention it"
I'm sorry but what's not shown in the story
can't be considered existent
So this is why act 3
must be determined before act 2
One more important thing
Act 2 must have deeper conflicts as it progresses
and problems more complicated
This can be tricky
because any author
try their hardest
in where they're working on
I think this conflict is very serious
I think this problem is very difficult to solve
But if the protagonist solved it
then there must be more challenging conflicts
But this isn't easy
Because they already used
their strongest one in the previous episode
So at the end of act 2 the largest conflict will unfold
and make the protagonist make a decision
Like I just said
If I don't tell them
for example two thousand
government agents will die
Will you remain quiet? Like this
There must be a big decision to be made
and this will be the starting point
of the climax of this story
But this is tricky because
the protagonist won the best tennis player of his town
and then of the town next to his
and then of the city
and finally became the best in the country
Author is then lost
He's already the best, what more challenge should I give him?
Then he could go to the international league
Then he becomes the world champion
Then what?
This story was about the protagonist
becoming the world's best player with tennis
but he's already the best
Then should I just end it here?
Just end the story I mean
But I don't want to
You will have read many cartoons
so you would have seen cartoons with this type of conflicts
Oh, the author is dragging the story
Or to exaggerate a little
actually tennis was a universal sport
Mars' tennis champion came to Earth
Then the readers will be like
Was this planned from the beginning?
thinking that it was made up after
So when designing conflicts
you must realize that there must exist a deeper conflict
and prepare gradually deepening
conflict elements
There will be a question asking for a decision
given at the end of act 2
But this part is actually the most
difficult part for the author
Along my lectures
I don't think I said 'this is hard'
I said, "The author can do whatever they want"
"What works for you is the best"
But this part is difficult
Because the type of question to be asked
is something like
Will I accept the immoral public power trying to harm me?
Then I die
Then will I become a righteous outlaw?
Can an outlaw be righteous?
What defines rightness?
What does
justice mean?
Or even though they betrayed and left me
still love this person
Should I fight for my life
for that person?
Will I just ignore them?
Will I live a peaceful but coward life?
A risky but brave life?
Will I stay quiet
for the safety of my family?
Or even if I'm turned away from my family
Live as myself?
These things
This isn't just about one story
but rather just examples of the final decision
Even if it's not something like
is it the world or me
any decision to be made by an individual
For example
how much responsibility should I take
for the huge crime I committed as a middle schooler
A question very difficult to give an answer
and something that penetrates one's values
It's also something great for a debate
but the answer to this
will be just as difficult for the author to give
The reason why we say this is hard
is because I also have many stories that I couldn't put out
because I couldn't answer these questions
Like what I just said
For example, the protagonist that committed a huge crime back in middle school
should do what has an adult?
They should pay for their crime
How?
How much?
What's right?
These things
It reaches very philosophical topics
So what does the protagonist decide on doing
I'll save them even if I die
I'm no longer their partner
and they forgot about me
but I still want to risk my life for who I love
This answer is actually
the answer of the author in the protagonist's body
We call this the theme of the story
So the last question
must be something that's always in the author's heart
If you think there really is no answer to this question
then you could leave that story away for a moment
or you can also keep asking the question
to the protagonist while publishing
What is justice?
Is what I think is justice justice?
Then can I act against public power
because that's what I think is just?
But the character grows and the author grows as well
so when that question actually needs to be answered
there might be an answer
But this depends on the situation
so many authors suffer this problem
Another tip for making act 2
I sometimes hear this
You use
3 act plot as you teach webtoons?
So they're saying that 3 act plot is for plays or movies
I did mention that it started from plays
When Aristotle first mentioned it it was about plays
especially about tragedy
and that developed with movie scenarios
Syd Field that I mentioned
was also someone who studied movie scenarios
It's just that
so it won't fit webtoons
I want to say that that's partly true
but also partly wrong
First, it is true that 3 act plot was born 2,000 years ago
based on plays and it developed for movies
And there are huge differences in the storytelling methods
of movies and webtoons
Specifically
how long is a movie usually?
About an hour and a half to two hours
Maybe 3 hours if longer
But how many episodes are there usually for a webtoon series?
That's difficult to answer
There's ones with just one episode, maybe three, also ten
Also ones with more than 400, 500 episodes
The storytelling methods of webtoons with 12 episodes
and 400 episodes can't be the same
What would the difference be
among act 1, 2, and 3?
Let's say it's ten episodes to make it easy
A ten episode webtoon and 400 episode webtoon
This one is 40 times longer
Then do you think act 1 of 400 episode webtoon
is 40 times longer than that of the 10 episode one?
That sounds like it must be at least
about 10 to 20 episodes for act 1
But this isn't how we write webtoons
What differs is act 2
Let me make a kind of weird metaphor
You know belt fish right?
Do you know that belt fish as gifts in holiday seasons
are very big?
Even if they're not holiday gifts
they are very long if they're expensive
Like this
The head and tail look pretty similar
to what we see in the supermarket
The head isn't twice as long if the fish is twice as long
Do you get what I'm saying?
It just the middle that's longer
It would be the same for snakes
Small snakes have this big head
and also long snakes have this big head
Same for act 2, so act 2 becomes that longer
just like the body becoming longer
So many wonder how to make the act 2
for very long webtoons
I get what you're saying
and also that conflicts must gradually build up
But to do that
I feel like more than 20 episodes would be hard
Here 3 act plot again comes in handy
As you're reading long webtoons
the readers refer to certain parts as
this part, this episode
The author, officially
Here, this part starts
or 'past' episode begins
or 'ex boyfriend episode begins here'
Sometimes the author states this officially
but most of the time, the readers themselves
name them like those
and if it's about school life
things like picnic episode, finals episode
For romance, valentines episode
These things will be there
If it's about sports, the name of the opponent
like Slam Dunk
There will be parts like that
This match won't end in one episode
and until the protagonist team reaches the final
with that team is all that team's part
This itself is a small 3 act plot
Let's say it's a two game match
with this certain team
and they lose
This is a tiny part of act 2
but we're going to see this as 3 acts
Act 1, the protagonist is very arrogant right now
because they won so easily in the previous game
Act 2, the game is very intense
but the protagonist makes mistakes
but gets things together
as a teammate said something
Are you going to finally realize when the game is already over?
You need to show your strength right now
and after hearing this
even though they are already losing in the game
they try their very best
to catch up the gap
But in act 3, they lose
The protagonist learns a lesson and waits for the next match
It seems to be over but it's not over
because they're waiting for the next match
They seem to have lost in this tournament
That's true, I made them lose
But this isn't the end of this protagonist's story
There will be another match
and since this protagonist has learned a lesson, they will have grown
And there's also another hint of conflict
because they lost because of the protagonist
There was a good teammate that helped them learn their lesson
but there will also be others
that hates the protagonist
Then this is a hint of a conflict
within the team
So what's important here is that this episode itself
constructs a small 3 act plot
This small 3 act plot could last
10, or 15 episodes
Many of these episodes gather
to construct act 2 of the whole story
We call it fractal structure
For example tiny triangles gather
to create a larger triangle
Same for a snowflake
Many snowflake gather to build a larger snowflake
Just like that, many small 3 act plots gather
to create a large act 2
which again becomes a part of a large 3 act plot
Think of that structure
and that will help you build
act 2
for a very long webtoon
Lastly I have something that I really want to tell you
Many people try to make act 2
very dense and detailed
and you can do that if it's not that long
But if you're trying to make
a 100 or 200 episode long webtoon
having every little detail of act 2
and then getting into publishing it
is nearly impossible
It's possible for act 1 and 3
That's why I told you to
create act 1 and 3 first
This can stay fixed even when the story becomes long
The protagonist is lonely, at the end, they are not
But act 2, it is difficult to have the details
For example, there can be an event that
seemed alright in the planning step
but as you actually proceed the story
things might not add up
I also experience that time to time
I was going to put this event here
but now that the protagonist has grown
they wouldn't make this kind of a mistake here
Then I should scratch this event
Or a side character that you thought
wasn't that important
but this character
keeps saying quite good lines
And they become closer to the protagonist
Hmm? Will the protagonist date this character?
It might seem like nonsense but this does sometimes happen
Sometimes a side character is
suddenly given an important role
Since this wasn't my initial plan
I'm never going to do that
Some authors think this way
but for long webtoons
you can be a little flexible
because long publications
are like a year long backpacking trip
No matter how much you prepare
for a year long backpacking trip
unexpected things are bound to happen
For example, I will have an espresso
with two sugar cubes in it at a cafe
in front of this place at 7:30 am of the 72nd day
Will this work? It'd be nice if it does
But for example
just one late arrival of a train messes that up
or just one overbooked hotel
Everything gets delayed
And stories cover very much longer
time horizons than this one year trip
so it's impossible to prepare
for every situation
So the best the author can do
is act 1 and act 3
This won't change
and the method I recommend for act 2 is
just preparing the direction that can connect act 1 and act 3 plausibly
and the large events for conflicts to appear
The gradual events
That is enough rough preparation
I said rough
but I of course don't mean that you don't have to put any effort in
This event, for example
the favorite teammate of the protagonist
was actually a spy from their enemy
This is enough
but a lot of you
Then how would the protagonist
find out that they were a spy?
Does the protagonist find a letter?
Then was that letter hidden under a drawer?
This is not needed
This you can think about a bit later on
But as you're planning
sometimes you come up with
certain lines or scenes
This line would be nice in this story
Or some specific scene
For example what I just said
the line when the protagonist finds out the spy
A villain smiling as they say 'thank you for believing in me all along'
If this comes to mind
don't try to put that into the story
I think it's better to just have that written down somewhere else
If you put this
into a long plan
then the author gets too hyper-fixated on that
It's similar to this
You're trying to cook something
and you have such fresh
angelica at home
A type of vegetable
Angelica is good
but if any dish you cook
must have angelica in it
it's hard to focus on cooking itself
Just like that, keep that as is
and don't let the detail tangle you up
when you're designing the structure
That helps the writer much more
I briefly mentioned
the plan of the whole story
now is time to concretize the plan
We started a story
and finished it off by filling in act 2
Now it's time to put this story into a specific format of a project book, a plan
and share it
We'll look into writing that
in the next lecture
Thank you
Filling in story in act 2 Filling in story Must focus on how protagonist changes in the middle of the beginning and the end of the story
Author must remember the destination of the story but readers don't need to As the reader enjoys the process of the story they will be lead there
Act 2s role: Conflict Conflict between protagonist and side character Conflict between protagonist and environment Internal conflict of protagonist
Act 3's role: Resolution The meaning of resolution: It means that 'the problem disappears' or 'it no longer poses an issue' The role of the third act is to ensure that a problem no longer exists
Concretize act 2 and finish off the story Concretize act 2 Act 2: a stage where plausibility to the ending is accumulated
Protagonist's internal conflict must be shown enough for act 3's ending to be plausible Act 3 must be determined before act 2, as the second act should progressively deepen conflicts and complicate the problem
At the end of act 2, protagonist must face the largest conflict and a decision to make, which is the beginning of the climax of the story
Storytelling method of webtoons Long webtoons can have 3 act plots in act 2 episodes
Fractal structure: many episodes can gather to construct act 2 of the whole story Write down any scenes or dialogue that come to mind in a note, rather than incorporating them directly into the story