I get asked this question a lot now that I’ve been writing action for the past four years. So I thought I would share my own experience structuring action. But I’d argue that the fundamental narrative structure is the same across all genres – and it all centers on CHARACTER. Character is supreme. Character is what drives action. So, I’ll make writing character a separate blog post.

In terms of action, there are elements that the audience will expect in this genre: a ticking clock, high stakes, a compelling protagonist, a clear antagonist, suspense, cliffhangers, and of course, action sequences!

In terms structuring an action pilot, it is important to remember that your pilot also serves to set up your entire SERIES, so it needs to set up the tone, the pacing, and the action style for the series. So let’s dive in.

An action pilot usually starts with—

Cold Open or Teaser. This is where you want to introduce your hook, which is something high-stakes, exciting or intense that grabs the audience’s attention. This could be a chase, a heist, an assassination —  a pivotal moment sets the tone and action style for your series. Ideally you want to tease the central conflict or theme of the show through this thrilling opening.

Act 1: Setup the world and introduce your characters

Start introducing us to the world your characters will inhabit. Is it on a military base? Is it in the futuristic world? Is it in a suburban area, a city?

Who’s your protagonist? Tease their past trauma, their secret, or moral dilemma that you’ll unravel through the series. No need to solve any of it in the pilot, but you need to set it up in your pilot.

Inciting Incident: Then event from the cold open starts impacting the protagonist’s world. Something significant happens that disrupts the status quo that propels the protagonist into action. This could be a crime, an attack, or a personal crisis.

Act 2: Your characters are dealing with the problems – the central conflict – that you have teased

Is it about survival if we’re in a post-apocalyptic world? Is it about an assassin seeking revenge? Is it a race against time to stop a terrorist attack? Is it about an undercover cop who needs to expose corruption while protecting his family? These are all central conflicts that you may want to explore in your show.

Whatever the central conflict is, the protagonist is forced to act, and the antagonist threat grows, and you have your first action set piece – a chase, a gunfight – where the protagonist’s skills are tested. Then we build to–

Act 3: Midpoint Twist and Crisis. This is where the protagonist faces his antagonist or a significant challenge. It’s a high-stakes confrontation. This should be intense and emotionally charged, taking us to a twist – where a bigger picture, a larger mystery, conspiracy, threat, or plot is revealed. And the protagonist suffers their setback. There’s a TICKING CLOCK, and the urgency increases. Time is running out. They must act fast. Then we get to–

Act 4: Climax and escalating stakes. The hero is at their LOWEST, but they take a BOLD step propelling us into the climax, where the stakes escalate, and the hero starts to take extreme risks to pursue the villain with their personal life starting to unravel, taking us to—

Act 5 where we have a high-stakes action sequence – the biggest action set piece. This could be a shootout, a showdown, a rooftop escape, or a brutal hand-to-hand combat. Personal stakes rise as well, maybe a loved one is in danger and the hero must make a choice.

Then the pilot ends with the hook for the series, and a cliffhanger that pushes us into the next episode. This can be a shocking reveal, an unexpected betrayal, or the antagonist making their next move.

The final moments of your pilot are pivotal, as it sets up future conflicts and keeps the audience coming back to watch.

Hope you find this helpful! If you’d like me to help you with your story – regardless of genre – please reach out to inquire about my consulting services.

More on character in another post coming soon!