How to write Act III of your crime novel

How to write a crime novel, episode 8

Act III is the final portion of your crime novel. It’s all-action. This post explains how to write Act III of your crime novel.

Here’s how you do it, briefly:

• Start with hero in lots of trouble
• Increase the pace. Act III should be about the length of Act I. That’s eight scenes, compared to 12 or more for Act II
• Bring back someone we haven’t seen for a while
• Dig up an early detail that we now see in a new light
• Go for a Big Reveal that shows the hero was ahead of everyone, including the reader

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