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Interested in the discussion of the third act break-up in romance, and realising I almost always have a third-act external crisis. (I mean, I have a lot of external crises, let's be real.)
I think if you look at the third act as a test of the relationship, it makes it clearer that the stressor can be internal or external. We've seen a relationship develop, now we see it tested.
But! A test can be lots of things, including 'can they stand together to defeat the vampires', 'can she get over her jealousy issues' or 'can he propose in a way that works for her'. These can all be equally huge and meaningful in their story.
The third act proves the relationship, in a bread-making sense: it shows us it's developed well enough to work. Which is why manufactured 3rd act conflict often lands so badly with readers.
Tbh if I've read 200pp of romance and he's still ready to dump her on the spot because he sees her with a strange man (WHO IS HER BROTHER!) I am narked. This does not show me a well-risen relationship.
Whereas if you use the third act to bring ongoing deeper issues to a head, and show us they're either solved or the protags have learned how to address them, that's organic to the story.
And there is never anything wrong with a third act being a massive fight with the baddies (she says, having just written a third-act massive fight with the baddies).
Just show me in act 3 that they've learned to stand together, and to stand better as individuals because they're together, and I'm sold. That's what makes you close the book with belief in the HEA.
And that's why the Big Misunderstanding trope or other manufactured conflict can sabotage your book: it very easily weakens, not strengthens, our faith in the relationship.
Look at your own structure, not someone else's idea of "beats", and see what your MCs need to prove (test and endorse) their relationship, and you'll get it right.
It should probably be clear that I wrote all this while heating the oven to get the bread on.
...and now I have an entire shower-developed Bread Theory of romance to write up on the blog.
