Can't see the forest through the trees
Just because you don't perceive every tree doesn't mean they aren't there.
Another bit of advice I peddled around is that details are important. They are in fact what differentiate your story from any other story.
Writers and artists often eschew traditions as being stale or overused. I might count myself among them, but not everything that has been used a thousand times is worn out. This is true for your story structure. It’s not the structure that makes your story cool, it’s the execution.
The reader interacts with the details of your story not the overall arc, they only get to the big picture of the plot after ingesting all the details.
The basic three act structure is well worn and ensures that stories have a recognizable structure. It’s the details and execution that separate dull stories from exciting ones.
From a great distance one forest looks much like another, because you can’t see the details. But just because you can’t make out each tree, doesn’t mean they aren’t there. How you arrange the trees in your story makes it unique and interesting to the reader.
The reader interacts with words not plots
The main kernel in there is that your reader interacts with the details of the story and not the plot overall. Your reader only gets to interact with the plot after they have finished the story. The readers journey goes through page by page, sentence by sentence.
What makes that journey interesting is the bits along the way, pieces of interest, the clues you provide to unveiling that overall plot. That’s why the three act structure works so well as a map to shape that journey around. It’s up to you as the creator to make each instance of that trip compelling to see through to the destination.
Just because there is a beginning middle and end doesn’t mean you can’t mix it up.
You would think that things like non-linear story telling would break the three act structure. Classics like Pulp-Fiction or Roshomoon