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Dent helped me many years ago when I was on a writing course. We had the traditional rising-arc, 3-act, peak of action followed by denoument formula as the standard, but I always felt like there was something missing. A dullness to the 2nd act that I couldn't put my finger on. At the time I was reading a lot of pulp detective stories from the Black Mask era and trying badly to imitate them. Still, my stories lacked something in the second act. Then I discovered Dent.
The 4 act (or even the 9-act which is a more Screenplay centric formula) forces life into the traditional 2nd act by splitting it in two. You know that mid-way through the 2nd act there's going to be a turnaround, which then leads you in another direction. Your 2nd-act can't sag when you write this way (whatever you may write). If you're a fan of Jim Butcher you can see this formula, plus the ideas of Dwight V Swain in his writing. It hits the Dent beats perfectly.
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