Using the Beats to Help You Write

Lately in this blog, I've been mentioning Jessica Brody's wonderful book, Save the Cat Writes A Novel and talking abstractly about the beats. I thought it might be a good idea to spell it out for people who are interested. So, according to this book, here are the beats of a novel:

Act 1

Beat 1: Opening Image

Beat 2: Theme Stated

Beat 3: Set-Up

Beat 4: Catalyst

Beat 5: Debate

Act 2

Beat 6: Break in 2

Beat 7: B Story

Beat 8: Fun and Games

Beat 9: Midpoint

Beat 10: Bad Guys Enter In

Beat 12: All Is Lost

Beat...