Save the Cat! Writes a Novel

by Jessica Brody

And this is what I love about the Theme Stated. The hero often ignores it!

at the start of the novel, your hero is resistant to change. They hear the theme stated and they go, “What the heck does he know? He doesn’t know me.”

Act 2 is the opposite of Act 1. If Act 1 is the thesis—the status quo world—then Act 2 is the upside-down version of that. The polar opposite. The inverse. The antithesis.

That’s why I like to call Act 2 fixing things the wrong way.

They must in some way represent the upside-down Act 2 world. They must in some way help guide the hero toward their life lesson or theme.

In all of these Midpoint examples, you might have noticed a subtle shift from wants to needs. This is no coincidence. The third essential Midpoint element is the intersection of the A and B stories, when your hero starts to let go of what they want in lieu of figuring out what they need.

If the Break Into 2 was the hero figuring out how to fix things the wrong way, then the Break Into 3 is when the hero finally figures out how to fix things the right way.

THE SAVE THE CAT! LOGLINE TEMPLATE On the verge of a stasis = death moment, a flawed hero Breaks Into 2; but when the Midpoint happens, they must learn the Theme Stated before the All Is Lost.

THE SAVE THE CAT! SHORT SYNOPSIS TEMPLATE PARAGRAPH 1: Setup, flawed hero, and Catalyst (2–4 sentences) PARAGRAPH 2: Break Into 2 and/or Fun and Games (2–4 sentences) PARAGRAPH 3: Theme Stated, Midpoint hint and/or All Is Lost hint, ending in a cliffhanger (1 to 3 sentences)