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here. They sit around or walk around, feeling hopeless and sorry for themselves. And there’s often rain involved. Jane runs away from Thornfield Hall and nearly starves to death (Jane Eyre). Katniss mourns Rue’s death by burying her in flowers (The Hunger Games). Winston wallows in his jail cell, uncertain of his future (1984). Louisa sits in her room for days, refusing to come out (Me Before You). Not all heroes wallow, however. Some get angry, like Starr in The Hate U Give, who, after finding out justice won’t be served for Khalil, just wants to riot and destroy. Some slip into denial,
It’s the moment before the big breakthrough realization. It’s the last moment before the real change occurs.
depressed about their life right now, something deep inside of them is working. Analyzing. Processing. They’re breaking down their life and looking at their choices;
This is also the one beat in the novel where your hero is allowed to move backward, instead of forward. I call it the return to the familiar.
an ex. Give them their old job back. Somehow return them to their original status quo Act 1 life.
it doesn’t feel familiar and safe anymore. And it certainly doesn’t feel the same.
third and final act, also called the synthesis.
Who the hero was in Act 1 + What they’ve learned in Act 2 = Who they will become in Act 3
It was never them who had to change; it was always me.
Which means that the Finale beat is often a very long beat. It’s a multi-scene beat that spans pretty much the entire third act (nearly 20 percent of the novel!).
Basically, the castle is the plan.
That’s also a big part of the Gathering the Team sub-beat
This sub-beat can also be a Gathering of the Tools
a sense of impossibility in their endeavor.
This sub-beat is also where a lot of secondary characters or team members make a B Story Sacrifice, sacrificing themselves for the cause. They start dropping off.
The High Tower Surprise is simply another twist, another challenge to force the hero to really prove their worth.
touched-by-the-divine moment.
I’ve read plenty of novels that are still captivating and engaging with shorter finales that
don’t include all five points.
EXERCISE: THE TRANSFORMATION TEST
It’s the reason behind the crime, more than the criminal,
They all center around a crime that has been committed and a dark secret that lies at the heart of it.
(1) a detective, (2) a secret, and (3) a dark turn.
They must be wholly unprepared for what they’re getting into (regardless of their job and/or experience), and they must have a reason
The dark turn is the moment when the hero breaks or abandons the rules (either their own or society’s) in pursuit of the secret or the truth.
This second Catalyst (called a double bump
The use of a corkscrew as the final weapon is not coincidental. It represents Rachel’s drinking problem, her past, and, now, her triumph as she uses it to, once and for all, rid herself of her demons.
(1) a life problem, (2) a wrong way to attack the problem, and (3) a solution to the problem that involves acceptance
of the hard truth the hero has been avoiding.
initial problem originates from simply being alive.
we can’t expect life to change, so we’d better change instead.
These are the novels that spotlight groups of people and the ultimate choice whether to be a card-carrying member of the group or go it alone.
The number one indicator of an Institutionalized novel is that the story is about the many.
story are (1) a group, (2) a choice, and (3) a sacrifice.
we should be seeing a little bit of the crazy that lies within all groups and families.
Because the group dynamic is often crazy and sometimes even self-destructive. Herd mentality can defy all logic and reason. Being loyal to a group often contradicts common sense—sometimes even survival—but we still do it.
choice at
When the novel begins, there’s already something different about these characters. They don’t exactly fit in.
bitter seed was planted inside a me. And I just didn’t feel so accepting anymore”
This bitterness is a stasis = death moment for Aibileen.
a hero with a special power, (2) a nemesis who stands opposed to our hero, and (3) a curse that our hero must suffer as the price for their greatness.
The superhero doesn’t have to wonder if they are special. They know it (maybe not at first, but eventually). The nemesis, on the other hand, has to rely on themselves, their plots, and whoever else they’ve manipulated to their side.
We can’t pity them to the point where we just give up. And we can’t dislike them to the point where we roll our eyes, shut the book, and go searching for something we can relate to.
These are stories of survival, not punishment for a crime we committed (hence the innocent hero).
stories in which our hero is changed by someone else.
But the ultimate test of whether your story is a Buddy Love is in the Catalyst beat.
(1) an incomplete hero, (2) a counterpart, and (3) a complication.
These are called two-handers.
Often the counterpart or buddy is a little quirky, a little unique. There has to be something about this exciting new person that’s going to shake things up for our hero, which means they can’t be dull or ordinary.
Ironically, though, often the complication is also keeping the two buddies together.
