Save the Cat! Writes a Novel

by Jessica Brody

Heroes are often wrong about what will inevitably lead to their own happiness. Because typically happiness or a better life goes a lot deeper than just a new house, a new car, popularity, or whatever else you’ve dreamed up for your hero to want.

The B Story/internal story/need is what your novel is really about.

The life lesson is the inner journey that your hero didn’t even know they were on, that will eventually lead them to the answer they never expected.

Writing about a hero who transforms—who comes out of the story a different person than who they started as—is the secret sauce of best-selling novels.

Remember, your hero’s life can’t be perfect. Otherwise, where do we go from here? What’s the point of reading this novel? Your hero’s world needs to be riddled with problems.

The Catalyst always happens to your hero. It’s something active that will bust through the status quo and send them on the road toward change.

how do you know if your Catalyst is big enough? Ask yourself the following question: Can my hero easily return to their normal life and continue doing what they were doing after this happens?

There are only two criteria for being a successful B Story character (others need not apply): 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.

Basically, something must end here. Because the All Is Lost is where the old world/character/way of thinking finally dies so a new world/character/way of thinking can be born.

This sub-beat is also called a touched-by-the-divine moment. No, your story doesn’t have to be spiritual or religious to have a touched-by-the-divine moment. But your story does have to have a soul. It has to speak to us on some deeper level. And here’s where the hero takes a final leap of faith.

“You can’t fix a blank page.”