Save the Cat! Writes a Novel

by Jessica Brody

chances are being stuck somewhere (like in the middle) is just the symptom, not the real ailment—and your story problem goes much deeper than you realize.

Plot, structure, and character transformation. Or what I like to call the “Holy Trinity of Story.”

The pattern that Blake Snyder found in almost all movies and the pattern that I’ve similarly found in almost all novels is not a formula.

it’s an underlying storytelling code.

A hero is proactive and important and worthy of having an entire novel revolve around them.

You simply give them: A problem (or flaw that needs fixing) A want (or goal that the hero is pursuing) A need (or life lesson to be learned)

Readers don’t like reading about perfect heroes who have all their sh*t together.

And that brings us to a great tip for writing flawed heroes: Don’t let the problem stay contained to just one area of your hero’s life. Let the problem(s) manifest and spread and infect! Your hero’s problem(s) should be affecting their entire world: their work, their home life, and their relationships. When someone starts reading your novel, they should be thinking something along the lines of, Whoa, what a mess this person’s life is!

Why do we care?

So what kind of problem(s) is your character facing?

what does your hero think will fix those problems, or what does your hero think will better their life? (Take note of the emphasis on the word “think”—we’ll be coming back to that later.)

Whatever the answer is—a better job, more money, to be more popular in school, gain their father’s approval, solve a big murder case, and so on—that is your hero’s goal. This is what they will be actively striving to achieve throughout the novel (or at least in the beginning).

Readers keep reading because they want to know if your hero is going to get what they want.

Almost every want or goal has an equal and opposite force holding the hero back from achieving it. This force is often presented as a “conflict” or “nemesis.”

Now, it’s important to note two things about wants (or goals). First, they can change as the novel goes on. And they often do.

The wants, regardless of whether they change or stay the same, are what drive the story forward.

As we read this novel, we realize that Opal’s goal of getting to know her mother is not the true point of the story.

Because in the end, the want is only half the story. Heroes aren’t complete until they also have a need.

In the end, your hero must eventually do some hard, soul-searching work.

We call that real problem the shard of glass. It’s a psychological wound that has been festering beneath the surface of your hero for a long time. The skin has grown over it, leaving behind an unsightly scar that causes your hero to act the way they act and make the mistakes that they do (flaws!). You, as the author and creator of this world, have to decide how that shard of glass got there. Why is your hero so flawed? What happened to them to make them the way they are? And most important, what will really fix your hero’s life? What does your hero actually need? This is the third and biggest question you’ll have to ask yourself as you start to develop your novel. This is the crux of your story.

readers want a novel that’s about something.

Your hero’s want or goal is an integral part of what’s called the A Story. The A Story is the external story. It’s the stuff that happens on the surface. Car chases; wars; fights in the school hallway; new jobs; casting magic spells; taking on an evil, dystopian government; poisoning the king. Essentially, it’s the exciting stuff. The “cool” stuff. Or what’s also referred to as the premise.

On the other hand, the B Story is the internal story. It’s the story that’s intricately linked to what your hero needs to learn in order to change their life, complete their transformation, and enter the hall of fame of story-worthiness. The B Story/internal story/need is what your novel is really about.

What plays out on the surface—what the hero wants—is only half the story. The true soul of a novel lies in the hero’s need, which can also be called the internal goal, the life lesson, or the spiritual lesson.

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.

Peter has been so focused on not being able to do this.

This life lesson should be something universal. Something inherently human.

Acceptance: of self, of circumstances, of reality

Fear: overcoming it, conquering it, finding courage

Remember all those flaws you jotted down in chapter 1, when we created our story-worthy heroes? Well, here’s where you pick one (or two, or three) and show us how those flaws are screwing up your hero’s life.

The Opening Image has a mirror beat (or an opposite beat) called the Final Image, the very last beat of the novel. If the Opening Image shows us where the hero begins, the Final Image shows us where the hero ends. They are bookends of the transformative journey. And you should make them as different as possible. Otherwise, where did the hero go? What was the point of reading this story? The further apart your Opening Image and Final Image are, the more worthwhile the story. It’s as simple as that.

Essentially, the Theme Stated is the hero’s need or life lesson, somehow hinted at up front in the story (often by a secondary character).

Whatever life lesson your hero has to learn, whatever epic transformation your hero has to make, it should be subtly mentioned within the first 10 percent of your story.

delicately plant the seed in the reader’s brain.

what it means to be human,

What will it take to make your hero a little less imperfect? Well, that’s your theme.

The Theme Stated is a single-scene beat. It usually comes and goes very quickly. The theme is stated and then the story moves on.

Now, don’t let the word “theme” confuse you. For the sake of the beat sheet, the theme refers directly to your hero’s need or life lesson.

The hero often ignores it!

So, there’s your flawed hero. They’re traipsing around the Act 1 world, being flawed, making stupid decisions, generally leading an imperfect life, and then someone (usually a secondary character) comes up to them and says, “You know what would really fix your life? This!” Your hero is essentially presented with the answer to all of their problems right there at the beginning of the book. But do they listen? Of course not!

they had the answer to their problems the whole time; they just refused to listen!

So our job as writers is to create that believable transformative journey that will allow our heroes to see the truth, recognize their flaws, and take action to fix them.

What kind of person are they? What kind of character tics do they have? What do they want? It’s very important that your hero have a goal. We talked about wants and goals in chapter 1. Your hero has to be actively pursuing something when the book begins. Even if it’s not something they’ll pursue throughout the entire story, something has to be there from the start. This is the thing your hero thinks will fix their life. Will it actually fix their life? Of course not! Because it’s their want, not their need. And, as I explained in the Theme Stated beat, the need (or life lesson) is what will really fix the hero’s life in the end. They just don’t know it…yet.

In the Setup is where you’ll introduce everyone who exists within your hero’s Act 1, status quo world. These can be friends, family, bosses, coworkers, teachers, enemies, fellow students, peers, and so on.

Finally, the Setup is where you show your hero’s flaws in all of their glory. How do these flaws affect all aspects of the hero’s life?

include scenes or chapters that take place at home, work, and play.

The more we see your hero in different aspects of their life, the better we will understand them as people.

Your hero’s world needs to be riddled with problems. In the world of Save the Cat!, these problems are referred to as the things that need fixing. Basically, it’s a laundry list (however long you want) of things that are wrong with the hero’s life.

make the reader understand why this person needs to go on a journey of transformation.

The things that need fixing all will reappear throughout the rest of the story. They will serve as checkpoints along the journey to demarcate change. As we move through the story, we check in on these things

if something doesn’t happen soon to bring about that change, this hero is pretty much doomed.