According to Snyder’s book, Save the Cat, the third act of a story should have the following:

1. Break Into Three: At the end of Act Two, everything went wrong for the main character. In this section, everything needs to turn. The main character needs to have that “ah-ha” moment where he (or another character) discovers the way to reach the goal. Once he has figured it out, he needs to act on it.
2. Finale: The main character has met his goal. This is where you wrap up all of the plot lines. Does the boy get the girl? Do they live happily ever after? If you put “the six things that need fixing” in the setup, this is where you show them fixed.
3. Final Scene: This beat probably makes more sense on screen, but the idea is that you give one final image of the main character. In Snyder’s opinion, this should be the opposite of the opening image.

This brings us to the end of the posts on the 15 story beats, according to Blake Snyder. Keep in mind that this is only one chapter out of his book Save the Cat. The book has a ton of other great tips, such as Save the Cat, Pope in the Pool… BUY IT! And that, my friends, brings us to the end of this infomercial.

In my next post, I’ll discuss scene writing.

According to Snyder’s book, Save the Cat, the second part of Act Two should contain the following sections or “beats”:

1. Bad Guys Close In – This is when everything goes wrong for the main character. The antagonist “closes in” on getting his own goal which means the main character sees that his hope from the beginning of Act Two was false. This one was a real eye-opener for me. I knew that things were supposed to go wrong for the main character (leading up to the Black Moment) but I’d honestly never considered that it should all happen at once. But now that I have implemented this, it makes a lot of sense. One other thing I learned (which has nothing to do with Snyder) is what I will call The Bad Guy Waterfall. This means that, if you have 3 plot lines, you need to make them turn in the correct order. Take this as an example:

Bob goes to his car to find it has no gas. Bob calls the store and finds out they close in 5 minutes. Bob needs milk.

All three of these things are problems for Bob, but when written in the above order, they don’t create an “All is Lost” feeling. Let’s try to switch them using the waterfall method:

Bob needs milk. Bob calls the store and finds out they close in 5 minutes. Bob goes to his car to find it has no gas.

Now, we have the feeling that all is lost for Bob. Keep this in mind when you write your Bad Guys Close In chapters. They will only lead to #2 if done in the right order.

2. All is Lost – This is the moment when the main character thinks it’s over. He can’t see any possible way to reach his goal. Others often refer to this as “The Black Moment”.

3. Dark Night of the Soul – I’d never heard of this one before (or I’d heard of it but it was included as part of #2). To Snyder, this is an extra final insight into the main character’s despair. Snyder likes to use a technique he calls “the whiff of death” here.

These three sections bring an end to Act Two. In my next post, I will discuss Act Three. I will also remind you to BUY THIS BOOK. Am I annoying you yet? No? I will try harder.

Following yesterday’s post about Act One, this post is about the elements that go in Act Two. Since Act Two makes up over half of your story, I am going to divide this one in two and talk about the first part of Act Two. According to Snyder, this should include:

1. The B Story: This is where you introduce the secondary plot to your story or what Snyder calls “The B Story”. In many stories, this is the love interest. According to Snyder, the B story serves as a breather from the A story.
2. Fun & Games: This is something I had never heard of before reading Snyder’s book. According to Snyder, this is the part of the story where things are going well for the main character. This section is the mirror image of the one at the end of Act Two (called All is Lost). So if your character is going to lose all his money at the end of Act Two, he should have it and like it here. Otherwise, the downfall has no effect.
3. Midpoint: Not only is this the middle of your story, it is also the end of all things good. In order for the next part (where everything starts to go wrong) to matter to the reader, everything must be established by this point. If your main character is going to mess up a relationship, we need to believe it is important to him by here. If he is going to fail to achieve a certain goal, we need to believe he wants it and can get it by here.

Again, this is my interpretation of Snyder’s advice from Save the Cat, but you really need to BUY THE BOOK to get the full picture. (No, I don’t get royalties for his sales!) In tomorrow’s post, I will discuss the second part of Act Two. Otherwise know as mwoo-ha-ha… (Okay, maybe not.)

One of the best things about Blake Snyder’s book, Save the Cat, is the Let’s Beat it Out section. In this chapter, he describes the 15 sections or “beats” of a screenplay. These are:

1. Opening Image
2. Theme Stated
3. The Setup
4. The Catalyst
5. The Debate
6. Break into Two
7. The B Story
8. Fun & Games
9. Midpoint
10. Bad Guys Close In
11. All is Lost
12. Dark Night of the Soul
13. Break into Three
14. Finale
15. Final Image

I don’t write screenplays, but I think his points can be applied to a story of any kind. In this post, I want to talk about what Snyder considers the first Act of a screenplay (beats #1-#6 from above).  According to Snyder, your first Act should have the following:

1. Opening Image: This is the “before” view of the main character and it should be the opposite of the final view. In novel, I think this would be your opening scene or first 250 words.
2. Theme Stated: This is the theme of your book. For example, “Appearances can be deceiving”. Synder suggests you state this in the first few pages.
3. The Setup: This occurs at the same time as #1 and #2. It is where we meet the main character. Who is he? What problems does he need to fix? This is also where we need to “Save the Cat” (ie, give the reader something to make him likable or worth rooting for).
4. The Catalyst: This is the action the propels the main character into the conflict. For example, someone is murdered, cheated on or physically assaulted.
5. The Debate: This is the part where the main character considers whether or not he is going to enter the conflict. So if someone is murdered, this would be the point where he decides if he cares or if it’s his responsibility to solve the mystery.
6. Break Into Two: At the end of this section, the main character must decide to enter the conflict. He can’t be pushed or forced in any way. When he does so, the first Act breaks and the second one begins.

This is really just a high level view of his points about Act One but I’d highly recommend you BUY HIS BOOK! It’s worth its weight in chocolate. Milk chocolate…

A fellow writer recommended that I read Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. I was surprised at first since this is a book about screenwriting. Now that I’ve read it, I understand. Snyder’s book is full of tips on creating great stories. While some are specific to movies, most can be applied to books. For example, his first tip is in the title itself: Save the Cat. What does this mean to a novelist? It means that in your first chapter, your main character needs to do something to make readers like him. This may be something like stopping to save a cat while in pursuit of the bad guys. It may be showing that he loves his kids even if he seems like an angry jerk. Snyder’s point is that it only take a small reference to make readers care about your character and once they care, you’re golden.

If you haven’t read it already, I’d highly recommend the book.

Alias Grace, by Margaret Atwood
Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls, by Meg Cabot
An Egg on Three Sticks, by Jackie Fischer
Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt
Angus, Thongs and Full-frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison
Anne of Green Gables, by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Bloom
Belong To Me, by Marisa de los Santos
Bridget Jones’s Diary, by Helen Fielding
Cider House Rules, by John Irving
Circle of Friends (and every other book), by Maeve Binchy
Clarissa, by Samuel Richardson
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, by Gregory Maguire
Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, by Ally Carter
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, by Mark Haddon
The Devil Wears Prada, by Lauren Weisenberger
Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood, by Rebecca Wells
Don’t Judge a Girl by Her Cover, by Ally Carter
Dracula, by Bram Stoker
Eats, Shoots and Leaves, by Lynne Truss
Emma, by Jane Austen
The English Patient, by Michael Ondaatje
Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley
Fried Green Tomatoes, by Fannie Flagg
Gossip Girl, by Cecily von Ziegesar
Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows
Harry Potter (the entire series), by J.K. Rowling
The Hunger Games & Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
I’d Tell You I Love You But I’d Have to Kill You, by Ally Carter
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
Knocked Up, by Rebecca Eckler
Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
Love Walked In, by Marisa de los Santos
Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden
Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck
Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
Prince of Tides, by Pat Conroy
The Princess Diaries, by Meg Cabot
Prom Dates from Hell (and the rest of the Maggie series) by Rosemary Clement-Moore
Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Books 1-4), by Ann Brashares
The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, by Louise Murphy
Tis, by Frank McCourt
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom
Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer
Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte