#48: Save the Cat! The Middle Beats (Part 1)
Fiction Writing Made Easy
Savannah Gilbo
4.9 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 13 July 2021
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In today's episode, I'm going to walk you through the beats that make up the first half of the middle section of Blake Snyder's Save the Cat! (STC!) beat sheet so that you can efficiently outline (or write) your novel. Here's a preview of what's included:
[01:55] A recap of last week's episode that focused on the beginning beats in the STC! method. Click here to listen to episode #47 first!
[02:30] Act two is all about your character changing. In act one, the protagonist starts out one way, then they go on a journey in act two, and come out the other side in act three a new and improved person.
[04:15] In act two, the protagonist needs to have agency over what they’re doing. They need to take active steps toward getting or accomplishing the thing they want (aka the thing they think will bring them happiness or fulfillment).
[05:00] As we go through these beats, pay attention to how they put pressure on the protagonist until he or she changes.
[05:25] The average novel is about 80k words, and this section (the middle, part one) is about 20k of them. If you write 1,500-word scenes, you're looking at about 14 scenes here.
[06:25] Some of the beats are single scene beats while others are multi-scene beats. I will tell you which is which!
[07:00] Beat #7 is the B-Story beat which is a single scene beat that introduces a new character (or characters depending on your story) who will ultimately help the hero learn the lesson of the story.
[10:30] Beat #8 is the fun and games beat which is a multi-scene beat where we see the protagonist really sinking into their new world, and they’re either loving it or they’re hating it.
[18:30] Beat #9 is the midpoint beat which is a single scene beat that ups the stakes, and this is where the protagonist starts to shift from chasing their wants to letting go of the thing they want in order to figure out what they need.
[24:45] Key points and episode recap.
Subscribe & Review in Apple Podcasts
Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode! Especially because I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. So, click here to subscribe to the show in Apple Podcasts!
If you're already a subscriber, and if you enjoy the show, I would be really grateful if you left a review over on Apple Podcasts, too. Those reviews help other writers find my podcast and they’re also super fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the show is. Thanks in advance!
Links mentioned in this episode:
- Episode Freebie: Scene Planning Roadmap PDF
- Ep. 47 - Save the Cat! The Beginning Beats (article)
- Ep. 5 - 3 Ways to Figure Out the Theme of Your Story (article)
- Ep. 40 - How to Write a Well-Structured Scene (article)
- Book:
Want to support the Fiction Writing Made Easy Podcast? Click here to show your support, starting at $3/month >
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | The reason why we either need a false victory or a false defeat here is because we want to |
| 0:04.2 | up the stakes in the story. And that's the second function of the midpoint. |
| 0:08.4 | So if the funding game section was all about chasing what they want or that external thing that |
| 0:13.3 | they want to accomplish or get, the midpoint ups the stakes and the protagonist realizes that time |
| 0:18.6 | is running out or that they can't mess around anymore. So it's time to get serious. |
| 0:23.5 | And the cool thing is is that we can kind of look to our genre for what this midpoint should be |
| 0:28.0 | or what kinds of things should happen around the midpoint or during the midpoint. |
| 0:34.0 | Welcome to the Fiction Writing Made Easy Podcast. My name is Savannah Gilbo and I'm here to help |
| 0:39.1 | you write a story that works. I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have to be |
| 0:43.6 | overwhelming. So each week I'll bring you a brand new episode with simple, actionable, |
| 0:48.6 | and step-by-step strategies that you can implement in your writing right away. So whether you're |
| 0:53.2 | brand new to writing or more of a seasoned author looking to improve your craft, this podcast is |
| 0:57.8 | for you. So pick up a pen and let's get started. In today's episode, we're going to continue going |
| 1:04.9 | through the 15 beats of Blake Snyder's Save the Cat Story Structured Template. Specifically, |
| 1:10.4 | we're going to focus on the beats that make up the first half of Act 2 or the first half of the |
| 1:15.1 | middle section of your story. We're also going to look at how these beats show up in two different |
| 1:20.3 | YA stories. The Hunger Games and Everything Everything. I chose these two stories because although |
| 1:25.8 | they're both YA, they're both different types of stories. The Hunger Games is more action-oriented |
| 1:31.8 | where everything everything is more of a love story. So I think they're going to be an interesting |
| 1:36.4 | case study for us to look at as we go through the beats in the Save the Cat Method. If you missed |
| 1:41.6 | last week's episode, episode number 47, where we went through the beats that make up Act 1 or |
| 1:46.7 | the beginning, I highly recommend pushing pause on this episode and going back to check out |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Savannah Gilbo, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Savannah Gilbo and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.