We have reached the second half of Act 2 in our discussion of the Save the Cat! beats. By this point, we’re halfway through the book. We’ve come so far, but we’ve still got a long way to go. Don’t fret, I’m going to help you learn how to write Act 2 of your novel.
In this guide, we’ll go over the 3 Save the Cat! beats in the second half of Act 2. You can check out the guide for Act 2 Part 1 here and Act 1 here.
Act 2 Beats – How to Write Act 2 of a Novel
There are 5 beats in Act 1 and 7 beats in Act 2:
- Break Into Two
- B Story
- Fun and Games
- Midpoint
- Bad Guys Close In
- All Is Lost
- Dark Night of the Soul
Today, we’re picking up with the Bad Guys Close In. The MC has just been through the Midpoint, where they experienced either a false victory or defeat, the stakes of the story rose, and the A and B Stories crossed.
Bad Guys Close In
In this multi-scene beat, the MC experiences the opposite of what happened in the first half of Act 2. If the Fun and Games were generally good for them and the Midpoint was a false victory, then this beat will take a downward path. Things won’t go well for the MC.
However, if they’ve been struggling since they entered Act 2 and had a false defeat at the Midpoint, this beat will have an upward path. They’ll have a bit of a rebound as they move toward the All Is Lost. This beat may even end with a false victory the next beat.
You might be wondering, “How do the bad guys close in if things are going well for the MC?” The bad guys in this beat can be external—perhaps another character who’s trying to thwart the MC—but don’t forget the internal bad guys.
Regardless of how this beat is going externally (main plot), the internal bad guys are closing in because the MC still hasn’t changed. They’re still making mistakes and letting their flaws get the best of them. And because they haven’t changed, they walk right into the All Is Lost.
All Is Lost
Rock bottom. The lowest of the low.
It takes a lot for people to change. You’ve likely seen in your own life that it takes something big for people to stop avoiding and address their problems the right way. It’s human nature.
This beat takes away the character’s other options—they have to change because whatever happens in this beat is big, too big for them to ignore and even bigger than the inciting incident.
In this single-scene beat, something happens to the MC that drags them down, down, down, so they’re worse off than they were when the story started. Don’t be afraid to really put your hero through it in this beat. You don’t want a weak All Is Lost because it will make the hero’s transformation feel fake.
This beat features something called the whiff of death. Characters—often the MC’s mentor—die in this beat or almost die. But it doesn’t have to be a character death. It could just be a hint of death, a dead plant or animal, the death of an idea, goal, relationship, project, business, etc. With this death, the character can be reborn into a new way of thinking.
And this beat should be the MC’s fault to some degree, a consequence of their actions, a consequence of them not learning the theme and overcoming their flaws. If they aren’t somewhat responsible, they won’t have anything to learn.
Dark Night of the Soul
After the All Is Lost, we need a reaction beat. How does the MC respond to whatever happened in the last beat? Many MC’s wallow in this beat, having lost everything. But others get angry or try to convince themselves they’re better off. How they react will depend on the kind of person the MC is and what happened in the last beat.
But that’s not all that happens in this multi-scene beat. As the MC sits around feeling hopeless, they often return to the familiar. They seek comfort in the life they used to have before the Catalyst, so they often return home, get back together with an ex, return to an old job, etc. But this return to the familiar isn’t comforting at all. The hero doesn’t belong in that place anymore. They’ve already changed a lot; they’re not the same person they were in Act 1.
This beat usually revolves around a question: what will the MC do now? And this question is often answered in the dark night epiphany—the moment when the hero finally sees the truth. Revelations frequently happen here, especially in mystery stories.
And this revelation, this epiphany, leads them right into Act 3.
Example: The Selection by Kiera Cass
If you missed it or need a refresher, this article has a breakdown of the beats in Act 1 of The Selection, and this one has a breakdown of the first half of Act 2. Spoilers for this book follow.
Bad Guys Close In
After the rebel attack at the Midpoint, things look up for America a bit. She gets to know her maids and some of the other girls, becoming better friends with them.
America and Maxon spend time together and create a secret signal (tugging their ear) for when they want to talk. During one interview on TV, Maxon, without naming her, teases America for scolding him when they first met.
They open up to one another. Maxon has little dating experience and finds it embarrassing to date in front of so many people. She tells him her brother Kota left the family when he became famous and what happened with Aspen before she came to the palace. When Maxon hears about this, he gives her a hug and promises to keep her to the end of the competition. She feels comfortable in his arms.
During a photoshoot, Maxon receives the news that there was a rebel attack. He asks America to keep quiet about it.
Later, Maxon tells her about his and his mother’s failed attempt to get more funding for education. America says that more education would be helpful but that it wouldn’t solve all their country’s problems. She tells him what it’s like for the people who struggle just to feed themselves. It pains Maxon to hear it, but he leaves determined to do something about it.
At dinner that evening, Maxon announces that the girls in the upper castes (Twos and Threes) will no longer receive compensation and the others will have their compensation reduced. The money will fund a food assistance program for the lower castes.
During an interview on TV, America accidentally calls Maxon by name instead of referring to him formally. But Maxon doesn’t get angry. He comes to her room that night, and they talk on her balcony. Maxon kisses her, but, shocked, America pulls away. But when she realizes Maxon wants her to be his first kiss, she recognizes nothing is holding her back from being with Maxon since she isn’t dating Aspen anymore. She tells him they can try again, and they kiss. When he asks her if she could possibly love him in the future, she says yes.
America doesn’t tell anyone about their kiss, but a few days later another girl announces that he’s kissed her. America also learns that Maxon’s mother suffered three miscarriages. While she was initially upset about Maxon kissing other girls and worried about other aspects of the Selection, this news softens her as she realizes the royals have hardships too.
One day, while she and Maxon are walking through the palace, they pass some guards, among them America’s ex, Aspen. She tells Maxon she knows him from home but doesn’t go into more detail. Maxon assigns Aspen to be part of America’s guard rotation.
Tensions are high between many of the Selected. Celeste even rips America’s dress when she’s afraid America will steal the spotlight with it. But Marlee and another girl help America fix it. Many girls are sent home, including one who slaps Celeste. America didn’t hear the conversation but thinks Celeste must have provoked the girl. Another girl is sent home for unknown reasons, but rumor has it she said unkind things about America to Maxon. When Maxon throws a birthday party for one of the girls, Celeste ruins it when she spills a red drink on the girl’s white dress. America wants to get her out of the palace.
Throughout this section, America struggles with her internal bad guys. She wonders about her relationships with Maxon and Aspen, worries how high society would welcome her family if she married Maxon, and still thinks that one of the other girls would be a better queen. Yet she continues to prove how good she’d be in the way she treats her maids and opens up Maxon’s eyes to the struggles his citizens face.
All Is Lost
After the birthday party, America tries to convince Maxon that Celeste spilled the drink on purpose and that she is catty and manipulative. Maxon defends her, and when America won’t drop the topic, he refers to her formally and reminds her that he is the crown prince and she must abide by his decisions. He storms off.
Dark Night of the Soul
America is both sad and angry about her fight with Maxon, and she avoids him for the rest of the day. When America returns to her room that night, she finds Aspen standing guard outside her door. She “returns to the familiar” when Aspen enters her room in the middle of the night, and she allows him to kiss her.
The next morning, she feels guilty and scared—what she and Aspen did is treason. She skips going to breakfast, telling her maids she has a headache. Later Aspen comes into her room and apologizes for what happened between them before the Selection began and tells her that there was nothing between him and the girl America saw him with. She tells him she never stopped loving him.
I hope this helped you learn how to write Act 2 of a novel using the Save the Cat beat sheet. I’ll be posting a guide for Act 3 in the coming weeks, so subscribe to make sure you don’t miss that.
