Save the Cat Breakdown Series - Debate

In the previous article, we explored the Save the Cat story beat of the Catalyst, also known as the Inciting Incident, and how it pushes the protagonist out of the comfortable world of their normal life and hints at the choice they must make. In this article, we will delve into the Debate.

What is the Debate?

The debate is a multi-scene story beat that is the protagonist’s reaction to what occurred in the Catalyst. All stories follow an action, reaction, action, reaction pattern. The Catalyst was an action scene, and now it’s time for the protagonist to have a reaction to it. It should occur at around 10 - 20%, or 8,000 - 16,000 words of an 80,000 word novel.

How they react will depend largely on the character and the story you are telling, but most commonly, the protagonist will resist the change. They or someone close to them will try to talk them out of doing anything. In Star Wars: A New Hope, Luke’s uncle tries to talk him out of trying to find Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke reluctantly agrees.

For Neo in The Matrix, the debate is where he is deciding what life he wants to live, the dream world or the real world. And at first, he resists the real world. He wants to keep things as they are.

Human beings are usually resistant to change. They like things to be the same, to be predictable, and any risk or change they decide to accept, they prefer to be in control of. As such, it is normal for your protagonist to resist the change that the Catalyst introduces. They are trying to keep their life normal. Something else needs to force the decision to be made (this is the Break into Act Two moment that I will discuss next week).

During the Debate, the protagonist can try to solve the problem the Catalyst presents in small ways, often fully in line with their misbelief, or their wound. This keeps things normal and safe for them, while still feeling like they are contributing to the problem presented.

The Debate in Disney’s Mulan

After her father accepts the commission to join the Imperial army, knowing it would almost certainly lead to his death, there are a number of scenes that show Mulan struggling with this.

Immediately after we see Mulan’s father walking away on his own, we see a scene with him examining his armour and practising some sword forms. Mulan is watching her father from the shadows so she sees him managing well, performing the movements with grace, only for his leg to give out and he drops his sword with a grunt of pain. He stares despairingly at his commission notice. Seeing this hammers home the reality of the situation to Mulan.

Next, we have the family sitting around the dinner table. The atmosphere is sombre. Mulan attempts to solve the issue while still staying true to her expected role. She angrily protests her father’s need to fight when he has already served. Her father argues back, saying he will die with honour. The argument ends with him shouting at his daughter.

“I know my place! It is time you learned yours!”

Mulan runs out of the room crying.

The final scene has no dialogue; the entire thing is shown through subtext. We see Mulan sitting alone out in a thunderstorm at the foot of a large stone dragon statue. With the rain pouring over her, slicking her hair to her head, it is clear she’s miserable. She watches the silhouette of her parents getting ready for bed. Her father reaches out to cup her mother’s face, but her mother turns away and hurries off, her shoulders hunched, grief-stricken. Her father is left alone, dejected, to blow out the lamp.

The Debate in Flewelling’s Luck in the Shadows

Like the Catalyst, the Debate in Luck in the Shadows is quite short, only four pages. Part of this is because, as a novel, there is a lot more wriggle room in the timings, so long as the overall pacing still feels right. But another part of it is because of Alec and Seregil’s characters.

Alec is at a low point in his life. His father has just died and, thanks to his imprisonment, he’s missed the best time for hunting to sell pelts as he and his father used to. With no way of earning any money to survive the winter, he was looking at needing to hire out as a stable hand at an inn, mucking out stables for a few coins and somewhere to sleep.

Seregil, on the other hand, is not only charismatic but well travelled. He’s travelled the world, experienced all kinds of cultures, and is skilled at telling stories from those journeys. It is easy for him to draw Alec in with tales of adventure and excitement.

To begin with, Alec is still hesitant. He is an upright, honest person and is uncomfortable with the thought of doing anything illegal. And some of what Seregil wants to teach him definitely crosses the line there. Nonetheless, Seregil draws him in with the promise of a life he could only have dreamt of.

“… But now I’m talking about what you want, Alec, beyond tomorrow, beyond next week. Honestly, do you really mean to spend the rest of your life mucking out stalls for some fat inn-keeper in Wolde?” Alec hesitated. “I don’t know. I mean, hunting and trapping, it’s all the life I’ve known.” “All the more reason to give it up, then!” Seregil declared, his grey eyes alight with enthusiasm. p36

And, further on, the debate continues.

Alec rode along in silence, overwhelmed with half-realized images. “You said you couldn’t imagine yourself as anything more than what you’ve been,” Seregil went on, “but I say you’ve just never had the chance to try. I’m offering you that chance. Ride south with me after Wolde, and see how much world there is beyond your forests.” “But the stealing part-” Seregil’s crooked grin held no trace of remorse. “Oh, I admit I’ve cut a purse or two in my time, and some of what I do could be called stealing depending on who you ask, but try to imagine the challenge of overcoming incredible obstacles to accomplish a noble purpose.” … “But is it an honest living?” Alec persisted, clinging to his last shred of resolve.“ Most of those who employ me are great lords or nobles.” “It sounds like a pretty dangerous line of work,” Alec remarked, aware that Seregil had once again side-stepped the question. “That’s the spice of it, though,” cried Seregil. “And you can end up rich!” “Or at the end of a rope?” Seregil chuckled. “Have it your way.” p37

These scenes literally debate the choice that Alec has to make. Alec is reluctant to step out of what he is comfortable in, with what he knows, while Seregil is attempting to pull him away from that, to thrust him into a brand new world in a brand new country far to the south of where they are at this moment, beyond where he’s ever travelled before. Alec swings back and forth, trying to decide what to do.

Final Thoughts

The Debate story beat is a direct reaction to what happens in the Catalyst. It doesn’t have to be a literal debate through dialogue, as is the case in Luck in the Shadows, but it should be the protagonist struggling to decide what they should do. It’s a space where they can doubt the situation and their own abilities, or where others can try to dissuade them.

Next week, we finish off Act 1 by exploring the pivot point of the Break into Act Two story beat. I hope you look forward to it!