Save the Cat Breakdown Series - Finale

In the previous article, we explored the Save the Cat story beat of Break Into Act 3, where realises what they must do to succeed. In this article, we are exploring the penultimate story beat of Finale, which is actually quite complex and has our protagonist confronting their final challenge.

What is the Finale story beat?

The Finale story beat takes up most of the third act and is where your protagonist acts upon the realisations they had in the Break Into Act 3 story beat. It typically occurs at the 80% - 99% mark, or at around 64,000 - 79,200 in a typical 80,000 word novel.

Because this is such a significant story beat that will span multiple scenes, the Finale can actually be further broken down into the following sub-beats:

1. Gathering the team - The protagonist gathers what they need to complete their goal. This can, obviously, be specialists or a team, but it can also be information, tools, or supplies. Whatever they believe they will need to get to be successful.

2. Implement the plan - The protagonist performs the plan to the best of their ability, perhaps even sacrificing something or someone important to them along the way.

3. Bad guys push back - This can be a twist or a surprise, or it can simply be that the antagonist is more capable than originally thought. Remember, we don’t want our villains to just roll over and concede defeat just because our hero has realised the power of friendship, or whatever. They will fight back!

4. Dig deep - The protagonist responds to this twist or push back, maybe changing course again slightly, or just digging deep within themselves. They can do this, they must!

5. Execution of a new plan - The protagonist overcomes their fatal flaw or their misbelief and carries out the adjusted plan and succeeds (or if they fail, as some books with a sequel end on, their failure has to mean something, there needs to be a point to the failure).

To pick an example, I want to look at Finding Nemo this time. Part of this is because, while all the beats are there, they aren’t in the same order as Snyder suggests, but it still works. And if you find your own writing doesn’t quite align with this exact order, this is a good reminder that you can adjust it to fit your work.

In Finding Nemo, the five Finale points are:

1. Gathering the team - Marlin and Nemo prepare to rescue Dory, who has become trapped in a fishing net.

2. Dig deep - Nemo tries to convince Marlin that he’s not weak and in need of protection, that he can do this. Marlin has to draw on all he’s learned to put his trust in others, especially his disabled son, and trust that he can do what needs to be done.

3. Implement the plan - Nemo swims up to the net and, using his newfound courage and determination, convinces the fish to swim downwards to break the net and go free, though not without consequence.

4. Bad guys push back - While the fish escaping the net aren’t ‘bad guys’ per se, they do cause problems as, in their rush to escape, they hurt Nemo. Marlin believes that Nemo is dead.

5. Execution of a new plan - Instead of letting his son do everything, Marlin now springs into action to try to help Nemo. He learns that he’s fine, that Dory is safe as well, and all is well again.

The Finale is the time when things are coming to a head, plans are made and actioned. An ending is reached.

Finale in Disney’s Mulan

In Disney’s Mulan, Mulan’s first plan is to warn the people of China of the Hun’s imminent arrival. In the Break Into Act 3, she tries to warn Shang and the people, but she fails because she is just an unseen woman again and the Huns kidnap the emperor. She realises that being an unseen woman is her advantage and forms a new plan.

Mulan gathers the team and puts her plan in place. She and her fellow soldiers dress in drag (in the case of the men) and pretend to be concubines in order to get into the palace undetected. They clear the way for Shang (who of course, could never dress in drag; let’s not get into that in this article) to implement the plan and be the hero and rescue the emperor.

The bad guys push back with Shan Yu thoroughly kicking Shang’s ass. Just because they got the jump on him, it doesn’t mean he was going to allow such an easy victory. The Chinese soldiers escape with the emperor, but Shang is still at the mercy of Shan Yu.

Mulan must dig deep and make a decision: does she follow her fellow soldiers to safety, or does she stay and help Shang. She, of course, stays and helps her love. Mulan executes a new plan by drawing Shan Yu’s attention by revealing her identity as Ping, and pulls him away from Shang. She then uses her ingenuity to hatch a new plan, using the fireworks as a weapon — the very thing that made everything go wrong for her in the mountains. She succeeds, the Huns are defeated, and the emperor is saved.

Finale in Flewelling’s Luck in the Shadows

Since I doubt Flewelling wrote Luck in the Shadows specifically to Save the Cat, combined with the fact that it and book 2, Stalking Darkness, were originally written as one book, finding the exact points for the Finale was quite difficult.

The first plan they had was to break Seregil out of prison, in a manner of speaking, by first having him switch bodies with Thero. They then had to find the forgers responsible for his apparent crime and clear his name. This could be the initial gathering the team and implementing the plan.

Through the course of this, they learn that the plot actually goes much deeper and is a threat to the crown. A powerful and trusted vassal commits suicide after believing that he indivertibly helped the traitors, and this could be the bad guys pushing back.

Finally, the crew hatches a new plan and Alec, as the main protagonist, must dig deep and pull from all he’s learned over the course of the book in order to execute the new plan. They succeed in ratting out the traitors (though the largest antagonist of Mardus is still at large for the next book to resolve).

Final Thoughts

The Finale story beat is the most tense, and the biggest page turning moments of your story. It covers the five points of gathering your allies, implementing the plan, the bad guys pushing back, the protagonist digging deep, and the execution of the new plan and takes us all the way to the final scene of the novel.

Next time we will look at the Final Image, where we see the results of the Finale and the protagonist’s new world having achieved their goal. It will be the last entry in this series, so I hope to see you then!