Save the Cat Breakdown Series - Fun and Games

In the previous article, we explored the Save the Cat story beat of Break Into Act Two and how it is when something happens that forces the protagonist to act. It is the pivot point at the start of Act 2. No matter what the protagonist may want, they cannot go back to the way things were. In this article, we are into the meat of Act 2, where the protagonist is acting again instead of just reacting.

What is the Fun and Games story beat?

Fun and games is a mutli-scene story beat that shows your protagonist working towards their new goal while still under the guidance of their misbelief or fatal flaw. This story beat typically covers 20-50%, or 16,000 to 40,000 words in a typical 80,000 word novel. It is here where the author must deliver on the premise of the novel and fulfill any promises made in the setup.

Fun and games is the playful section of your story. We get a promise of what the protagonist is working towards and we see the heroes attempting, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, to achieve their goals.

In Star Wars: A New Hope, this is the cantina scene, the Millennium Falcon, and Luke learning how to use the force with the ‘training device’ droid that shoots him. All the fun and cool parts of the movie are being introduced, using Luke’s naivete about the wider universe and the Force as the channel through which the audience can learn about these things.

Another example is in the novel I am working on. It is a story where rival figure skaters must work together to save their small town ice rink from closing. The Fun and Games story beat is where we see the two skaters trying to work together and fix issues they both have with their skating techniques. They fail multiple times, have shouting matches, and generally don’t get along until there is a breakthrough moment and things begin to click into place. Them attempting to fix the issues they are presented with, while still not acknowledging their own flaws and shortcomings, is what makes the Fun and Games story beat so enjoyable to write and, I hope, to read as well.

As part of the Fun and Games, any secondary storylines, or B-Stories, are introduced. This particular story beat will be covered in the next article.

Fun and Games in Disney’s Mulan

In Mulan, the Fun and Games story beat begins before Mulan arrives at the training camp and continues while she is there completing her basic training.

• Mushu announces himself (in typical dramatic fashion).

• We are introduced to Captain Li Shang.

• Mulan meets her enemies-turned-friends Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po and starts a brawl with the entire encampment.

• Mulan and her fellow recruits are struggling at first, and while those fellow recruits are undermining her by knocking her feet out from under her, or kicking the brace out from under the rocket she was lighting, she is also struggling without their intervention, as can be seen by her falling behind while running with the weights and needing to be helped by Li Shang.

• Mulan ultimately fails so much that Li Shang decides she’s not fit to be a soldier and sends her home.

• As a final chance to prove herself, Mulan takes the weights and uses them to climb to the top of the pole and retrieve the arrow: a task that was set right at the start of the training regime that so far no one else had managed to complete. In doing so, she wins the respect of her companions and the training montage takes a turn.

• Mulan and her companions are now succeeding at their training, performing well and impressing their captain.

• The whole sequence culminates in the bath scene, where bridges are mended and friendships are formed.

As you can see, there’s a lot that’s covered in the Fun and Games. This is where the party is gathered, so to speak, with friendships being formed among the recruits and respect gained from the captain. Mulan carries out her initial plan of trying to fit in. A roadblock occurs when it fails, and she is sent home. A new plan is formed when Mulan attempts to retrieve the arrow. Victory is achieved and the respect of both her companions and her commander are achieved.

Fun and Games in Flewelling’s Luck In The Shadows

After arriving in Wolde, Seregil and Alec make plans to stay and perform at a seedy tavern. Or rather, as Alec soon learns, he will be performing and taking the attention away from his ‘master’ while Seregil goes off to do some clandestine investigating. And, in true Seregil form, he doesn’t give any real explanation about what he’ll be doing.

• Alec meets the Drysian, this world’s version of a druid, called Erisa, and Seregil’s friend, a soldier named Micum.

• They go shopping and furnish Alec with a sword and a bow, both of high quality.

• They break into the mayor’s manor and snoop around before they are forced to make a hasty exit, alerted to the threat of danger by Micum suddenly appearing and escaping with them.

• They are attacked by soldiers pretending to be bandits and Alec is forced to put his bow skills to use, to take his first human life.

• We learn more about Seregil and Micum, including that they are friends with a wizard called Nysander.

The Fun and Games section ends with them making plans to move on and, with the price on their heads after Wolde, they split up with Micum exploring another lead they found, and Alec and Seregil taking a boat, with Seregil posing as Lady Gwethelyn.

All of this takes place over two chapters on pages 45 to 113, or 10% to 24%. As with the previous story beat, this is quite a bit short of Snyder’s recommendation however, remember, books have a lot more leeway with their timings than film or TV and it’s more important that the story hits each of these notes at roughly the same time, which Luck in the Shadows does.

In this case, we learn more about what is happening and about our two protagonists, allies and supplies are gathered, and we see spying and action sequences carried out to keep the engagement high. There is also some foreshadowing of what is to come with what they learn in the mayor’s manor to keep us turning the page.

Final Thoughts

The Fun and Games story beat is where actions are taken and the protagonist moves towards their goals, often still fully engaged in their misbelief. The author fulfills the setup and shows the reader the scenes promised and what they were hooked on in the first act.

Next, we explore the subpart of the Fun and Games story beat: B Story. I hope you look forward to it!