Save the Cat Deep Dive - Opening Image

The last article in this series gave a general introduction to the Save the Cat story structure, what it is, how it’s useful, and a run down of each of the fifteen story beats it requires. This is the first of those story beats, the Opening Image should cover the first 1% of your story (about 800 words in an average 80,000 word novel). 

The Opening Image is the hook that draws the reader in. It’s what makes them pick up the book or start watching the movie in the first place. It grips them with a powerful question or curiosity. The reader needs to know why or what happens next. Without a great hook, most readers won’t even pick up your book in the first place, or they’ll stop reading after a page or two, so it’s important to get it right. 

Writing the opening scene is difficult, and most writers struggle with it, editing it repeatedly before they are happy with it.

The opening image needs to present character, setting, and conflict. These are the basic building blocks of your story, without which, the house of cards will tumble down.

The character that is shown in the hook does not necessarily need to be the protagonist, but it should be an important character to the story. Who it is will depend on how you start the story, but it could be any of the following:

• The protagonist (duh!).

• The protagonist as a past or future version of themselves.

• The antagonist, if the antagonist is a person.

• A well written side character or companion to the protagonist.

• Someone from the past who has a direct impact on the protagonist’s present (a parent, for example)

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The setting is shown with description, but it’s important to keep it concise and focused at this point in the story. Too much waffling on will easily bore the reader and cause them to put aside your book for something more engaging. Just focus on what’s immediately important to the narrator at that point in time while getting across the most important details. 

The conflict can be either external (a fight, the looming threat of war, etc) or internal (interpersonal relations, the narrator wants something they can’t have, being told bad news, etc). This is the crucial part that makes us want to know how the character will respond.

While each of these aspects always need to be covered, how you go about it can vary from piece to piece. Three suggestions are:

1. Open in medias res.In medias res means in the middle. This is the technique where the reader is thrust straight into the action of the story. Contrary to popular belief, however, this does not need to be the actual middle of the story before adding the “three weeks earlier” scene transition. It can be the middle of a conflict in the protagonist’s current life, or it can be a conflict that is happening elsewhere that will become important to the protagonist later on. The conflict used for in medias res can be as bombastic as a car chase or a fight scene, or it can be quieter with relationship drama or witty banter.

2. Open with a character moment.Most readers are drawn to your story because they find something about the main character interesting. You can capitalise on this by showing some important aspect of your character in this opening image. It should not be something as boring as “John gets up at exactly 6:15am, the same as he does every morning. He has a shower and gets dressed in the same polo shirt and slacks as he wears every Friday. Friday is polo shirt and slacks day, and John is a creature of habits.” Snore! It needs to show how your protagonist reacts to something. It can be something minor, maybe they’re driving to work and someone cuts them off, how do they react to that? But just going about a daily routine where nothing interesting happens will bore your reader.

3. Open with an emphasis on foreshadowing.Foreshadowing is a powerful tool when used correctly. Using a future version of the protagonist as the story teller is the easiest way to deliver foreshadowing. One famous example of this would be Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicle. The story is told from the point of view of an older Kvothe who is jaded, cynical, and no longer able to cast magic. The story is then teleported back to when Kvothe was a youth, full of life and promise and, what’s more, able to cast magic. It leads the reader to wonder what happened to make Kvothe the tavern owner who he is (and, in fact, we’re still wondering that!).

Example 1 — Disney’s Mulan

The opening image Mulan uses starts off by showing the setting. It is a wide shot of the Great Wall of China, which then zooms in to focus on a random soldier wearing traditional style armour. This immediately informs the viewer where they are set (China), as well as when (some time in the past).

The quiet calm is quickly broken by an invader scaling the wall and attacking. This thrusts the conflict onto centre stage. The viewer is immediately drawn in wondering what will happen. The soldier runs towards the signal fire, the moment is tense. Will he make it in time to raise the alarm?

The character who is then introduced is the antagonist, Shan Yu. Even though we don’t know his name yet, it’s communicated that he is the bad guy by his character design (he is very distinct, whereas the soldier is designed to look much the same as all the other soldiers and thus is unimportant), as well as the fact that he’s the aggressor. 

Mulan opens by using the emphasis on foreshadowing. The invasion sets the stage for the major conflict of the movie, that of the Hun invasion of China. This invasion acts as the Catalyst for Mulan, as well as foreshadowing the climactic confrontation. This foreshadowing is further emphasised by the dialogue.

“All of China knows you’re here,” the soldier says after successfully lighting the beacon fire.Shan Yu smiles viciously and says, “Perfect.”

Why would the bad guys want their enemy to be warned of their attack? Was this all part of their plan? What is their plan if not to successfully invade? Wouldn’t that plan to invade be hampered if news of it spread ahead of them?

All of this draws the viewer in, hooks their attention, and presents a compelling opening image to start the movie.

Example 2 - Flewelling’s Luck in the Shadows

Luck in the Shadows opens with a prologue from the antagonist’s point of view. It hooks the reader by immediately showing what is at stake in a visceral way. ‘Mouldering bone’ and the ‘pervasive odor of swamp and old death’ paint the scene in a particularly vivid manner. They are gathering fragments of something, a task that they say has taken centuries, and are sacrificing villagers.

This scene immediately thrusts the reader into the danger, raising the stakes. Even though we do not know these characters, they have effectively ‘kicked the cat’ as it were; they have acted in a way that makes us as the reader immediately hate them.

We also get hints to who they are as people. Mardus is the strong leader, ruthless and psychopathic. Ashnazai is the lackey, sucking up to his master and the weak link — he is the first to look away when the sacrifices begin.

After the prologue, the book changes scene to introduce the first of two protagonists: Alec of Kerry. It is not a complete tonal shift; the setting is in a dungeon, and Alec is a prisoner. His captors tortured him for being a spy (and didn’t care when he said he wasn’t) and he overhears the guards saying they plan to sell him into slavery.

Another prisoner is brought into the cell, a pompous bard who introduces himself as Rolan Silverleaf. Despite appearing to be a dandy, he immediately takes charge of the situation, breaking free of his own chains and offering to help free Alec as well.

Similar to Mulan, Luck in the Shadows opens with an emphasis on foreshadowing. The chief antagonist of the story is introduced, as well as hints at what they are doing. This sets the stage for the rest of the book. The two main protagonists are introduced, along with their master-apprentice relationship and the fish-out-of-water trope.

Questions are asked to hook the reader. What was it the bad guys just found? Why are they sacrificing villagers? Why was Alec imprisoned? Who is Rolan and how is it he knows how to break out of a jail cell?

This all draws the reader in and ensures they keep turning the page to find out more.

Final Thoughts

The Opening Scene pulls triple duty when it comes to introducing your story. Crunching character, settings, and conflicts, along with a healthy dose of foreshadowing, into every word of the opening image demands a balance between brevity and grip – or risk losing your readers along the way. 

Next week we will delve into the second Save the Cat story beat: the Setup: what needs to be included, why it’s important and, as always, using our two examples in Mulan and Luck in the Shadows.