Free Save the Cat Beat Sheet Template
Map the 15 Save the Cat novel beats on a canvas so you can see how the opening image, midpoint, and final image answer each other before you draft.
Commercial genre novels with a clear protagonist arc.
Map the turning points first.
Put these beats down before you write the scene list. The order matters less than the connections: what causes what, what mirrors what, and where the story changes direction.
- 01Opening Image
- 02Theme Stated
- 03Setup
- 04Catalyst
- 05Debate
- 06Break into Two
- 07B Story
- 08Fun and Games
- 09Midpoint
- 10Bad Guys Close In
- 11All Is Lost
- 12Dark Night of the Soul
- 13Break into Three
- 14Finale
- 15Final Image
How The Hunger Games hits the Save the Cat beats
Katniss volunteers at the reaping. That is the Catalyst, not a slow opening. The Debate is the train and the stylists, where she treats tribute as a role she can drop. Break into Two is the arena gate. Fun and Games is the bloodbath, the tracker jackers, and the career pack: the stretch that delivers the Games the book promised. The Midpoint is the rule change that lets two victors share a district. All Is Lost is Rue's death. Dark Night is the night she sings. The Finale is the berries. The Final Image is the girl on fire riding home to a District 12 that can no longer hold her.
How Jurassic Park hits the Save the Cat beats
Grant and Ellie arrive as the Opening Image: scientists invited to admire a miracle. The Catalyst is the goat vanishing into the paddock. Debate is the lunch where Hammond sells wonder and Malcolm sells chaos. Break into Two is the tour in the electric cars. Fun and Games is the park working until the storm. The Midpoint is Nedry's sabotage and the fences going down. Bad Guys Close In is the T. rex on the road and the raptors in the kitchen. All Is Lost is a dark control room and missing children. The Finale is restarting the system and leaving. The Final Image is a helicopter over a park no one should trust.
From framework to working map.
- 01
Place the 15 beats on the canvas before you write chapters.
- 02
Draw links between mirrored beats, especially opening image to final image.
- 03
Check whether the B story changes the protagonist before the finale.
Best fit
- Commercial genre novels
- Writers who need a clear Act Two roadmap
- Single-protagonist first novels
Watch for
- Can feel mechanical if every beat is treated as a rule.
- Needs adaptation for ensembles and passive protagonists.
A little context before you map.
The Save the Cat beat sheet is a 15-beat structure Blake Snyder wrote for screenplays. Jessica Brody adapted it for novelists in Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, keeping the same beat names and applying them to chapter-scale turns such as Catalyst, Midpoint, All Is Lost, and Finale.
A visual map shows relationships a numbered list hides: the opening and final image mirror, the theme payoff, and how the B story changes the main plot of the novel.
Three-Act Structure
Setup, confrontation, and resolution on one map, loose enough for a short story or a doorstop.
Screenplay Outline
Logline first, then act breaks and sequences, then scenes that change the situation.
Character Arc
The false belief at the start, the pressure that tests it, and the visible choice that proves the change.