From the course: Write a Bestselling Novel in 15 Steps

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Debate: Explanation

Debate: Explanation

From the course: Write a Bestselling Novel in 15 Steps

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Debate: Explanation

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- [Instructor] For every action, there is a reaction, and for every catalyst, there is a debate. This is our fifth beat in the Save the Cat! beat sheet and our novel road map and it's our last beat of act one. In this beat, the hero does exactly what the title of the beat says. They debate, they react, they hem and haw and try to decide what to do next. The catalyst has just knocked them on their butt. Now what? The debate usually comes in the form of a question to be answered. Like what do I do, should I go, should I stay? It's a longer beat than the catalyst. The catalyst was one scene, but the debate is usually multiple scenes, and it spans anywhere between five and ten percent of your novel. Why do we need so much debating? Why can't the character just have their catalyst and know exactly what to do next? Because it's not realistic. Heroes, like humans, need time to process and assess. When something big happens to us, we react to that. We let it sink in. Also, we show our hero…

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