I won’t lie—the Fun and Games beat is hard to write. It can’t be too intense or action-packed since you want the tension, stakes, and action to gradually climb to crescendo as the story progresses toward the Finale. But, at the same time, you don’t want to bore your readers.
Moreover, it can be difficult to even think of things for your hero to do and experience between the Break Into 2—where the hero formed a long-term goal—and the Midpoint—where the hero either achieves or fails to achieve this long-term goal.
Unfortunately, like with the Debate, I feel that Jessica Brody’s discussion of the Fun and Games in Save the Cat! Writes a Novel is too short. She tells us that there are essentially two things the Fun and Games beat should do: (1) fulfill the promise of the premise and (2) show whether the hero shines or flounders in the upside-down world (UDW).
But how do we write tens of thousands of words based just on these two things?
We don’t. That’s how.
What we do is we write tens of thousands of words based on these two things plus several other things, which work in tandem to advance your story’s plot while also highlighting the story’s characters and themes.
I’ll tell you all about these “several other things” throughout this article. But first, I want to provide a quick overview of Act 2 to remind you how the Fun and Games beat fits in the broader context of a novel.
Act 2 Overview
According to the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet, Act 2 should take up 60% of a novel (from 20–80%). However, starting points of 15–35% are common. Moreover, if the Finale beat is relatively straightforward, it is difficult to write a long climactic sequence without throwing in superfluous obstacles. Therefore, Act 2 often ends around the 85% or even the 90% point. Conversely, if the Finale is on the complex side, Act 2 may end as early as the 70% mark.
We can break Act 2 up into three parts, each of which ends with the hero altering their primary goal.
The first part of Act 2 starts with the hero spending a long multi-scene beat (the Fun and Games) overcoming hurdles in the way of the long-term goal that they formed during the Break—see the previous article in this series for a discussion on the factors influencing the formation of this goal. Somewhere early in the Fun and Games, we will also see the introduction of the story’s main B Story character (in the B Story beat). This lengthy part of Act 2 culminates at the Midpoint, where the hero faces either a false defeat (i.e., they fail to accomplish their long-term goal) or a false victory (i.e., they do accomplish the long-term goal, but it causes a new, bigger problem). Either way, the Midpoint forces the hero to modify their primary goal or form a completely new one.
The hero spends the second part of Act 2 trying to accomplish the new/modified goal throughout the Bad Guys Close In beat. Although the Bad Guys Close In is similar to the Fun and Games in that the hero spends several scenes gradually progressing toward a long-term goal, the Bad Guys Close In is more intense, as the stakes should have been raised in some way at the Midpoint. Also, unlike the Fun and Games, which can end with either a false victory or a false defeat, the Bad Guys Close In should end with a false defeat (i.e., the All Is Lost beat). This defeat is usually so devastating that the hero gives up on their goal, deciding that whatever they’ve been trying to achieve isn’t worth the trouble.
Then, the third part of Act 2 begins with a multi-scene beat devoted to the hero’s emotional reaction to their failure (the Dark Night of the Soul). While reflecting on their failure, the hero will have an epiphany, which will lead them to decide on yet another new goal in the Break Into 3 beat.
Note: Although the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet puts the Break Into 3 at the beginning of Act 3, it usually happens within the final scene of the Dark Night of the Soul. Therefore, I prefer to think of the Break Into 3 as the last thing that happens in Act 2 since this avoids the structural awkwardness of inserting an act break in the middle of a scene.
The next four articles in this Editor’s Guide to Save the Cat! Story Structure will discuss all of the beats of Act 2 in detail, beginning with this article, which describes the Fun and Games and B Story beats.
What Is the Fun and Games Beat?
In Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, Brody describes the Fun and Games as “the promise of the premise.” In other words, if you were to answer the question “What’s your novel about?” using a single sentence, you would almost certainly describe this beat. Brody also explicitly defines the Fun and Games as “a multi-scene beat in which your hero either shines in their new upside-down world or flounders in it.”
However, as we’ll see in the next section, there is a lot more to the Fun and Games than this. For example, it can hint at theme by emphasizing the differences between the status quo world (SQW) and the UDW, or it can highlight character development by showing the reader small moments of growth in your hero.
According to the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet, the Fun and Games beat should take up the first half of Act 2 and 30% of the entire novel, ending at the novel’s 50% mark. In practice, this beat typically takes up 25–35% of a story. And it’s not necessarily a problem if the Fun and Games ends past a novel’s 60% mark. However, if this happens in your novel, it may be worth checking your early beats for any unnecessary information or your Fun and Games for scenes that could be deleted or shrunk and implemented into existing scenes.
What Happens During the Fun and Games?
You might know how to get your hero to the UDW in Act 1, and you might know what challenges you want them to face as the action ramps up after your story’s Midpoint. But how do you cover that massive space between the end of Act 1 and the Midpoint without inventing meaningless scenes just to fill the pages?
Although the main plot typically slows down in the first half of Act 2, that doesn’t mean that your readers’ interest level needs to drop. There are a lot of things you can do to keep your readers intrigued throughout the Fun and Games, and this article will walk you through some of the more common ones, which, in no particular order, are to:
Transport the hero to the UDW (if they’re not already there).
Confirm that an unwilling hero is stuck in the UDW.
Provide the hero (and reader) with important information about the UDW.
Establish the hero’s first short-term goal, which will go toward achieving the long-term goal established during the Break Into 2.
Briefly spotlight the antagonistic force.
Show the hero either struggling or thriving in the UDW.
Highlight the differences between the SQW and UDW.
Challenge the hero’s beliefs through their interactions with other characters.
Challenge the hero’s beliefs through the negative consequences of their actions.
Strengthen the hero’s bonds with B Story characters.
Let’s examine each of these components of the Fun and Games more closely.
Transport the Hero to the Upside-Down World
In the previous article, I stated that one of the purposes of the Debate is to transport the hero to the UDW. However, in many cases, the Debate occurs entirely within the boundaries of the SQW. In these stories, the hero might not be at the physical threshold of the UDW when they decide to enter it. When this happens, the purpose of the initial scene of the Fun and Games will most likely be to transport the hero to the UDW.
In Divergent, Beatrice’s Break Into 2 moment happens within the SQW when she makes the irreversible decision to leave the Abnegation faction (her SQW) and join the Dauntless faction (the UDW). At this point, she has chosen to leave the SQW, but she still needs to get to the UDW (i.e., the Dauntless compound). Naturally, getting Beatrice to the Dauntless compound is the primary purpose of this story’s initial Fun and Games scene.
However, that’s not all this scene does. As Beatrice travels toward the UDW, she is forced to perform actions that are completely foreign to her. For instance, she must jump onto and off of a moving train and, later, off a rooftop. Moreover, when one of the initiates dies trying to jump off the train, Beatrice tells herself, “That is how things work here. We do dangerous things and people die. People die, and we move on to the next dangerous thing.” Clearly, the UDW is nothing like Beatrice’s SQW, as selflessness was the primary attribute of her former faction—they would never just allow someone to die like that.
Confirm that an Unwilling Hero Is Stuck in the Upside-Down World
In many stories, readers will understand that once the hero enters the UDW, there’s no going back to the SQW. For example, if the UDW is a prison, it’s clear that the hero can’t just leave.
However, if the UDW doesn’t have an uncrossable physical boundary, the audience might ask why the hero doesn’t just leave. To answer this question, an author can begin the Fun and Games with a short scene showing the hero attempting to leave the UDW only to find that escape is impossible.
In Cars, after Lightning McQueen damaged the road in Radiator Springs, he was sentenced to fix it in the Break Into 2. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s stuck in Radiator Springs. He is a race car, after all, and he could easily outrun the townsfolk if he attempted an escape.
The first scene of the Fun and Games fills this plot hole. by showing Lightning trying to escape but running out of gas before he gets very far. He learns that the Radiator Springs folk had siphoned his gas, and they only let him have enough to pave the road.
Give the Hero Information About the Upside-Down World
Very often, the early part of the Fun and Games sees the hero learn important information about the UDW. Such information might relate to the world’s customs, history, inhabitants, and so on. This part of the Fun and Games mimics the Setup a little bit in that general aspects of a world are being relayed to the reader. However, in the Fun and Games, the reader is learning things in real time as the hero learns them, which makes the learning process engaging, even if nothing much is happening plot-wise for a scene or two.
In fact, something is happening—the hero is trying to acclimate to a new environment. And as long as you’ve crafted your UDW skillfully—that is, as long as you have some key points of contrast to highlight between the two worlds—your readers will naturally find this section interesting.
In this part of the Fun and Games, the hero will likely encounter a mentor or friend who has lived in the UDW for some time. This character will take some time to explain to the hero the rules of the UDW world, and they may also take them on a tour.
Returning to Divergent, in the second scene of the Fun and Games, Four leads Tris (who doesn’t go by “Beatrice” anymore) and the other transfers on a tour of the Dauntless compound. He also introduces them to antagonist Eric, who shows the initiates their sleeping quarters, lays down some ground rules, and explains how their initiation process will unfold.
Learning rules is often a critical part of the hero’s introduction to the UDW and can be used to provide some foreshadowing. If a character needs to take a specific action or enter a certain area in the lead-up to the Midpoint, it is best if the action is taboo or the area restricted, as this adds tension.
For example, in the first Fun and Games scene in Beauty and the Beast, the Beast permits Belle to go anywhere in the castle—but the west wing is forbidden. Later, during the Midpoint, the action ramps up when the Beast throws Belle out of the castle. And why does he do that? Because she went to the west wing.
Give the Hero a Series of Short-Term Goals
Soon after you’ve given the hero and reader a sense of what the UDW is like, you’ll want to give the hero their first in a series of short-term goals that go toward their main goal—which should have been established in the Break Into 2.
A common reason why Act 2 meanders in works-in-progress is that the hero doesn’t have a clear enough short-term goal early enough in the act. If the hero lacks a short-term goal, they will have no direction. As a result, the entire middle of the novel will feel purposeless. Even if the hero has a clear long-term goal, it will feel like their goal is just sitting in the background while the hero aimlessly explores the UDW.
You can get away with pure exploration for the first scene or two of the Fun and Games. In fact, a great many stories pause the main plot for a couple of scenes at this point in a story. However, the hero needs to put their eyes on some kind of prize before you get too far into Act 2.
Below are some broad categories of short-term goals that can drive the main plot of a story during the Fun and Games.
The hero Is forced to accept a task they aren’t prepared for
This kind of goal often arises when the hero entered the UDW without knowing exactly what was in store for them. The Fun and Games beat of this kind of story will likely have a fish-out-of-water vibe, which will be emphasized by the hero’s lack of ability or knowledge to accomplish their first short-term goal.
In the third Fun and Games scene of Divergent, after Tris has been shown around the Dauntless compound and learned the faction’s rules, she is given her first short-term goal: to shoot a target as part of her initiation. This task has fairly high stakes because, to the Dauntless, one’s shooting skills symbolize one’s bravery and, therefore, their worthiness of belonging to the faction. If Tris fails, it would increase her risk of becoming factionless, which is a fate worse than death.
However, Tris’s previous life in the Abnegation faction leaves her completely unprepared for this task. As she narrates, “I stare at the weapon in my hand. Never in my life did I expect to hold a gun, let alone fire one. It feels dangerous to me, as if just by touching it, I could hurt someone.”
This scene also provides some internal conflict between who Tris was in Act 1 and who she must become in Act 2: “My family would never approve of me firing a gun. They would say that guns are used for self-defense, if not violence, and therefore they are self-serving.”
The hero just wants to avoid negative consequences
In some stories, the initial Fun and Games goal isn’t to accomplish anything in particular. Instead, the hero spends much of this beat simply trying to avoid punishment, pain, death, and so on.
This works well when the hero lacks confidence—a flaw they’ll gradually overcome throughout the story. This kind of hero often takes a big step forward in their arc at the Midpoint. But in the meantime, their meekness takes centre stage during the Fun and Games as they focus on preventing bad things from happening.
For example, throughout the Fun and Games in Holes, Stanley isn’t trying to accomplish anything that would make his terrible situation more bearable. He’s only concerned with staying on everyone’s good side by being timid and reserved while digging his holes as quickly as possible to avoid the midday heat. The possibility of bettering his situation doesn’t even cross his mind until the Midpoint approaches.
The hero wants to maintain some semblance of the status quo world
A hero who forms this kind of goal early in the Fun and Games was probably loving their SQW before the Catalyst occurred, and now they want it back. Therefore, their initial short-term goal in Act 2 might be to do whatever it takes to restore the status quo.
In Toy Story, the Break Into 2 occurs when Woody acknowledges that his SQW has changed, as Buzz is quickly becoming Andy’s new favourite toy. In the next scene, his short-term goal is to be the toy that Andy brings to Pizza Planet, as this would signify that he is still Andy’s favourite toy and that the SQW hasn’t really changed all that much. To ensure his success in this goal, Woody tries to trick Buzz and trap him behind Andy’s desk. However, things go terribly wrong, and Buzz ends up getting knocked out the window, propelling the plot forward.
The hero works toward one part of a multi-part long-term goal
Another way to create the initial short-term goal is to format the long-term goal as a multi-pronged goal. The Fun and Games will then be broken into multiple sections, each one revolving around one of the prongs.
For example, the first scene in Act 2 of Mean Girls sees Cady, along with Janis and Damian taking her long-term goal of getting revenge on Regina George and refining it as a specific multi-step plan of action. In particular, Cady plans to take the following away from Regina: (1) her “high-status man candy,” (2) her “technically good physique,” and (3) her “ignorant band of loyal followers” (AKA her “army of skanks”). Soon after that, Cady works toward the third element of the goal by making one of Regina’s friends jealous.
Briefly Spotlight the Primary Antagonistic Force
As the previous points have indicated, the initial scenes of the Fun and Games often see the hero focus on adjusting to the UDW and accomplishing their immediate short-term goal. However, you shouldn’t let the reader lose focus of what’s really at stake in the story as a whole. Therefore, it’s good practice to add a brief reminder of the hero’s long-term goal, as well as the characters or forces working against them.
For example, in Cars, there is a short bit at the end of the second Fun and Games scene where Lightning McQueen hears a radio broadcast and learns that his rival, Chick Hicks, has already arrived in California and, therefore, has an “edge” over Lightning. This causes Lightning to have visions of Chick winning the Piston Cup, becoming the new face of Dinoco, and stealing Lightning’s fans.
Although Lightning’s immediate focus is on fixing the road that runs through Radiator Springs, this occurrence reminds the audience why it’s important that he fixes the road. namely, the longer he’s stuck in Radiator Springs, the worse his chances of winning the Piston Cup and gaining the Dinoco sponsorship.
In addition to serving as a reminder, this event also progresses the plot by adding some fuel to Lightning’s motivation to finish paving the road quickly. In his haste, he does a poor job, which only makes his situation worse, leading into the next Fun and Games scene.
Show the Hero Either Struggling or Thriving in the Upside-Down World
This is a crucial component of the Fun and Games, and it is one of the few highlighted in Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. In general, readers respond favourably to stories when Act 2 follows one of two basic patterns:
During the Fun and Games, the hero struggles in the UDW, leading to a false defeat at the Midpoint. After the Midpoint, the hero turns things around and begins thriving in the UDW throughout the Bad Guys Close In. However, before Act 2 is over, the hero will suffer a devastating setback in the All Is Lost and subsequently enter a state of despair in the Dark Night of the Soul.
During the Fun and Games, the hero thrives in the UDW, leading to a false victory at the Midpoint. After the Midpoint, the hero has an increasingly bad time in the UDW throughout the Bad Guys Close In until they hit rock bottom in the All Is Lost and enter a state of despair in the Dark Night of the Soul.
Which of the two patterns your story will follow will be determined by whether the Hero is thriving or struggling in the Fun and Games. Thus, this beat should have a clear positive or negative emotional trend, which should be established as early as possible.
For example, in the first Fun and Games scene of The Giver, Jonas receives a joyous and exhilarating memory of riding on a sled. This prepares the reader for a Fun and Games beat with an upward emotional path. Conversely, in the first Fun and Games scene of Beauty and the Beast, Belle cries as she’s taken to her room in the Beast’s castle. And once she gets there, she throws herself onto the bed and cries some more. Thus, viewers expect—if only subconsciously—a Fun and Games with an emotional downswing.
But that’s not to say an upbeat Fun and Games should be all sunshine and rainbows or that a downbeat Fun and Games should be all darkness and… whatever the opposite of rainbows is. Jessica Brody mentions this in Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, using what she calls “the bouncing ball narrative”:
Your hero is up, your hero is down. Things are going swimmingly, things are going horribly. The hero succeeds at something, then fails at something. The girl gets the boy, the girl loses the boy. The detective makes a breakthrough on the case, only to discover it’s a false lead.… But despite how many times your ball bounces, in the end there should be a general direction in which the beat is heading: success or failure.
Challenge the Hero’s Beliefs Through Their Interactions with Other Characters
The Fun and Games should include the hero’s first steps in their transformation. And for this to happen, their beliefs must be challenged. Challenges often come directly from B Story characters whose values oppose the hero’s.
These challenges, however, should not be successful. While the hero might acknowledge small holes in their belief system at this point, the Fun and Games is still too early for the hero to abandon their beliefs. Therefore, the hero should push back when their values are challenged during this beat.
Consider this bit of dialogue between Madeline and her nurse from the second Fun and Games beat of Everything, Everything, a story about a girl who has been diagnosed with “bubble boy” disease and, therefore, believes she can’t have certain life experiences:
“I’m not in love. I can’t be in love.”
“And why not?”
“What would be the point?” I say, throwing my hands up. “Me in love would be like being a food critic with no taste buds. It would be like being a color-blind painter. It would be like—”
“Like skinny dipping by yourself.”
I have to laugh at that one. “Exactly,” I say. “Pointless.”
“Not pointless,” she says, and looks at me seriously. “Just because you can’t experience everything doesn’t mean you shouldn’t experience anything. Besides, doomed love is a part of life.” [There’s the challenge to Madeline’s belief.]
“I’m not in love,” I say again. [And there’s Madeline’s pushback.]
Challenge the Hero’s Beliefs Through the Negative Consequences of Their Actions
In addition to being challenged by other characters, the hero might begin to doubt certain small aspects of their belief system after their actions (which are based on their beliefs) have negative consequences. As Jessica Brody would say, the hero is “fixing things the wrong way,” and the undesirable outcomes of their actions help them see this.
In Turner & Hooch, neat freak Scott Turner adopts Hooch, a very messy and slobbery dog, who he thinks can help him solve a murder. When the Fun and Games begins, Turner mistakenly believes he can maintain a clean and orderly home, just like he had in Act 1, despite Hooch’s presence.
However, it soon becomes clear that Turner’s plan just won’t work, as Hooch ransacks Turner’s house despite Turner’s efforts to keep Hooch contained. Turner eventually realizes he is going to be miserable unless he learns to relax a little bit and give up some control over his life.
Strengthen the Hero’s Bonds with B Story Characters
In many stories, the hero and the main B Story character hit it off right away, and their friendship, romance, or what have you blossoms as the Fun and Games progresses. In many other stories, however, the B Story character’s camaraderie must be earned throughout the beat.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone contains both types of B Story characters. Ron becomes fast friends with Harry through their conversation on the Hogwarts Express. Hermione, though, is not as amicable as Ron. In fact, at first, Harry and Ron don’t like Hermione at all, and she doesn’t particularly care for them. However, the Fun and Games beat contains a scene in which Ron and Harry save Hermione from a troll. From that point on, Hermione becomes one of Harry’s closest allies.
Speaking of the B Story characters, they have such an important impact on a story that their introduction is given its own beat in the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet. The main categories of B Story characters are discussed in the next section.
The B Story Beat
Brody defines the B Story beat as a single scene that occurs early in Act 2 and “introduces the character who will somehow represent the B Story/spiritual story/theme and help your hero learn it.”
According to the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet, this beat should occur 22% of the way through a story. But it really depends on how long Act 1 was. Instead of using a specific percentage, it’s more practical to say that the B Story beat should take place very soon after Act 1 ends (usually, it immediately follows the Break Into 2).
Since the B Story beat doesn’t typically drive the plot forward, there isn’t a checklist of things that can or should happen in this beat. This is simply the first time the hero interacts with the B Story character(s), and their similarities and differences highlight the hero’s flaws and the lesson they must learn.
So, instead of examining plot elements in this section of this article, let’s look at the main components and types of effective B Story characters.
What Makes for an Effective B Story Character?
According to Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, B Story characters serve two purposes. First, “they must in some way represent the upside-down Act 2 world.” Second, “they must in some way help guide the hero toward their life lesson or theme.”
However, I don’t know if I would use the word “must.” Regarding the first point, some B Story characters actually represent the SQW even more strongly than the hero. In this way, they serve as a warning about who the hero might become if they don’t change. Regarding the second point, not all heroes learn a life lesson, which nullifies the second purpose of the B Story character in some stories.
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel indicates three basic types of B Story characters based on how they guide the hero toward learning the theme:
“Your B Story character can be the embodiment of the theme.”
“Your B Story character can be someone who, by their very nature, brings out the theme in the hero.”
“Your B Story character could be someone who suffers from the same flaws as your hero, but in an even more exaggerated way, thus holding up a mirror to your hero’s flaws and allowing them to see the truth for themselves.”
Let’s look at these three types of B Story characters in more detail. I use Bird Box as an example because, conveniently, it contains all three. In this story, Malorie transforms from someone who self-isolates and is afraid to truly and completely love anyone—including her children—into a loving mother.
The B story character can embody the story’s theme
When we say “the B Story character embodies the theme,” what we mean is that this character has already learned the theme and embraces the truth that the hero must learn. Although the hero often dismisses this B Story character’s beliefs at first, it’s clear to the audience that the hero could learn a thing or two from this character.
In Bird Box, Olympia’s personality opposes Malorie’s in that she can’t stand being isolated. On the first night they spend trapped in a house together, Olympia gets into bed next to Malorie because she read a blog that said pregnant moms should always sleep next to someone because the baby knows if the mom is lonely. This shows that Olympia is unlike Malorie because she isn’t afraid to get close to people. Moreover, whereas Olympia has researched how to take care of your baby while you’re expecting, a pregnant Malorie had planned on sharing a bottle of wine with her sister in Act 1.
Although Olympia has her own flaws (e.g., she is too dependent on others and can’t fend for herself), Malorie could learn something from Olympia’s love for her unborn daughter.
The B story character’s nature brings out the theme in the hero
Some B Story characters don’t embody the theme. They also don’t need to do anything in particular to bring out the theme in the hero—they do it just by being who they are.
Boy (Malorie’s son) and Girl (Olympia’s daughter, who Malorie adopts when Olympia dies shortly after giving birth) help Malorie learn to let herself love someone. They do anything intentionally to show Malorie the theme. Instead, they bring out Malorie’s maternal instincts and help her overcome her flaw simply because they are vulnerable and will die if Malorie doesn’t learn the theme.
The B story character has an even worse version of the hero’s flaw
This kind of B Story character is the opposite of the first kind we looked at. They show the hero a need for change not by embodying the theme but by being so extremely opposed to the theme that they end up pushing the hero toward it.
Douglas isn’t simply a loner like Malorie. He’s also much more selfish and heartless than she is. Because of this, he makes Malorie see that caring about only yourself is a massive flaw.
When half of the people who are holed up at Greg’s house go to the supermarket for provisions, we get the following exchange between Douglas and Malorie:
Douglas: Don’t you doofuses get it? We could just stay here. We have a year’s supply of food and drink right here. We don’t ever have to pay, and we shouldn’t ever leave.
Malorie: And what are they gonna do at Greg’s? Starve?
Douglas: Better them than us. We have everything we need to live here. Everything. There is no statistical, logical, or legal argument for trying to get back there.
Malorie: Here’s an argument: We’re not assholes. And we’re not staying.
Moments like this are also useful for showing that the hero has the potential to overcome their flaw. Even though Malorie shares some characteristics with Douglas, the above exchange shows that she has a stronger moral compass. And in Act 3, it’s her moral compass that allows her to embrace the theme and protect Boy and Girl when she has the option of saving them or saving herself.
Additional B Story Character Types
There are other kinds of B Story characters not mentioned in Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. There are two common ones in particular that I want to mention here. These characters tend to appear in stories where the hero has a flat arc. Instead of learning a theme, the hero already embraces the theme when the story begins, and their belief in the theme is tested throughout the story.
The B story character has a flaw that the hero helps them overcome
If the hero of your story has a flat arc, they may very well swap roles with the B Story character. That is, it is the B Story character who needs to change, and the hero is the one who helps them do it.
For example, in Beauty and the Beast, Belle doesn’t need to undergo a transformation. She begins the story as a good person who knows who she is and what she wants. It’s the B Story character, the Beast, who needs to transform from a hate-filled, self-loathing, raging brute into a gentle, loving soul. And his relationship with Belle propels his transformation.
The B story character Is the hero’s sidekick
Sometimes, particularly in stories that are strongly plot-based and don’t have an especially prominent theme, neither the hero nor the B Story character learns a profound lesson from their counterpart. The roles of these kinds of B Story characters are more utilitarian than anything.
For example, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry doesn’t learn any profound lessons from Ronald or Hermione. Nevertheless, the story wouldn’t work without these B Story characters. Harry needs companions with whom he can talk about his problems, discuss the implications of recent events, and voice his assumptions about other characters. He also needs his friends to help him accomplish tasks that he couldn’t manage alone.
Closing Remarks
If you’ve been struggling with the Fun and Games beat of your work in progress, I hope this article has given you some ideas to power through this notoriously tricky section of a novel. If this article has been helpful, don’t forget to sign up for my mailing list to be the first to know when I post new blogs.
Comments