How to Write a Resonant Finale to Your Novel (An Editor's Guide to Save the Cat! Story Structure: Part 9)

Act 3 of a novel is less complex than the previous two acts, given that it contains only two beats, one of which is very short. Also, compared to other multi-scene beats, the Finale is typically easier to write since the hero’s goal is usually pretty focused by the time we reach Act 3.

Since Act 3 is almost all one beat, it won’t be very helpful to provide a full overview for Act 3 like I did for Acts 1 and 2. Pretty much everything that would be mentioned in such an overview is covered in the next section, which discusses the basics of the Finale.

Purpose of the Finale

As Jessica Brody states in Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, the Finale has two main purposes. First, it “resolves all the problems created in Act 2,” and second, it “proves that your hero has learned the theme and has been transformed.” In other words, in this beat, the hero overcomes the final and most imposing external barriers in the way of their ultimate goal while facing their most troubling internal demons at the same time.

The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet recommends that it should take the hero 19% of a novel (from 80–99%) to accomplish these things. However, like all the recommendations given by the beat sheet, this is flexible. You’re better off keeping your Finale to an exciting 10–15% as opposed to bloating it with random obstacles. Conversely, if you find that your Finale naturally comes out to 25 or 30% of your novel, don’t feel the need to cut elements if they serve a purpose. Specific factors that determine the length of this beat will be pointed out throughout this article.

Regardless of length, the trick to writing a good Finale is to make sure the hero doesn’t achieve their Act 3 goal too easily. As Brody states in Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel, “No one wants to read about a hero who Breaks Into 3 with a plan and then on the next page achieves that plan with no conflict whatsoever.”

It’s important that the hero experiences conflict in the Finale because the only way to prove that they’ve learned the story’s theme is to test their faith in it. And this can’t be done without throwing one last moment of despair at the hero. The Five-Point Finale that Brody provides is useful because it essentially forces you to include such a moment in your story’s climax.

The Five-Point Finale

The Five-Point Finale is a blueprint for “storming the castle,” which Brody uses as a metaphor for accomplishing the Act 3 goal. The five points (or sub-beats) are:

• Gathering the Team

• Executing the Plan

• The High Tower Surprise

• Dig Deep Down

• Execution of the New Plan

Of course, the Five-Point Finale is just one way to write this beat, and even Brody doesn’t recommend blindly following this method: “Don’t think of the five points as creative chains that bind you; rather, think of them as suggestions to inspire you.”

We’ll look at cases where authors often break the chains throughout the following sections, each of which focuses on one of the sub-beats.

Gathering the Team

While the name of this sub-beat implies that this is where the hero gathers allies before storming the castle, this sub-beat is not always about gathering people. It also commonly shows the hero gathering supplies or formulating a game plan.

Recruiting allies

This element can be very short or rather long, depending on your story’s needs. If the hero doesn’t need help or if their allies are particularly eager to help, this sub-beat will be absent or very short. For example, the entire Gathering the Team sub-beat of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is as follows:

‘I’ll use the Invisibility Cloak,’ said Harry. ‘It’s just lucky I got it back.’

‘But will it cover all three of us?’ said Ron.

‘All – all three of us?’

‘Oh, come off it, you don’t think we’d let you go alone?’

‘Of course not,’ said Hermione briskly. ‘How do you think you’d get to the Stone without us? I’d better go and look through my books, there might be something useful …’

‘But if we get caught, you two will be expelled, too.’

‘Not if I can help it,’ said Hermione grimly. ‘Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve per cent on his exam. They’re not throwing me out after that.’

But it’s not always that easy, especially if the hero’s actions in Act 2 caused them and their allies to split up. As Brody states, “Your hero might not be on speaking terms with some of their friends after the All Is Lost. They might have to mend a few fences in order to solicit help.” If your hero needs to make up for a previous mistake or otherwise earn the support of their allies, this will extend the Gathering the Team sub-beat.

An example of this occurs in Zootopia. In Act 2, Judy Hopps gaffed during a press conference and said that the predators living in the city were “going savage” because of their DNA. This created a rift between Judy and her best friend Nick Wilde, a fox, who was offended by her comments. Because of that, when we get to Act 3, before Judy can storm the castle, we get a full scene where she finds Nick, admits that she was a bad friend, and convinces him to help her finish solving the case they had worked on throughout Act 2.

Gathering supplies

This aspect of this sub-beat may also be non-existent or very short. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone again gives an example of a short one:

‘Better get the Cloak,’ Ron muttered, as Lee Jordan finally left, stretching and yawning. Harry ran upstairs to their dark dormitory. He pulled out the Cloak and then his eyes fell on the flute Hagrid had given him for Christmas. He pocketed it to use on Fluffy – he didn’t feel much like singing.

Of course, the task of gathering supplies can be more involved if the story calls for it. For example, in The Princess Bride, Inigo needs to obtain a miracle pill from Miracle Max. But since Miracle Max needs a fair amount of convincing, a full scene is devoted to this aspect of the Finale.

Formulating a game plan

This part of the Gathering the Team sub-beat is perhaps the most likely to be skipped. This is because if you have your hero spell out their plan of attack before enacting it, the next sub-beats will feel repetitive and predictable. Things are much more exciting when the reader doesn’t know everything that’s going to happen ahead of time.

For example, the passage from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone presented above is immediately followed by a scene break, and then we’re plunked into the next sub-beat. We can assume that Harry, Hermione, and Ron devised some kind of plan between scenes, but we don’t know exactly what to expect.

Giving away the hero’s game plan does not harm the Finale’s unpredictability if the game plan goes sideways pretty quickly in the next sub-beat. You could still skip over the formulation of the game plan in this case, but it could be a good idea to include it. This is because if the audience doesn’t know what the hero is trying to do, they might get confused, and the hero might end up looking like a huge idiot when the plan fails.

For instance, the Finale of Back to the Future starts with some dialogue that spells out Marty’s plan. He’s going to pretend to get fresh with Lorraine in the parking lot outside the school dance, and then George is going to come and “save” her. And then she’ll want to dance with him.

However, it turns out that Lorraine doesn’t want to be saved from Marty. Plus, Biff the bully shows up and drags Marty out of the car before George can do his part, and now George has to save Lorraine from Biff for real instead of from Marty as an act. The laying out of the game plan in this case doesn’t reduce the excitement of the following sub-beat, and it provides an explanation for why Marty basically hits on his mom in the upcoming scene.

Executing the Plan

Now that the hero has gathered whatever allies and materials they need and has drawn up a game plan, the next step is to execute that plan. This sub-beat has two main components. First, the hero needs to get to the location where they can carry out their plan. Second, they need to actually carry out the plan, which entails confronting the main antagonistic force.

Storming the castle

In this part of this sub-beat, the hero moves toward the antagonist or the location where they can achieve their goal, facing obstacles along the way.

In The Princess Bride, as the heroes literally storm a castle, they come across a couple of major obstacles. They have to get past the sixty guards standing outside the only working castle gate, and Inigo has to duel mini-antagonist Count Rugen to avenge his father’s death. Plus, Westley has to somehow confront and defeat Humperdinck even though he has just been brought back to life and is too weak to even hold up the weight of his own body.

Some Finales do not show the hero storming the castle and cut to the confrontation with the antagonist. Or, if the confrontation is some kind of pre-arranged contest—perhaps a sporting event or a singing competition—the approach could be replaced by a short bit that sets the stage for the final showdown. For example, in Cars, we don’t need to see Lightning McQueen being driven to California and then preparing for the Piston Cup race. Instead, we start Act 3 with Lightning already on the track, with the announcers putting over the upcoming race as “the race of the century.”

The B Story Sacrifice

Often, while storming the castle, the hero’s allies get left behind along the way in what Jessica Brody calls “the B Story Sacrifice,” leaving the hero to confront the antagonist on their own. This storytelling technique is very common because, as Brody explains in Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel, “the less help the hero has in the final pages, the harder it is for them, and the more rewarding it is to read.”

Specifically, it's more rewarding because the absence of friends to rely on during the upcoming Dig Deep Down sub-beat forces the hero to look inside themself for the strength they need to win the battle against the antagonist. And since the source of this inner strength is tied to the story’s theme, having the hero face the antagonist alone fosters the author’s ability to prove to readers that the hero has learned the theme.

There are a few ways that secondary characters can make sacrifices. For instance, allies can volunteer to stay behind or even be killed if an obstacle requires it. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone Ron sacrifices himself in the life-sized wizard chess match, and Hermione stays behind when she and Harry realize there are only enough ingredients for one of them to get through Snape’s potion-based trial. Literal sacrifices like Ron’s and Hermione’s are great for giving secondary characters their moments to shine since they tend to require bravery and honour.

Another good way to get secondary characters out of the way before the main confrontation is to have them keep the antagonist’s henchmen busy. Like the voluntary sacrifice, this allows your secondary characters to have their moments to shine, like Nala, Rafiki, Timon, and Pumba do in The Lion King when they take on the Hyenas while Simba looks for Scar.

The B Story Sacrifice doesn't need to be a literal sacrifice. Sometimes, secondary characters just keep the mini-antagonists busy.

Or, in less intense Finales, your secondary characters might simply bow out due to everyday barriers. If the Act 3 goal is to stop the hero’s love interest from getting on a plane, the allies might stay behind at the airport’s check-in area while the hero rushes through security.

Finally, there are cases when secondary characters stay with the hero during the final confrontation, but they're unlikely to get directly involved. Instead, they might stay on the sidelines and play the role of cheerleader (like Mater in Cars), coach (like Doc), or helper (like Guido). The trick is to make sure secondary characters don’t help so much that it feels like the hero didn’t earn their victory.

Confronting the antagonist

This is where the Finale really gets cooking. The hero and antagonist finally square off for their first confrontation—or, if they’ve met earlier in the book, this will be their most monumental encounter. If the antagonistic force isn’t a character, this sub-beat is where we see the hero make their first proper attempt to accomplish their Act 3 goal. This is where George McFly pulls Biff out of the car, where Lightning McQueen competes in the Piston Cup race, and where Harry Potter confronts Quirrell.

If the hero’s ultimate goal is to get to a location, as opposed to doing battle with another character, there is technically no confrontation. For example, in Bird Box, Malorie spends the Finale trying to get the sanctuary at a school for the blind. Her success depends on her avoiding a direct confrontation with the main antagonistic force.

Whatever happens in this sub-beat, the important thing is to not let your hero win just yet. That would be too easy. There needs to be one last crap-up. The hero still needs to have their faith in the theme tested. That’s where the next sub-beat comes in.

The High Tower Surprise

In Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, Brody explains that “The High Tower Surprise is simply another twist, another challenge to force the hero to really prove their worth…. And this time, pure effort, brawns, weapons, even smarts won’t get your hero through. Your hero must dig deeper than that.”

As I mentioned above, this final setback gives the hero a chance to prove through their actions that they have accepted the theme. They may have already expressed their agreement with the theme through their words in the Break Into 3, but the High Tower Surprise will force them to put their money where their mouth is.

The High Tower Surprise doesn’t actually need to be surprising, as some of the following examples will show, though it certainly can be and often is. The main thing the High Tower Surprise needs to do is make it look like the hero might lose, like a miniature version of the All Is Lost.

Below, I’ve listed just a few of the many kinds of High Tower Surprises commonly found in stories.

First, the plan can fall apart because it was based on a false assumption. We saw this in an earlier example from Back to the Future, where Lorraine did not act as expected when Marty tried to enact his plan.

Second, a plan based on a false assumption could go off as expected, but with an unexpected outcome. For example, in A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, Pip’s plan to confront Mr. Ward and have him arrested for his crimes ends with him getting arrested, just like Pip wanted. However, it turns out that Mr. Ward did not commit the crime Pip assumed he had; he did not kill Andie Bell, meaning her murderer is still on the loose.

Third, even if the hero’s plan isn't based on any false assumptions, things can go wrong when something unexpected happens at just the wrong time. This happens in Toy Story when RC runs out of batteries before Woody and Buzz can get to the moving van, and then again when the match is blown out before Woody can light the rocket on Buzz’s back.

Fourth, an ally can betray the hero. This happens in Zootopia when Bellwether reveals that she has been behind the night howler scandal since day one. And now that Judy and Nick know it, Bellwether infects Nick with a night howler so that he’ll go savage and kill Judy.

Fifth, the High Tower Surprise might see the hero face a tough decision between something important they’ve wanted since the story began and something they’ve recently realized might be even more important. In Cars, Strip Weathers crashes, forcing Lightning McQueen to choose between winning the Piston Cup or doing the honourable thing and helping Strip Weathers finish his last race.

Finally, you might have a High Tower Surprise where nothing in particular throws a wrench in the gears; it’s just that the Act 3 goal turns out to be more difficult to accomplish than the hero anticipated. The High Tower “Surprise” in The Giver happens when Jonas thinks he can go no further after a treacherous journey toward Elsewhere:

On his knees, unable to rise, Jonas tried a second time. His consciousness grasped at a wisp of another warm memory, and tried desperately to hold it there, to enlarge it, and pass it into Gabriel. His spirits and strength lifted with the momentary warmth and he stood. Again, Gabriel stirred against him as he began to climb.

But the memory faded, leaving him colder than before.

If only he had had time to receive more warmth from The Giver before he escaped! Maybe there would be more left for him now. But there was no purpose in if-onlys. His entire concentration now had to be on moving his feet, warming Gabriel and himself, and going forward.

He climbed, stopped, and warmed them both briefly again, with a tiny scrap of memory that seemed certainly to be all he had left.

Now that the chips are down, we’re going to see what the hero is really made of in the next sub-beat

Dig Deep Down

The Dig Deep Down is where, according to Brody, “the hero has once again seemingly failed (in the High Tower Surprise) and has nothing left… but there’s something deep down inside of them that will turn out to be the most important weapon of all.” This is where Jonas searches himself for warm, happy memories and the strength to keep going toward his destination. This is where Harry Potter decides to stand up to Voldemort, even though Voldemort has threatened his life. This is where Malorie realizes she must tap into her maternal instincts to keep her children alive.

While the Dig Deep Down doesn’t have to be tied to the story’s theme, it tends to be more resonant if it is. And if it is, this will be the hero’s best and last chance to prove that they really have accepted the theme.

A good test of the hero’s belief in the theme has three components: It should require the hero to (1) decide to do something they never would have done at the beginning of the story, (2) give up something that has been important to them since Act 1, and (3) take a leap of faith.

Returning to the example of Cars, after Strip Weathers crashes, Lighting decides to throw the race to help him cross the finish line (which covers both points 1 and 2 above). Also, Lightning didn’t know that this show of good character would win him the Dinoco sponsorship he had also been wanting since Act 1 (covering point 3)—though he ultimately sacrifices this as well.

A fourth element I recommend adding to a good test of faith is that the solution should be foreshadowed earlier in the story. This isn’t crucial to proving that the hero has learned the theme, but it does prevent the hero’s choice from feeling random.

In Cars, Lightning McQueen’s decision to choose Strip Weathers’s dignity over the Piston Cup is not completely unexpected. It is clearly linked to an earlier scene where Lightning found out that Doc was forced to retire (without his dignity intact) after suffering a similar crash.

Often, the best Dig Deep Down moments call back to the events of Act 2 in some way.

So, at this point, the hero’s original plan has hit a snag, which forces them to make a bold decision linked to the story’s theme. In the next sub-beat, they have to turn that decision into an action.

The Execution of the New Plan

As Brody puts it, “In this final sub-beat, your hero puts their bold, innovative, new plan into action—and of course, it works!” This is where Jonas finds his happy memories and pushes himself the the top of the hill, where Harry Potter refuses to hand the Philosopher’s Stone over to Voldemort, and where Malorie uses her love for her children to keep them safe.

The events of this sub-beat shouldn’t be drawn out too much. You just hit the high point of the hero’s internal struggle in the Dig Deep Down, and you generally want that moment to be as close as possible to the climax of the external struggle. For this reason, the Execution of the New Plan is typically much shorter than the Executing the Plan sub-beat.

In Cars, Lighting’s plan of helping Strip Weathers finish his last race doesn’t come with any barriers. Because of this, the Execution of the New Plan comprises only 13% of the Finale; by comparison, the Executing the Plan sub-beat takes up 56%.

To give another example, the Execution of the New Plan in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone isn’t as easy as in Cars, but it is still straightforward. Harry’s scuffle with Quirrell/Voldemort takes up 7% of the Finale (vs. 65% for the Executing the Plan sub-beat).

As a final note on this sub-beat, Brody makes an important point in Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel: “Sometimes the High Tower Surprise doesn’t lead to an entirely new plan but simply forces the hero to Dig Deep Down and find the strength to continue with the existing plan.” The example from The Giver fits this description. Jonas’s plan, both before and after the High Tower Surprise, is to make it to Elsewhere.

Long and Short Finales

In the previous sections, I identified some common exceptions that occur within each sub-beat that could shorten or extend the length of the Finale. Here, I want to look at the Finale as a whole to show why you might end up with a Finale that is closer to 30% or 10% of your novel than the prescribed 20%.

Long Finales

You might end up with a long Finale if your hero has more than one Act 3 goal. For example, the Finale of Back to the Future has three Act 3 goals, each with its own Five-Point Finale. First, Marty must get his parents to kiss at their high school dance in 1955 before he ceases to exist. Second, Marty must use the time machine to get back to 1985. Third, once he gets back to 1985, Marty must prevent Doc from being shot dead. Because there is so much to do, the Finale takes up 30% of the film.

You can also end up with a long Finale with only one Act 3 goal if this goal requires the hero to experience more than one instance of some of the sub-beats. Throughout the Finale of Happy Gilmore, Happy’s only goal is to win a golf tournament and, in turn, the deed to his grandma’s house from Shooter McGavin. But he’s met with two major setbacks (High Tower Surprises), making this film's Finale longer than average, at 29%.

Specifically, the Finale unfolds as follows:

• Gathering the Team: Happy apologizes to his former coach, who agrees to help him improve his short game by taking him mini-golfing and teaching him how to go to a “happy place” to control his anger.

• Executing the Plan: After some trash-talking with Shooter McGavin and some setting of the stage from the announce team, the tournament begins. Happy is leading after the third day.

• High Tower Surprise: On the final day of the tournament, a goon hired by McGavin drives out onto the course and hits Happy, injuring his shoulder. The injury negates Happy’s long drives, which are his greatest weapon. He gets frustrated, and he can’t find his happy place anymore. He falls several strokes behind McGavin. It looks like he will not win the tournament.

• Dig Deep Down: Happy sees his grandma among the spectators. She tells him not to worry about her house. All she cares about is whether Happy is happy. He realizes his grandma is right.

• Execution of the New Plan: Happy is able to go to his happy place once again. He steps up his game, makes a comeback, and is tied with McGavin by the time they’re teeing off on the final hole.

• High Tower Surprise (2): Just before making a putt to win the tournament, a TV tower falls over onto the green, blocking Happy’s line to the hole.

• Dig Deep Down (2): Happy looks at the tower and sees it as a mini-golf obstacle, calling back to the Gathering the Team sub-beat. He could putt around the tower and force overtime, but, in a leap of faith, he decides to putt into the tower, knowing that his coach is looking down on him and will help him.

• The Execution of New Plan (2): Happy drains the putt and wins the tournament.

Short Finales

Short Finales sometimes occur when the hero is their own worst enemy, as there might not be any big external obstacles that the hero must overcome to gain their victory. Sometimes, the solution to the problem is very simple, and once the hero gets out of their own way, it’s easy for them to get what they need.

For example, the Finale of The Devil Wears Prada (the film adaptation) clocks in at about 10% of the film’s runtime, given that our hero, Andy, faces few obstacles beyond her own misguided belief that she has no choice but to stay at her job. The Finale unfolds as follows:

• Gathering the Team: Andy tries to warn her tyrannical boss, Miranda, that the powers at Runway Magazine are planning on replacing her with Jacqueline Foller.

• Executing the Plan: After a couple of failed attempts, Andy finds Miranda and warns her about what’s going on just before they attend a party being held to announce the expansion of James Holt’s fashion company. However, Miranda is unphased.

  • Of note, this sub-beat typically makes up the majority of the Finale. But Andy formed the wrong Act 3 goal (she needs to distance herself from Miranda, not protect her), and it would feel strange to watch the hero fight to do the wrong thing. So, we speed past this sub-beat quite quickly. It takes up only about 10% of the Finale.

• High Tower Surprise: Miranda knew all along that there were plans to replace her, and she enacts a contingency plan to save her job. Specifically, at the party, she names Jacqueline as the new president of James Holt’s company. She had previously promised this position to Nigel, the B story character who Andy had bonded the most with. Nigel and Andy are devastated by the news.

• Dig Deep Down: After the party, Miranda says she sees a great deal of herself in Andy. Andy says that’s not true, that she could never do what Miranda did to Nigel. But Miranda points out that Andy already did to one of her other coworkers, which is true. Andy has to face the fact that she is becoming like Miranda, and she needs to decide if she wants to live like Miranda or go back to who she was.

• Execution of the New Plan: As Miranda and Andy get out of the car, Andy does not follow Miranda, and she throws her phone in a fountain when Miranda tries to call her.

  • Again, there is typically more of a struggle than this in this sub-beat. But because no external factors were forcing Andy to stay at her job, there are no obstacles for her to overcome once she realizes she has a choice.

The Final Image

In Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, Brody explains that the Final Image “provides an ‘after’ snapshot of your hero and your hero’s life to show how much they’ve changed.” She also says that, when reading this scene, “the reader should be able to very clearly identify how this story has changed your hero for the better.”

Basically, the purpose of this beat is to confirm that everything the hero went through has had a long-lasting and (usually) positive impact on their life and the world around them.

The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet dictates that the Final image should take up the final 1% of a novel, but it is sometimes longer, particularly if you have multiple loose ends to tie up or if you need to provide some setup for the next book if you’re writing a series.

Note: The scenes that accomplish these things are not technically part of the Final Image, which, by definition, is a single scene. But, given that the main plot is over, they are certainly not part of the Finale. Since the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet doesn’t account for these kinds of scenes that fall between the Finale and Final Image, I don’t know what to call them. So, I’ve lumped them in with the Final Image here.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, for example, has multiple loose ends to tie up. The reader needs to learn that the Philosopher’s Stone has been destroyed and that Harry was saved from Voldemort by Dumbledore, among other things. Also, Harry learns that Voldemort has not been defeated for good, setting up Book 2. And there’s also the matter of the House Cup, which is won by Gryffindor due to the heroics of Harry and his friends. Overall, these post-Finale scenes take up about 5% of the novel. The book then ends with what we might call the “true Final Image,” in which Harry says goodbye to his new friends and returns to the Dursleys’ house with newfound confidence.

Four Ways to Write a Memorable Final Image

There is no single best way to craft a Final Image. But here are a few common methods used by storytellers to confirm that the hero’s journey was worth it—or, as Brody puts it, to prove that “we didn’t just travel in circles. We went somewhere.”

Use a setting that strongly contrasts the setting of the Opening Image

You can highlight change by having the location and mood of the Final Image starkly contrast the location and mood of the Opening Image.

For example, the opening of The Giver paints Jonas’s world as colourless and loveless, which contrasts with the final paragraphs, in which Jonas is sledding toward his new home:

He forced his eyes open as they went downward, downward, sliding, and all at once he could see lights, and he recognized them now. He knew they were shining through the windows of rooms, that they were the red, blue, and yellow lights that twinkled from trees in places where families created and kept memories, where they celebrated love.

Downward, downward, faster and faster. Suddenly he was aware with certainty and joy that below, ahead, they were waiting for him; and that they were waiting, too, for the baby. For the first time, he heard something that he knew to be music. He heard people singing.

Behind him, across vast distances of space and time, from the place he had left, he thought he heard music too. But perhaps it was only an echo.

Use a mirror version of the setting of the Opening Image

As Brody points out in Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel, “some authors choose to create more literal mirrors, with the Opening Image and Final Image set in the exact same place or setting; or on the exact same important day, perhaps a year later.”

This kind of Final Image is used in Back to the Future. Although the Closing Image mirrors a scene from the Setup as opposed to the Opening Image, it’s still a textbook example. In the early scene that occurs at Marty’s house, we see that his dad is a loser and a pushover who does everything Biff (his boss) says and that his mom drinks too much and is kind of cranky. In the Final Image, Marty’s dad is a successful author, and Biff now works for him. And his mom is trim and upbeat.

Call back to something specific that occurred in Act 1

Another technique for writing an effective Final Image involves calling back to an event, object, or conversation from Act 1.

For example, in an early scene in Bird Box, Malorie is with her doctor and is not taking her responsibility as a future mother seriously. When Malorie says a tiny bit of wine won’t hurt “the little bean,” the doctor says, “I’m pretty sure I heard the word ‘bottle.’ And you might want to think of another name besides ‘little bean,’ seeing as your child is now the size of a small melon.”

Then, in the Final Image, when Malorie reaches the sanctuary, it turns out the same doctor has also found refuge in the same place. Malorie’s children introduce themselves to the doctor as Girl and Boy, calling back to Malorie’s thoughtlessness with names and lack of maternal instinct. But because Malorie has now accepted her responsibilities as a mother, she gives the children real names in this closing scene.

Provide a happily-ever-after moment

A classic method for writing a Final Image is to offer a happily-ever-after moment by providing evidence that the hero’s actions have led to a significant positive outcome some time after the events of the Finale. For example, if the Finale ends with the hero and their love interest confessing their love and having their first kiss, the Final Image might show a snippet from their wedding day.

Summary

We’ve gone over quite a lot in this article, given that it covers an entire act. To summarize, here are the main takeaways from this article:

• The main purposes of the Finale are to have the hero (1) overcome the final external obstacles standing in the way of their long-term goal and (2) defeat their internal demons to prove that they’ve learned the story’s theme.

• Though it is by no means the only way to construct a Finale, you can use the Five-Point Finale as a blueprint for outlining your story’s final act.

  • In the first sub-beat (Gathering the Team), the hero might recruit allies, gather supplies, or formulate a game plan.

  • In the second sub-beat (Executing the Plan), the hero overcomes obstacles as they approach the antagonist or a destination and then has their big confrontation with the antagonist.

  • In the third sub-beat (the High Tower Surprise), the hero faces a drastic, unexpected setback, making it seem like they’re going to lose. This setback typically also tests the hero’s faith in the theme.

  • In the fourth sub-beat (Dig Deep Down), the hero looks inside themself and finds the will to keep fighting despite the setback that occurred in the High Tower Surprise. Often, but not always, the hero realizes they must do something different than what they tried in the Executing the Plan sub-beat.

  • In the final sub-beat (the Execution of the New Plan), the hero enacts a new plan based on the realization they had in the previous sub-beat. Assuming your story has a happy ending, this plan will be the one that leads to victory.

• Your Finale might be longer than average if your hero has multiple Act 3 goals or if the Act 3 goal is such that it requires the hero to go through multiple instances of some of the sub-beats.

• Conversely, your Finale might be shorter than average if, for one reason or another, the main conflict doesn’t require the hero to overcome many external obstacles.

• The main purpose of the Final Image is to confirm that the hero’s actions have had a long-lasting impact on their life and/or the world around them. This is usually done through a contrast with the setting or some other element of the Opening Image.

At last, we've gotten to the end of the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet. But that doesn’t mean this series is over quite yet. So far, we’ve been looking at how the Save the Cat! method works in theory; in the next article, we’ll look at how it works in practice when I present a full analysis of a published novel and explore how the beat sheet applies to it.

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