Reasons to Save the Cat
Have you heard the term Save the Cat? The Save the Cat scene is where we meet the hero and the hero does something to make us identify or empathize with them; like saving a cat in a tree. Why is this scene important?
Story beginnings can happen in many different ways, but there's one thing that is constant. And that's empathy. Your first job should be to get the reader or viewer to care about your main character. I know of three ways to establish empathy and make readers instantly get the feels for characters.
One way is to showcase the character's extraordinary qualities.
Another way is to display their ordinariness in an extraordinary world.
Finally, you can have them save a cat. Metaphorically.
With regards to Extraordinary qualities, think Buffy who is a slight girl who can slay any monster, beast or vampire. Or think of the heightened intellect of Sherlock Holmes who sees things others overlook when he's solving a crime. There's also people who are exceptional at their jobs like Olivia Pope in Scandal who trusts her gut.
It's not just the person that can be extraordinary, it might simply the situation they find themselves in. For example, Mark Want gets stranded on Mars and has to find a way to survive and contact the people back on earth. In the sleepy town of Stars Hollow, the Gilmore girls try to navigate their quirky neighbors. Or you could be a resident of Forks, Washington and not know that vampires and werewolves were at war at twilight.
You might also have extraordinary qualities and live in the midst of an extraordinary situation as well as save a cat.
In the pilot episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy is pretty and fun and clearly would belong in popular click which make us want to identify with her because we all want to be popular. We'll soon learn she's the slayer, the best at her job. This gives her extraordinary, super hero qualities with heightened abilities. And don't we all want super powers.
But she's at a brand new high school. That situation immediately elicits empathy from viewers. She's going to be an outcast with this newbie social status, but because of her looks we think she'll fit in. Or will she?
When the shy, brainy character of Willow is introduced it's clear that Willow is a quiet kinda outcast. When Cordelia treats poor Willow mean at the water fountain and Buffy balks, that's when we truly identify with our heroine. Buffy befriends Willow; making Willow the cat that Buffy metaphorically saves. Also when Buffy saves Willow, she sacrifices her socials standing and shows that her real super power is compassion and good judgment.
You want to write a great book, so why not do all three in your story. Give your character extraordinary qualities, set them in an extraordinary world. And toss a cat up a tree for them to rescue!
Did you know there's also a dog on the scene? But we don't save the dog, we pet them. We'll break it down soon.
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