‘Save The Cat’ is About Agency
Sunday Edition #23: Also, Getty vs Stability, Planet-Sized Cities, and Pluribus
Welcome to the Sunday Edition, where I share interesting articles and links alongside what I’ve been up to!
Where To Start Your Story
I enjoyed Katie exploring the opening scenes of two stories (Lady Bird and The Arsonists’ City). It actually made me revisit my own beliefs about where and how to start a story. My previous belief rested primarily on bringing out the stakes as soon as possible. Show the core dilemma asap, essentially.
But, I think it was missing a key component: agency. And Katie’s descriptions helped make me see that.
If you start with showing agency, it shows the following:
If someone does something in the world, it means there’s already a stake involved. High agency people do stuff because stakes exist. They already care strongly enough to do something.
It shows the reader that this story will contain people worth reading about. In the real world, humans enjoy reading about other humans that *do* things. No less different in fiction. The reader will participate in an agentic world.
It made me realise that the famous “save the cat” advice is actually about agency.
It’s advice that’s often advised that the protagonist’s should do something likeable or relatable in the opening scenes: that the point of “save the cat” is to make people vested in the character, to be on their side of the story.
But, I think the key focus here is simply that we get to see a character that *does* something. It’s why murder stories are alluring: it shows agency. Such high agency that people are actually willing to kill someone.
When I look at my story examples in the article, you see this:
Star Wars starts with Leia and the rebellion *already* in high agency having just stolen the blueprints to the Death Star.
Breaking Bad starts with Walter White taking drastic action to change his life.
Little Miss Sunshine literally starts with Olive preparing what to do when she wins. She’s halfway through agency already. And then her father’s quote comes on, giving a motivational speech about winning.
So yes. In the same way I previously noted that “act 2” is more about surfacing context against the oft-prescribed “conflict”, then “save the cat” advice isn’t so much about relatability, but rather inviting the reader into a story with agency.
If you do that, you’re also revealing what’s at stake.
Getty vs Stability AI Trial
Andres has a great write-up on the recent result of the Getty Images vs Stability AI Trial. The interesting part of this trial is how much of it hang on the thread that it depended *where* the model was trained.
This could change, but UK rightsholders will have to contend with the fact that if a model was trained outside of the UK, then they won’t be able to sue for direct copyright infringement (or sue for secondary infringement as we will see). Getty Images decided not to even try to contend this question in the trial, concentrating on the trade mark and secondary infringement claims. Let that sink in for a second. Because of the lack of commercial TDM exceptions and a fair use equivalent, no AI developer is conducting any training in the UK at the moment, this means that all training is abroad, which also means that no UK rightsholder can sue for direct infringement. It’s extremely ironic that on paper the UK has more protection because it has a much weaker TDM exception, but that is also the reason why they can’t sue for direct copyright infringement.
As I pointed out last week with the UMG music AI deals, the irony sits in the last sentence. By actually committing to stronger rules, copyright holders can actually lose.
Planet-Scale Cities
I love sci-fi cities. No wonder my debut novel was all about a unique city. This video on cities like Coruscant and Trantor was interesting.
In some sense, though, I like when it’s taken seriously, but also, sometimes, I think it shouldn’t. It tends to fall apart when you push too hard. It’s reminiscent of my recent post about paracosmal worlds. Sometimes, you shouldn’t push too hard.
But, still, it’s fun to poke into the what-ifs of fictional cities with strange rules, vibes, and systems. With the description of Coruscant growing upwards through layering on top, I think there could be an entire story that’s literally just about a society fighting and debating about whether to apply a new layer. I can’t imagine people owning apartments with views of the sky being very happy about a new layer being put on top. Give me a YIMBY vs NIMBY debate in Star Wars. 😅
Another point on this, is that I wish that these visions of mega cities also experimented away from the late 20th century extrapolations. Let’s make the assumption that Coruscant works like it does. It layers new layers as it grows. Let’s assume people accept it. Then, truly, the lower layers aren’t just going to accept being faced with dark brutalist industro doom aesthetic in the lower layers. They’re going to create facsimiles of nature and wonder. eg, all the buildings showing or containing nature. Or mini suns that mimic the outside world. Giant screens of nature scenes, actual big parks, etc, that make living in the lower layer actually *feel* nice.
What I’m Up To
A good busy week spent with people before heading to South Africa for the summer, so I didn’t get around to too much media consumption.
✍️ Writing - Novel #2
Continuing to work on revisions. As the year is winding down, I’m facing a lot of introspection around the book. On a personal level, I’ve put a lot into this book and over time added a lot of meaning to it. This is what has been my primary project since June 2023. 2.5 years of actively working on it while the rest of life happened. In some sense, the longer it has taken, the more I feel it has to mean something. Something to show for spending 2.5 years on a story or book. I’m also questioning what I want to focus on in 2026. I have art projects to finish and work on. And there’s other work surfacing in my mind that I might want to prioritise. And so, I’ve experimented with treating myself with a bit more acceptance and grace with this book. That it doesn’t have to be proof of the life I lived in the past 2.5 years. And so, I’m treating it with more playfulness too. In many ways, it feels like I’ve actually been busy with an MFA, learning extensively more about storytelling while writing this. And so, yes, it’s not all for nothing.
I’m happy to tell myself that “this scene sucks, rework it”. And it’s been fun. I still enjoy writing, and the book will be done when it’s done. And that’s okay. Whether it’s released in 2027 or 2028, so be it. :)
📺 Watching - Pluribus
I have not gotten around to watching Better Caul Saul, but Vince Gilligan taking on a sci-fi show on Apple TV is all up my alley. The first episodes was very entertaining and contains a great playground for themes around happiness, individual vs collective responsibility, agency, and consent. Looking forward to the rest of it!
🎶 Listening - White Lies - Juice
My favourite band has a new album out. Haven’t had time to digest it properly, but thoroughly enjoying what I’ve heard so far!
That’s it for this week, folks. Hope you get to enjoy a sunset.
Simon