Act 1 is the status quo world, the world as it is before the story begins. We need to know what this world looks like so we can be aware at the end of the book of how much change the character has actually gone through.
This beat (15 Story Beats) is short - only a scene or chapter - and sets the tone of the rest of the book. It should absolutely be shown, not told. Make it look like a movie ((Write Your Novel From The Middle #citation)), not a dry expose or information dump.
Show the character going about their mundane life. Business as usual.
Additionally, this beat has a mirror beat, the Final Image (Final Image Beat). As such, the two should be extremely different from each other in tone.
#toolong #writing
The *Save the Cat* ([[202009131419 Save the Cat! Writes a Novel]]) outline is made up of 15 story beats that focus on bringing the main character thro...
This is the final scene in the entire book, and serves the purpose of displaying how much the hero has changed across all 15 beats ([[202009132005 15 ...