Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book On Novel Writing You'll Ever Need Paperback – October 9, 2018

This book is helping me write my novel and has helped me transform the way I look at myself, through the lens of that writing. After all, isn’t writing just storytelling, through our own personal lenses? This book helped me clean that lens and tell a clearer story. Thank you.

Based on Blake Snyder’s famous (and very useful) SAVE THE CAT! books, Jessica Brody does for novelists what Snyder did for screenwriters. Just as Snyder identified a number of “beats” that every good movie contains, Brody has identified 15 beats that you can find in every good novel. These include:The Opening ImageSetupCatalystB StoryFun and GamesAll Is LostFinaleOf course, there are more but I don’t want to give everything away.She also offers 10 genres that fit any story. That is, any story will fit into at least one of these genres. Brody’s genres aren’t your traditional genre types (Western, Romance, Horror, etc.). Rather, these are templates that might encompass various traditional genres. For example, the “Superhero” is a story type in which an extraordinary hero comes to terms with being special or having a special destiny in an ordinary world. She lists DRACULA, PETER PAN, THE BOURNE IDENTITY, ERAGON, HARRY POTTER, CINDER, and SHADOW AND BONE among the novels that fit this genre. Other Brody genres include:WhydunitRites of PassageInstitutionalizedDude with a ProblemFool TriumphantMonster in the HouseAgain, that’s not all of them. Spoilers, ya know. 🙂You can fit her 15-point beat sheet into each of these genres. Each genre also has three elements that are unique to them but need to be present. The “Superhero” genre, for example, must include a power your hero has, a nemesis who opposes your hero with an equal or greater power, and a curse your hero needs to grapple with.All this may seem to be formulaic, but Brody insists that’s not what the beat sheet is about. Save the Cat! is not a one-size-fits-all technique for writing the perfect story. Rather, the beat sheets give you a structure upon which to hang your story. If you’ve already written your novel but it doesn’t seem to be working, you can use this structure to see if your novel is hitting all the beats. If you’re just starting your novel, you can use the 15 beat structure to make sure you’ve thought through all the elements of your story.What if you’re not a plotter? Brody claims the beat sheet can still be useful to you, providing a loose roadmap as your story develops to keep you on course.To help you see how the beat sheets work, Brody includes a 15-beat breakdown of one popular novel for each of her 10 genres (she uses HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE for the “Superhero” genre). This is extremely beneficial, putting her theory into practice.In short, SAVE THE CAT! WRITES A NOVEL is an excellent book, one that should be in every writer’s library. Brody’s style is engaging and informal making the book very readable. I can see this being a useful resource for many writers. Myself included.The tagline says it is “the last book on novel writing you’ll ever need.” As long as the first three books you have on novel writing are ON WRITING by Stephen King, WRITING WITHOUT RULES by Jeff Somers, and FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK by Barbara Poelle, I would agree.

Great book. So easy to understand. It is exactly what I needed to write a book from it. It is very helpful.

So far the book itself is great. I received it yesterday and read a little last night. This morning I noticed it seems like it might be trying to come apart on the inside seam. I already wrote and highlighted in it some so I don't think I can return it. Maybe it will hold up?🤞

If you have spectacular ideas but you don't know where to take your story, this could be your book. I never realized how much my ship with full sails and a strong steady wind needed a compass to know where to go. And I thought that, having a college degree, I had nothing left to learn. This book has truly enlightened my perspective as to how to lead a story. Thanks so much!

I'm a novelist and short story writer, not a screenwriter, so I wasn't confident about this book's subtitle. Would it really be the last book on novel writing I'd ever need...?For me, the answer is yes. The book differs from what I'd expected. The templates aren't as genre-specific as some other templates. Their labels are more about the theme and kind of plot, rather than it being "Regency romance plots," or "Sci-fi thriller plots," and so on.But, once I got used to the structure and focus of this book, I was impressed. I'll have this at my elbow, to refer to often, when I'm plotting my next story.Is it the only book you'll need...? No, but if you've bought (and even liked) many other books about crafting plots for novels or short stories, this may be the icing on the cake.I'm combining it with a few other books, including "Super Structure" by James Scott Bell, and "The Ultimate Hero's Journey" by Neal Soloponte. (The Soloponte book more than any author needed to know, but if you're stuck with a lackluster scene or a sagging plot middle, his points are incredibly useful and focused. In two or three seconds, I can almost always spot a key element that will re-energize my scene or chapter.)I like two other books, as well, but with some reservations. One is Stuart Horwitz's "Finish Your Book in Three Drafts... while you still love it." That's a very weird little book, but if you can get past the surreal graphics and watch the videos he's supplied, online... well, his advice is very good. Odd, but useful.Another in the kind-of-weird category - and actually written for screenwriters - is William C. Martel's "The Secrets of Action Screenwriting." As I'm writing this, it's out of print and kind of expensive to buy, second-hand. But I think you can still get his "Act Two Secrets" book in Kindle, and that includes some of the best gems from his "...Action Screenwriting" book... the ones many novelists need, anyway.So, yes, this Save The Cat book for novel writing may be the last book I buy for plotting. With it, I think I have all the references I need to craft a powerful, engaging, successful plot for future books. (And, it'll help me revise my older stories, so they hit all the right beats at the right time, for better flow to my novels and novellas.)Just be prepared to look at this Save The Cat book and - at first - think it's not that great. If you actually use it, it's rather brilliant. And a major time-saver.