Save the Cat! Writes a Novel
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Copyright © 2018 by Jessica Brody Entertainment, LLC and Blake Snyder Enterprises, LLC
All rights reserved.Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com
Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
Save the Cat! is a registered trademark of Blake Snyder Enterprises, LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Brody, Jessica, author.
Title: Save the cat! writes a novel : the last book on novel writing you’ll ever need / Jessica Brody.
Description: First edition. | Berkeley, California : Ten Speed Press, 2018. | “Based on the best-selling screenwriting books by Blake Snyder.” | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018017675 (print) | LCCN 2018022433 (ebook) |
Subjects: LCSH: Fiction—Authorship. | Fiction—Plots, themes, etc. | Creative writing. | BISAC: LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Composition & Creative Writing. | LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Publishing. | LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Study & Teaching.
Classification: LCC PN3355 (ebook) | LCC PN3355 .B734 2018 (print) | DDC 808.3—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018017675
Trade Paperback ISBN 9780399579745
Ebook ISBN 9780399579752
Cover art © GK Hart/Vikki Hart and malerapaso
v5.3.1
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
1.WHY DO WE CARE?
Creating the Story-Worthy Hero
2.THE SAVE THE CAT! BEAT SHEET
aka The End of All Your Plotting Problems
3.NOT YOUR MOTHER’S GENRES
Ten Genres to Fit Any Story (Yes, Even Yours)
4.WHYDUNIT
Detectives, Deception, and the Dark Side
5.RITES OF PASSAGE
When Life Gets in the Way
6.INSTITUTIONALIZED
Join ’Em, Leave ’Em, or Take ’Em Down!
7.SUPERHERO
Being Extraordinary in an Ordinary World
8.DUDE WITH A PROBLEM
Surviving the Ultimate Test
9.FOOL TRIUMPHANT
Victory of the Underdog
10.BUDDY LOVE
The Transformative Power of Love (or Friendship)
11.OUT OF THE BOTTLE
A Little Bit of Magic Goes a Long Way
12.GOLDEN FLEECE
Road Trips and Quests and Heists, Oh My!
13.MONSTER IN THE HOUSE
More Than Just a Scary Story
14.PITCH IT TO ME!
How to Write Killer Loglines and Dazzling Synopses
15.SAVE THE AUTHOR!
You Got Problems, I Got Solutions
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
INTRODUCTION
In 2005, a very wise screenwriter named Blake Snyder wrote a very wise book called Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need. In this book, Blake set out to teach screenwriters how to structure their screenplays using a template of fifteen “beats” or plot points, claiming that every great movie Hollywood ever made was structured around these same fifteen beats.
The reaction was almost instantaneous. Within a few short years, screenwriters, directors, producers, and studio executives the world over were turning to Blake’s fifteen-beat template or “beat sheet” to develop better, tighter, more engaging stories for the screen. “Save the Cat!” quickly became an industry-recognized method.
Meanwhile, in 2006, I was a former-movie-studio-executive-turned-struggling-novelist, trying (and failing) to sell my first book. I had a file drawer literally full of rejection letters, which all said the same thing: “Great writing. No story.” Essentially, I was clueless about plot structure. Until one day, a screenwriter friend of mine handed me a copy of Save the Cat! and told me, “It’s a very popular screenwriting book, but I believe it could work for novels too.”
He was right.
After reading Save the Cat! cover to cover (multiple times), and comparing Blake’s fifteen-beat template to popular novels that I’d read and loved, I soon discovered that with some tweaking and adaptation, his methodology could be applied perfectly to novels.
And I set out to prove it.
Now, nearly a decade later, I have sold more than fifteen novels to major publishers like Simon & Schuster, Random House, and Macmillan. My books have been published and translated in over twenty-three countries, and two are currently in development as films.
Is this a coincidence? Definitely not. Am I just that good of a writer? Debatable. Did Blake Snyder invent something that no one ever had before? Not at all. He simply studied the elements of story and character transformation and noticed an underlying pattern. A secret storytelling code.
And now, after plotting countless novels using the Save the Cat! methodology and teaching thousands of other authors how to do the same, I’ve come up with an easy-to-follow, step-by-step process for teaching novelists how to harness the power of that storytelling code and turn it into compelling, well-structured, unputdownable novels. And I’m sharing it all with you here in this book.
Because essentially the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet that Blake designed is not about movies. It’s about story. And regardless of whether you’re writing screenplays, novels, short stories, memoirs, or stage plays, whether you’re writing comedy, drama, sci-fi, fantasy, or horror, whether you fancy yourself a literary writer or a commercial writer, one thing is nonnegotiable: You need a good story.
And I’m going to help you get there.
A Screenwriting Guide for Novelists?
But why should novelists follow in the footsteps of screenwriters? After all, we novelists came first!
The truth is, in today’s media-centric, fast-paced, technology-enhanced climate, we novelists are actually competing with screenwriters. Like it or not, since the moment that first silent film hit the big screen, novels have had to contend with movies as a source of entertainment. Charles Dickens and the Brontë sisters didn’t have to compete with the latest high-octane superhero flick or the newest Melissa McCarthy comedy, but we modern novelists do. (Although, as a side note, I can attest to having found all fifteen of the beats on the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet in Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Great Expectations, among many other classics.)
The key is all in the pacing. A well-paced novel with visual elements, compelling character growth, and an airtight structure can step into the ring with any blockbuster film—and win.
But how do we write one?
Enter Save the Cat!
The Method to My Madness
For several years before writing this book, I taught an intensive Save the Cat! workshop for novelists. After years of watching writers struggle to figure out what their novel is about, and how to structure it, I have come up with what I believe is the most logical, intuitive, and effective way to guide you through the Save the Cat! methodology. The beauty of the way I’ve structured this process is that you can do it alone or with a critique group or partner. I’ve even included exercises and checklists at the end of key chapters to help you hold yourself accountable (either on your own or with your critique group). So whether you prefer to fly solo or flock together, this book will help you develop the best possible story you can.
E
ven if you bought this book because you’re stuck at a very specific part of your plot (like the middle), I still urge you to read the chapters in order. You may think you have everything else in the story figured out, but chances are being stuck somewhere (like in the middle) is just the symptom, not the real ailment—and your story problem goes much deeper than you realize.
Because despite what you might think, this book is about so much more than just plot. The word “plot” on its own is pretty useless. It’s just a series of events that happen in a story. But structure is the order in which those events happen and, maybe even more importantly, the timing of when they happen. Then you add in a character who needs to change and does change by the end, and presto! You’ve got a story worth telling.
Plot, structure, and character transformation.
Or what I like to call the “Holy Trinity of Story.”
All together, these three elements are pure storytelling pixie dust. The three essential building blocks of every great story ever told. But the Holy Trinity of plot, structure, and character transformation is a very delicate, intricately connected entity. And that’s why years of research, teaching experience, and careful consideration have gone into the organization of this book.
Plotters Versus Pantsers
It is a truth universally acknowledged (in the writing community) that there are two kinds of novelists: plotters and pantsers. Plotters are those who plot out their novels before they begin; pantsers are those who just “write by the seat of their pants” and figure it out as they go. And I realize any pantser who has bought this book is probably freaking out right now and breaking into a cold sweat at the sight of words like “structure” and “checklists.” GAH!
But let me be perfectly clear.
This book is not an ode to plotters. Nor is it a manifesto to convert all pantsers. Yes, I do consider myself a “plotter,” but I didn’t write this book to prove that any particular way to write a novel is better than the other. I’ve learned, through working with thousands of authors over the years, that the creative process is a very mysterious thing and that everyone is different. (Yes, you are all unique, fragile, storytelling snowflakes.) So, no, I’m not here to change your process. I’m here to enhance your process.
If you’re the kind of person who likes to figure out exactly where you’re driving to before you turn the key in the ignition, then this book will help you do that faster and more efficiently. On the other hand, if you’re the kind of person who likes to get in the car and just drive, confident you’ll figure out where you’re going along the way, then consider me and this book your personal AAA, ready and eager to give you a jump start whenever you stall out or get stranded in the middle of nowhere with no map, no GPS, and no fuel.
Regardless of which category you fit into, this book will guide you through the inspiring and often daunting process of plotting a novel. Because whether you’ve “pantsed” your way through a first draft, and now you have to figure out what to do with it to make it work, or you’re just starting out with a shiny new idea and you want to plot it in advance, it’s all the same thing in the end. We all have to do the plotting work somewhere, somehow. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter if you’re a plotter or a pantser; the structure gets added in eventually. Either up front or afterward. It’s all the same to me. And it’s all the same to this book.
Meaning: Don’t worry, I’ll help you get there.
The “F” Word
It’s around this time in the process of introducing Save the Cat! that people sometimes start throwing around the “F” word.
Formula.
Many novelists worry that following a methodology like Save the Cat! will cause their novel to end up “formulaic” or “predictable.” They worry that following a structure guide or template will detract from their art and limit their creative options.
So I want to nip that fear in the bud right here. Right now.
The pattern that Blake Snyder found in almost all movies and the pattern that I’ve similarly found in almost all novels is not a formula. Like I said before, it’s an underlying storytelling code.
It’s the secret recipe that makes great stories work.
There’s something buried deep within our DNA as humans that makes us respond to certain storytelling elements told in a certain order. We’ve been responding to them since our primitive ancestors drew on walls and tribes told stories around campfires. The Save the Cat! methodology simply identifies that code and turns it into an easy-to-follow blueprint for crafting a successful story, so that we writers don’t have to reinvent a wheel that has been used since, well, the time the wheel was invented.
I’ve studied popular novels throughout time—books published from as recently as today to as far back as the 1700s. And I’ve found that nearly all of them fit the same pattern. All of them can be structurally analyzed using the Save the Cat! methodology.
If you want to call it a formula, go right ahead. But it’s a formula that can be found in the works of countless great authors including Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, John Steinbeck, Stephen King, Nora Roberts, Mark Twain, Alice Walker, Michael Crichton, and Agatha Christie.
Regardless of what you call it, it works.
The Beginning…
So, let’s get this party started. We’ve got a big journey ahead of us, and I, for one, am antsy to get moving.
First things first. What do you need? At the very least, you need an idea for a novel. It doesn’t have to be a huge idea. It can be a seed of an idea, it can be a twinkle of an idea. It can even be a character that interests you, or a collection of inspiring thoughts that you hope to somehow string together. Perhaps you’ve got an idea but you don’t know if it’s worth writing. You don’t know if it “has legs” as they say in the film industry. Can it go the distance? Can it really carry you through three hundred-plus pages of prose?
Or you might already have a novel fully or partially written that’s not working, that you know you have to revise. Or maybe you’ve started a book and don’t know where it’s going and now you’re stuck and in need of some inspiration.
Regardless of your specific situation, I’m excited to have you along for the journey. Here’s a quick breakdown of what we’ll be covering in the following chapters (the structure of this book on structure, if you will):
The Hero: First, in chapter 1, we’ll talk about the main character or “hero” of your story, who they are, and why they are desperately in need of transformation.
The Beats: In chapter 2, we’ll explore the fifteen beats of the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet in great detail so you can begin to map out the compelling, transformative journey of your novel.
The Genres: Then, in chapters 3–13, we’ll identify the genre of your story using the ten Save the Cat! story genres. These are not your mother’s genres (sci-fi, drama, comedy, and so on). Instead, the Save the Cat! story genres are broken down by type of character transformation and/or central theme. This will help you further develop your novel and make sure your story contains the necessary “genre ingredients” to make it successful. Also in these chapters, I’ll give you ten beat sheets for popular blockbuster novels (one for each story genre), so you can see how the fifteen beats apply to some of today’s most successful books.
The Pitch: By chapter 14, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what your novel is about, which will help you distill the story down into a one-page description (the synopsis) and furthermore, into a one-sentence description (the logline) that you can use to pitch agents, editors, publishers, readers, and even movie producers.
The FAQ: Despite the awesomeness and thoroughness of the previous chapters, I guarantee you’ll have problems along the way. Which is why, in chapter 15, I give you practical solutions to the six most common problems novelists face when implementing the Save the Cat! methodology.
What About the Cat?
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But wait! We forgot one important thing. The question that I’m sure has been on your mind from the moment you first heard about this book or picked it up in the bookstore.
Why on earth is it called “Save the Cat!”?
The answer dates back to the original Save the Cat! book, in which Blake Snyder included several cleverly titled tips on how to avoid common pitfalls of storytelling. “Save the cat!” is one of these tips. If your main character starts off somewhat unlikable, then, in the early pages of your story, they should save a cat (yes, like from a tree or a burning building or a shelter), or do something comparable that immediately makes the reader root for them, regardless of their original likability.
We’ll talk more about cats and how to save them in chapter 15, when we break down some of the most common problems writers face when implementing the Save the Cat! methodology. Additionally, throughout this book, I’ve included several new tips and tricks specifically for novelists to help you improve your story.
So, let’s get on with it already. Your main character is waiting, and they have a huge problem…
Why Do We Care?
Creating the Story-Worthy Hero
WARNING! THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FOLLOWING BOOKS:
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Misery by Stephen King, Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
The relationship between character and plot is an essential one. It’s why we start the Save the Cat! methodology here, with the main character, who from here on out I will be referring to as the hero of your story. Because doesn’t that just sound better? A hero is proactive and important and worthy of having an entire novel revolve around them. In the world of Save the Cat!, we write about memorable characters who do memorable stuff. But most of all, we create heroes (male and female!) who are destined to be the center of a plot.