Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book On Novel Writing You'll Ever Need

I finished this book in one day because it was that good and I couldn’t put it down. As I’m setting up to write a novel, this book has given me the blue print I need to make my book a reality. This book is an absolute game-changer for anyone who wants to write a novel. Seriously, it's like the only book you'll ever need to format your masterpiece. This baby is jam-packed with powerful insights, a clear method of plotting, and tons of super useful information. Trust me, you won't be disappointed. I was hooked from the get-go when I cracked the book open. The author, Jessica Brody, has this incredible knack for breaking down the whole storytelling process in a way that even beginners can get on board with. She explains things crystal clear, no confusing jargon or mind-numbing theory. Plus, she throws in real-life examples that make it simple to apply the concepts to your own writing. To sum it all up, "Save the Cat: Writes a Novel" is the holy grail of novel-writing guides. With its powerful insights, foolproof plotting method, and a boatload of useful info, this bad boy has revolutionized the way I approach my writing projects. Seriously, do yourself a favor and grab a copy. It's like having a writing mentor by your side, cheering you on every step of the way. You won't regret it, my friends.

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 Image Setup Catalyst B Story Fun and Games All Is Lost Finale Of 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: Whydunit Rites of Passage Institutionalized Dude with a Problem Fool Triumphant Monster in the House Again, 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.

Wowza! This book should be required reading for any aspiring author. Brody adapted this from Blake Snyder's Save the Cat book about screenwriting after intensely comparing countless books across genres and time to Snyder's beat sheet. I really took my time with this book, studying each beat and Save-the-Cat story genre, and I feel like I have learned so much—it's like a creative writing class within the pages of a book. I will likely read this many more times over to really hone in on the nuances of it all so I can use it in my book coaching and editorial services to guide authors toward writing a truly compelling novel, regardless of genre! As a bonus at the end of the book, Brody advises how to create a logline and blurb from your Save the Cat beat sheet, as well as covers a variety of FAQs including how to get started, how to create a visual representation of this beat sheet, what to do if you have multiple protagonists, what to do with an unlikable protagonist (the novel's namesake), and how to handle writer's block. She also candidly shares a before-and-after beat sheet from one of her own novels to show how it can change as you develop your book and improve your ideas and plot points. Whether you are a plotter or a pantser, if you are writing a book or want to write a book, buy this one first!

Save the Cat Writes a Novel is a delightful must read for any writer. Within these pages, I found so many of the base rules and ideas of forming a story that I have always known to be true. Jessica Brody- and in relation, Blake Snyder, the original author of Save the Cat (for screenwriting)- gives a wonderful account of why people read the books they read. Not in genres of horror, fantasy, or romance, but in genres of a much more important sort: the genre of storytelling. For any writer, or reader, these tropes will be quite familiar- from the down and out underdog to the love that encourages change. The theory that any writing can fit into these beats is not just a theory, but utter truth. Even stories that are not the norm, that defies any trope, can be seen here in small, subtle connections. While I find this novel to be accurate, and quite helpful in making the writer think about their stories, I’ve given it a four out of five stars for my personal reading experience. I judge writing craft books on two things: Useful information, and enjoyment in reading. Useful information, this novel has in abundance. I find that I will likely use it as a reference book- something to flick open when I write a new story, to answer the questions within as I figure out where my story fits, or to reference the beats. The beat sheet within will work wonders for the hearts of plotters, though it is a little more in depth than my personal writing style, and that’s okay. This novel isn’t a die-hard blueprint to follow, but more of a guide. However, when it comes to enjoyment of reading, I found myself struggling a little bit. A good amount of this book plots the beat-by-beat process of other novels, putting them into the Save the Cat theory format and showing why it appears again and again in our favorite novels. This is a brilliant way to show an example of the process, but I don’t think it is enticing enough to read again unless there is a specific reason. Thus, along with my lack of interest in the beat sheet, the next time I write a story, I will be pulling open the book and reading the specific chapter of the story genre I’m working with, but I don’t see myself rereading this entire book for quite some time. Overall, I think this book is a good start for an inexperienced writer, or someone who wants to see into the mind of those who study stories for a living. Or perhaps, just to study someone who is more well read than they are, as this novel does have lists upon lists of books that are must reads. I would recommend Save the Cat Writes a Novel to anyone with a writing craft shelf in their library, a staple of the genre, but I would caution your expectations. This is a good textbook to make notes of, but the take-away of information will vary on the experience of the reader.

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.

Really takes plot and genre and makes it understandable. Works well alongside Anatomy of Story and other craft books. Genres were surprisingly powerful. Metaphors were humble and potent.

It's simplicity to understand on how to write a novel. An easy fun way to understand on how a novel is structured. Well done Jessica Brody!

This book is based on “Save the Cat Goes to the Movies” by Blake Snyder, which is based on “Screenplay” by Syd Field. Both of those books do a good job of laying out the basic structure of how to plot your novel. Both of those books are also a little light on filling in some of the grey areas on which that structure is based. They get you close to understanding their plotting technique, but don’t get you all the way across the finish line. If you have “Save the Cat Goes to the Movies” you may not need this book—it is very similar to Blake Snyder’s book. If you have “Save the Cat Goes to the Movies” and are still unsure about how to utilize Blake Snyder’s beat sheet to full effect—then you may be interested in what Jessica Brody does with the topic and may find it useful for filling in those grey areas. If you haven’t yet purchased either, then “Save the Cat Writes a Novel” by Jessica Brody is the book to get. At first I was annoyed when I purchased this book (e-book version) and flipped through it. It looked exactly the same as “Save the Cat Goes to the Movies”. The list of genres is exactly the same—just in a different order. But when I turned to the beat sheet section, is when I discovered that “Save the Cat Writes a Novel” is worth the price of admission. Brody does an excellent job of breaking down the purpose of each of the beats, rather than giving a vague definition that will still leave you confused. She explains in detail, gives examples, and introduces new ideas that provide both clarity and new understanding of plotting—especially to the function and purpose of the midpoint of the story. If you’ve had difficulty plotting and the other books on the subject just didn’t quite get you to where you needed to be, give “Save the Cat Writes a Novel” a chance. Jessica Brody will likely help you understand just how to plot that novel you’ve been working on.

I view a lot of writing craft books not as 'how to' resources, but more along the lines of a provision of tools to add to your toolbox for the purpose of writing, plotting, and editing your manuscript. Because writing is art - a creative journey - and a big part of that is getting into a flow state: that place where your imagination takes over and you start to grow your own world on the page. So books like 'Save the Cat! Writes a Novel' are there for you to hone your craft, offer tools to improve, fill in the gaps, so that the final result is more appealing to a wider group of readers. I say this because I don't think "writing by numbers," as in following a recipe from concept to final product is the best route... I feel it can lose passion, soul, and a unique element for your story. So what 'Save the Cat! Writes a Novel' offers is a great structure, language, and tools to help identify the mechanics behind crafting a story, and offer way to implement them - with examples! This book comes particularly in handy if: you've got a story concept but don't know how to develop it into a fully formed plot; you've written a first draft and are going back over it to improve; hitting that developmental edit (structural edit); or you have too many ideas in your story and need to focus it down to what is really important. 'Save the Cat! Writes a Novel' is big picture thinking for your manuscript! It asks questions you may not have thought of asking about your story, characters, and world. I've added a few tweaks to my writing/editing process after reading 'Save the Cat! Writes a Novel' and see myself referring to this often. A great resource and highly recommended.

Bellissimo manuale di scrittura creativa molto pratico e chiaro nello spiegare come progettare e scrivere un romanzo. Ricco di esempi tratti da romanzi attuali, il linguaggio è semplice e chiaro, l'unico neo se così posso chiamarlo è che il manuale è in inglese.

Its a very good book that will definitely help anyone to become a good author... Jessica has done a wonderful job in explaining the nitty gritty of writing in simple easy to understand language with spot on examples. A must read books for debut authors especially indie authors!

So practice!! I’m just beginning as an author and I LOVE this book. It’s so simple and practical and I know that it will be well worth my money to have this resource for many writing projects to come!!

Ik had al een digitale versie van het boek, maar ik vind dit boek zo goed, dat ik ook een papieren versie wilde hebben. Ik heb stickertjes aangebracht, zodat ik gemakkelijk alles kan terugvinden. Twijfel je tussen de ebook- en de papieren, kan dit je misschien helpen. Tip voor de uitgever. Een luxere versie met bijvoorbeeld gekleurde pagina’s zou een aanrader zijn en dat verdient dit boek ook.