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

Just finishing ’Save the Cat Writes a Novel ‘ The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need. I don’t normally do reviews, but this book is certainly worthy of some attention. A couple of years ago I signed up for and started attending a writing course at a local college. What I had hoped to get was some specific instruction on structure, pacing, characterisation and the like. But while the course was pleasant enough, I couldn’t see any of what I really needed and dropped out. I feel that I should have read this book three years ago. It explains exactly what I, and possibly most other wannabe writers should know and do. There is a detailed breakdown into fifteen milestones, (she calls them ‘Beats’, I think in reference to the beat in music), each is explained, with reference to well-known books and one is further sub-divided into five mini-beats. She also lists ten genres which are not the traditional type of genre such as mystery, romance, sci-fi, etc. but which are much more wide-ranging and which make a lot of sense, such as Whydunit, Rites of Passage, Dude with a Problem, etc. Three points are required in each of these genres and each genre is then explored with a specific novel that is exploded using the beats. A ‘Beat-Sheet’ is given so that you can see how other authors, from JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone to Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner, have created their masterpieces and match her template. Jessica Brody, the author, writes in terms that I can understand, with multiple relevant examples, and walks the reader through the whole process of planning and creating a novel. Highly recommended.

Great book to dip in and out of. Ideal to use as a reference book ot to hone up on ones writing skills.

This book is a good guide to the Save the Cat technique for structure, and is great to get you out of a story hole!

As a non-fiction writer moving into fiction, I've taken a few courses on fiction writing and read a lot of books. This is honestly the most helpful in terms of laying out a very clear path of points that your story needs to hit (the author calls them 'beats'). There is a huge range of thought about plotting and character arcs etc that can all get a bit bogged down in theory. I think that because this book was borne out of movie plotting, it cuts through a lot of that and gets to the core of how to draw readers into and through your story. Definitely a book to consider. I notice that the LivingWriter programme includes the 15 Beats model as one of its built-in plotting methods, so it must be popular!

Save the cat! Writes a Novel’ is the best self help book about writing I’ve ever read. As soon as you begin to read, there’s a feeling of excitement as this tried and trusted recipe for successful novel writing is explained by Jessica Brody. Originally an idea by the late Blake Snyder, a Hollywood screenwriter, Jessica, one of his pupils who had used and succeeded with the original method, has created a concise, straight forward, easy to use guide to creating a great novel. With very little pre-amble, the book dives straight in, asking you questions about your book idea or the WIP you’ve started (or completed.) One of the beauties of this book is that it suits plotters or pantsers. If you want to organise and plot with precision, you can use this book from the word go, or if, like me, you’d already written the book, but wanted it to be the best it could be (or wanted to see how close to the perfect book you’ve managed to get yourself), then you can use it at this point to. Having already studied another novel writing book, I managed to get the majority of the points mentioned in the book, but not necessarily in the right order or to the degree I needed to press the points home. With my newly fashioned ‘Beat Sheet’, I’m working my way through my book, crafting and sculpting to make it flow better and keep the reader hooked with every turn of the page. This book will not write your story for you. You need a good story to start with, but be assured, if you follow this ‘Beat Sheet’, you’ll have the best possible structure for your book. The book guides the writer through Beat Sheets and Story Genres, and you think ‘Wow, this is so simple when you read it like this.’ While you’re basking in the sunshine of knowing you’re onto a winner, Ms Brody gives you more! ‘Pitch it to me!’ gives you all the info you need to create fabulous, unforgettable loglines and concise, exciting synopses. …And then there’s even more! ‘Save the Author!’ is all of her FAQs, beautifully answered to give you the most detailed yet manageable ‘big picture’ you’ll ever need.

THE most helpful plotting book you'll ever read. Whether you're a plotter or a pantser, get this book. Since reading it, I have seen the roadmap it describes in so many films, books etc. To illustrate: I read the first book of a series and really enjoyed it, took a step back and thought "It's classic STC structure. That's why it works." I got the second book in the series and while it was OK, the plot dragged and was boring and unfulfilling. I didn't bother with the final book of the series. The problem? the second book had abandoned STC structure and it didn't 'work'. STC is not a formula, it's an observation of what works and you'll find the STC structure in every genre. GET. THIS. BOOK.

I have just finished reading this book, and have found it to be extremely informative in a chatty easy to understand way. I had come to a grinding halt with my novel, to the point of being bored with it. Oh my gosh did I actually say that! Having followed the steps in the example beat sheets, and read through the breakdown of the various genres given, I can now identify with my novel and apply a beat sheet to help keep me focused on my characters and their journey. My first draft will definitely now have some form of structure to it, so that my "future self" will have something to work with when the time is right. In my opinion this is a must have book for all budding novelists.

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.

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.

Last book you will ever read :)

Way fewer cats than I expected. A really helpful book for brainstorming and reviewing your novel. Very adaptable. The genre section seemed less helpful to me.