{"id":6236,"date":"2021-03-14T20:25:12","date_gmt":"2021-03-14T09:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/?p=6236"},"modified":"2021-03-16T19:32:58","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T08:32:58","slug":"save-the-cat-writes-a-novel-by-jessica-brody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/2021\/03\/save-the-cat-writes-a-novel-by-jessica-brody\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Save the Cat! Writes a Novel\u2019 by Jessica Brody"},"content":{"rendered":"

The best way to procrastinate when you\u2019re supposed to be writing a novel is to read books about how to write novels, so after seeing an online recommendation for Save the Cat!<\/em><\/a>, I decided to buy it. It turns out that Save the Cat!<\/em> provides a clear, structured approach to novel plotting and pacing, which is one of my writing weak spots, so this was not the waste of time and money that it could have been.
\n\"Save<\/p>\n

Jessica Brody, who worked in the US film industry and is now a novelist (although not one I\u2019d ever heard of), has adapted Blake Snyder\u2019s screenwriting plotting method for novel writers. The Save the Cat!<\/em> method claims that all good stories have three distinct acts and fifteen story \u2018beats\u2019. The fifteen story beats are:<\/p>\n

1. Opening Image<\/strong> (0-1% of the story pages) – a \u2018before\u2019 snapshot of the hero<\/p>\n

2. Theme Stated<\/strong> (5%) – a hint at the life lesson the hero will learn<\/p>\n

3. Setup <\/strong> (1% \u2013 10%) – more information about the hero\u2019s flaws, reluctance to change, and consequences if they don\u2019t change<\/p>\n

4. Catalyst <\/strong> (10%) – a life-changing event that catapults the hero into a new world or a new way of thinking<\/p>\n

5. Debate <\/strong> (10% to 20%) – the hero dithers about what to do next<\/p>\n

6. Break Into 2 <\/strong> (20%) – the hero decides to act and ventures into a new world <\/p>\n

7. B Story <\/strong> (22%) – introduction of a new character who will help the hero learn the life lesson<\/p>\n

8. Fun and Games <\/strong> (20% to 50%) – multiple scenes in which the hero either succeeds or flounders in the new world while pursuing their goal<\/p>\n

9. Midpoint <\/strong> (50%) – a false victory (if the hero\u2019s been succeeding) or a false defeat (if the hero’s been floundering) that raises the stakes<\/p>\n

10. Bad Guys Close In <\/strong> (50% to 75%) – either a downward path (after a false victory) or an upward path (after a false defeat), but the villains and the hero\u2019s internal flaws are closing in<\/p>\n

11. All Is Lost <\/strong> (75%) – the lowest point for the hero, typically involving literal or figurative death<\/p>\n

12. Dark Night of the Soul <\/strong> (75% to 80%) – the hero contemplates what to do<\/p>\n

13. Break Into 3 <\/strong> (80%) – the hero realises what to do to attain their goal and fix their internal flaws<\/p>\n

14. The Finale <\/strong> (80% to 99%) – the hero proves they\u2019ve learned the theme, attains their goal, destroys the bad guys, and the world is a better place<\/p>\n

15. Final Image <\/strong> (99% to 100%) – an \u2018after\u2019 snapshot of the hero, a mirror of the opening image, showing how the hero has changed.<\/p>\n

The book goes into helpful detail for each of these story beats, with lots of examples from well-known novels. It also introduces ten story \u2018genres\u2019 (for example, \u2018Monster in the House\u2019, \u2018Rites of Passage\u2019 and \u2018Superhero\u2019), all of which have distinct components (for example, \u2018Monster in the House\u2019 involves some kind of supernatural monster, brought into an enclosed world by someone who\u2019s done something wrong). <\/p>\n

The book also explains how to write an effective \u2018logline\u2019 (one or two sentences that outline the story) and provides general plotting hints. I should warn you that there is a lot<\/em> of jargon, which is mostly explained, although I never worked out what a ‘road apple’ is. The Save the Cat!<\/em> title comes from a hint for unlikeable protagonists (get them to do something nice like saving a cat, so the reader is more inclined to care about what happens to them).<\/p>\n

I was initially a bit sceptical about this approach, thinking it might lead to formulaic writing. It certainly has the potential to produce unoriginal, predictable stories, if used unthinkingly by an unimaginative author. However, I found this method useful for ordering my work-in-progress story events into a more exciting, dramatic sequence. It also forced me to think more about how to link the external story events to the protagonist\u2019s inner journey and how to increase tension by raising the stakes. While the method is clearly aimed at producing bestselling commercial fiction (for example, action thrillers, romantic comedies and crime fiction), I think it would be useful for any writer, even a \u2018literary\u2019 one, who writes any form of narrative. (I mean, I don\u2019t think Ali Smith<\/a> would find it helpful, but I\u2019m sure an analysis of novels by Margaret Atwood or Anne Tyler would show effective use of the fifteen story beats). <\/p>\n

I wondered how this story structure would work with a series of novels and this is briefly addressed in the book. A trilogy is meant to cover one story act per book and I was interested to find that my three Montmaray books fitted this perfectly (although the individual books themselves didn’t always follow the Save the Cat!<\/em> method, which would come as no surprise to readers who complained about the pacing of those books). This blog post by Jessica Brody<\/a> goes into more detail about how the method applies to multiple-book series.<\/p>\n

There is an entire Save the Cat!<\/em> industry<\/a>, including books, online courses, computer software, printed story cards and a website with a discussion forum. I\u2019m not sure how necessary any of that is if you’ve read this book, but you might want to check out the website or Jessica Brody\u2019s blog<\/a> if you want more information.<\/p>\n

You may also be interested in:<\/p>\n

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life<\/em> by Anne Lamott<\/a><\/p>\n

On Writing<\/em> by Stephen King<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The best way to procrastinate when you\u2019re supposed to be writing a novel is to read books about how to write novels, so after seeing an online recommendation for Save the Cat!, I decided to buy it. It turns out that Save the Cat! provides a clear, structured approach to novel plotting and pacing, which … Continue reading \u2018Save the Cat! Writes a Novel\u2019 by Jessica Brody<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[311],"class_list":["post-6236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-this-writing-life","tag-jessica-brody"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6236"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6248,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6236\/revisions\/6248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michellecooper-writer.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}