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.
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Popular Highlights in this book
The most effective character goals or wants are concrete and tangible.Highlighted by 4,783 Kindle readers- And most important, what will really fix your hero’s life? What does your hero actually need?Highlighted by 3,394 Kindle readers
- Because in the end, the want is only half the story. Heroes aren’t complete until they also have a need.Highlighted by 2,450 Kindle readers
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Must Have for Writers
To all my writers: I STRONGLY RECOMMEND! If you haven’t read this book yet, do so, no matter what stage of the process you’re in.To all my book nerds: if you know a writer, TELL THEM ABOUT THIS BOOK. They will love you forever for it.An epic and thorough writing guide. I cannot stress how important this book is for writers, whether you just have an idea or a full-fledged manuscript. Everything inside is explained simply and concisely. And if you don’t understand a concept, the author gives you an in-depth example.Seriously. A must-have, must-read kind of book.
Top reviews from the United States
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Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2021
Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2021
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.
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.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 28, 2024
Top reviews from other countries
JenM
Very informative
Reviewed in Canada on February 28, 2024
JenM
Reviewed in Canada on February 28, 2024
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Ana Cristina de la Hoz Madrid
El mejor manual que leí sobre como estructurar una novela.
Reviewed in Mexico on November 9, 2023
