It’s time for my Save the Cat! Writes a Novel review, part of WOW! Women on Writing’s blog tour. Especially if you’re coming from another stop on the tour, welcome!

Writing craft is my favorite thing to geek out over, and really, there’s nothing so important to writing craft as story structure. I was given a free copy of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel to review, and it is all about mastering story structure.

Now, I am primarily a short story writer at the moment. But, Save the Cat! was initially a screenwriting concept. Really, the actual concepts behind Save the Cat! are just about storytelling, so they apply to most any stories you can write.

That’s why I was interested in learning more about Save the Cat! Plus, this book talks about how to apply Save the Cat! to books, using plenty of examples from fiction you’ve certainly read.

What is Save the Cat! Writes a Novel?

That’s the obvious everyone has gotta ask. Why are we talking about cats instead of writing at all? What is this thing?

If you poke around in writing circles, you’ll probably hear Save the Cat! is one of the best resources for outlining a story. It’s a beat sheet (AKA an empty plot outline) Blake Snyder created for writing screenplays.

He looked at tons of famous movies and books and spotted all the common plot elements. Then, he distilled all these plot elements into a beat sheet and a book packed full of craft advice.

One of his craft tips? To make an unlikeable protagonist more likeable, have them save a cat (or do some similar selfless good deed). That’s why it’s named Save the Cat!

Here’s more info on Save the Cat! from them:

About Save the Cat!®

Save the Cat! provides writers the resources they need to develop their screenplays and novels based on a series of best-selling books, primarily written by Blake Snyder (1957- 2009). Blake’s method is based on 10 distinctive genres and his 15 story beats (the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet). Our books, workshops, story structure software, apps, and story coaching teach you everything you need to unlock the fundamentals and mechanics of plot and character transformation.

Find out more about Save the Cat! by visiting their webpage at www.savethecat.com.

But what about this book? This book takes all of the ideas of Save the Cat! and applies them to novel writing.

Here’s the official blurb for it:

About Save the Cat! Writes a Novel

An Amazon #1 best seller with over 500 reviews, it’s the first novel-writing guide from the best-selling Save the Cat! story-structure series, reveals the 15 essential plot points needed to make any novel a success.

In this revolutionary novel-writing guide from the best-selling Save the Cat! series, novelist Jessica Brody demystifies each beat, making it simple to learn the complexities of storytelling. The best-seller also reveals the ten universal story genres to help you drill down into what makes your type of story work. Featuring sample “beat sheets” for hits from the likes of J. K. Rowling, Khaled Hosseini, and Stephen King, this practical guide also includes real-world advice on pitching your novel, plus the quirky, original insights (like the eponymous tip to “Save the Cat”) that make this series unique. By the end of this book, your own imaginative beats will combine to create a story that thrills readers from start to finish.

Save the Cat! Writes the Novel is available as a print and e-book at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

And here’s a little bit about the writer who put so much hard work into this book:

About the Author, Jessica Brody

Jessica Brody worked for MGM Studios as manager of acquisitions and business development before becoming an internationally best-selling author of more than fifteen novels for adults and teens including The Geography of Lost Things, The Chaos of Standing Still, A Week of Mondays, and Better You Than Me. She travels the country teaching Save the Cat! workshops to novelists.

So let’s talk about what you’re wondering now: What’s in the book?

My Save the Cat! Writes a Novel Review

First thing: I have tried writing stories using Snyder’s beat sheet in the past, and I liked it. But I only found the beats and didn’t have any guidance.

Reading a book that breaks down each story beat and gives advice and examples for each one is so much better!

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel explains all the original 15 essential story beats and how they work in books. The story beats are basically must-have scenes. They are plot events that occur in nearly every major movie and film.

The important story beats are:

1. Opening Image
2. Theme Stated
3. Setup
4. Catalyst
5. Debate
6. Break into Act 2
7. B Story
8. Fun and Games
9. Midpoint
10. Bad Guys Close In
11. All Is Lost
12. Dark Night of the Soul
13. Break into Act 3
14. Finale
15. Final Image

So you’ll want to read the book to understand exactly what those are. But if you’re like me, you probably noticed all of those sound like important scenes that you see in movies and books.

Plotting your story’s scene to match those beats is basically the secret sauce that gives your story the perfect amount of tension and a solid structure.

What’s in the Book?

To use this story structure technique, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel spends the first chapter explaining how to craft the perfect hero for your story.

You might have heard you should give your protagonist a problem, a want, and a need? Save the Cat! Writes a Novel advises you how to do that.

Chapter 2, the book explains the infamous beat sheet and shows you plenty of examples of how stories use it. It breaks every beat down into simple terms and compares them to major novels as a guide.

Next, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel explains ten universal genres. Yes, universal. Almost every story ever written can fall into ten basic story types.

The ten universal genres are:

• WhyDunIt – Stories about mysteries, detectives, and exploring human nature
• Rites of Passage – Think stories about coming of age and surviving experiences
• Institutionalized – These are stories about fighting institutions like governments and societies
• Superhero – Stories about people with exceptional power
• Dude with a Problem – When an everyday hero finds themselves in an extraordinary plot
• Fool Triumphant – Stories about underdogs rising above their circumstances
• Buddy Love – Stories about romance and friendship
• Out of the Bottle – Stories about ordinary people finding magic
• Golden Fleece – Think stories about quests and journeys
• Monster in the House – These are stories about fighting baddies in confined spaces (usually horror)

So there you have the ten genres! What Save the Cat! Writes a Novel does great is explaining these categories and how to use them.

Each genre has its own must-have elements. Teaching you those elements and showing you how major novels incorporate each beat and element is most of the book.

Finally, my favorite chapter comes up. Chapter 14, “Pitch It to Me! How to Write Killer Loglines and Dazzling Synopses,” tells you how to write, uh, killer loglines and dazzling synopses.

If you need advice on writing a logline or synopses, this book offers super simple and easy advice on doing so. It breaks your ideal logline and synopsis down sentence by sentence, based on the story beats.

Then, the book closes with troubleshooting advice. It has all the extra tips and everything you need to know to fix common story problems.

My final thoughts on Save the Cat! Writes a Novel:

So you’ve probably noticed I sound like I love this book. Since I love reading about craft and storytelling, I’m so happy I joined the WOW! blog tour and got to read this one.

If you’re a plotter, this book is a must-have. This is a crazy useful guide to outlining your story. It gives so much advice for planning.

Even if you’re a pantser, learning about story structure is useful. And anyone can make good use of its guide to writing loglines and synopses!

I felt like the book spent too much time on examples and pointing out the beats in famous books. But really, that’s not a huge flaw.

Overall, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel is a great intro to story structure—and a good guide for plotting.

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Mint Miller

Mint is a writer and digital marketing pro who lives in coastal Virginia with her family and one lovable pitbull. Her passions include helping people and businesses display their best side through the power of communication, buying her dog costumes he doesn’t want to wear, and talking all day about Batman.