Reviews
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing You'll Ever Need, by Jessica Brody
ktothelau's review
5.0
Blake Snyder's Save the Cat! for screenwriting, as helpful as it is, is a prime example of "Those who can't do, teach." Jessica Brody's Save the Cat! for novels, though, is "I can do this and have done it; I'll take you under my wing."
Trust me, there's a difference.
The infamous Save the Cat! outline is the same, but Brody goes into a lot more detail as to how each plot point works and has an excellent first chapter in creating a captivating protagonist. Though this isn't a craft book on how to write effective prose, this is a great way to learn what makes an effective story and a brief insight on how to sell your novel.
I highly recommend screenwriters to take a peek into the first two chapters!
Trust me, there's a difference.
The infamous Save the Cat! outline is the same, but Brody goes into a lot more detail as to how each plot point works and has an excellent first chapter in creating a captivating protagonist. Though this isn't a craft book on how to write effective prose, this is a great way to learn what makes an effective story and a brief insight on how to sell your novel.
I highly recommend screenwriters to take a peek into the first two chapters!
thestarman's review against another edition
TITLE: Save the Cat! SHOUT at the Reader! (and do it over 500 times!)
SAY SOMETHING NICE: If you are hard of hearing, or like detailed plot breakdowns for some well-known novels, this is the book for you.
VERDICT: Unrated.
I refer you to Howard Mittlemark's thoughts on proper use of exclamation marks (see: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7236942-here-is-an-appropriate-use-of-the-exclamation-mark-the).
REVIEW: Contains 517* exclamation marks, of which fewer than 10 were necessary or possibly appropriate. I wanted a serious book on writing, not Cheerleading For Idiots.
* No, I didn't count them. But my eReader device did, and I think it's pretty darn close.
A FEW DETAILS (no spoilers, although the book itself is full of 'em):
The main premise of the book is a sort of general formula for novel-writing success, or at least the popular fiction genres that attempt normal-ish plots. ("Literary" fiction, by comparison, can often be plotless/pointless/weird, or defy categorization--so let's not go there).
This popular-fiction formula is a re-hash of a formula that's not new at all, but some readers may like Brody's LOUD approach to it. There are also many given examples of well-known novels that more or less fit the formula, sometimes with a fair amount of squeezing.
I personally didn't find the book very useful, having already seen the formula in varying degrees of specificity in several previous books on novel writing. Your mileage may be better.
For reference, here are 517 exclamation marks:
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
SAY SOMETHING NICE: If you are hard of hearing, or like detailed plot breakdowns for some well-known novels, this is the book for you.
VERDICT: Unrated.
I refer you to Howard Mittlemark's thoughts on proper use of exclamation marks (see: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/7236942-here-is-an-appropriate-use-of-the-exclamation-mark-the).
REVIEW: Contains 517* exclamation marks, of which fewer than 10 were necessary or possibly appropriate. I wanted a serious book on writing, not Cheerleading For Idiots.
* No, I didn't count them. But my eReader device did, and I think it's pretty darn close.
A FEW DETAILS (no spoilers, although the book itself is full of 'em):
Spoiler
The main premise of the book is a sort of general formula for novel-writing success, or at least the popular fiction genres that attempt normal-ish plots. ("Literary" fiction, by comparison, can often be plotless/pointless/weird, or defy categorization--so let's not go there).
This popular-fiction formula is a re-hash of a formula that's not new at all, but some readers may like Brody's LOUD approach to it. There are also many given examples of well-known novels that more or less fit the formula, sometimes with a fair amount of squeezing.
I personally didn't find the book very useful, having already seen the formula in varying degrees of specificity in several previous books on novel writing. Your mileage may be better.
For reference, here are 517 exclamation marks:
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
jennthumphries's review against another edition
I loved this book and will likely come back to it often as I try to participate in writing challenges. I just read the sections that were relevant to the genre that interests me.
sastrau's review against another edition
5.0
As an author, I like to be constantly reading books about craft. I started writing novels as a pure pantser, but found I was spending a lot of time in revision fixing problems that could have been avoided with some better planning. Now, I'm a hybrid writer - I sketch out high level outlines of my novels and then do a lot of pantsing in the actual writing. A recent novel I was working on needed some pacing help, so I decided to try using the Save the Cat method to back that completed draft into an outline to look for weaknesses. In this way, this method proved to be a valuable tool for me-- as the author promised, my novel already largely fit into the Save the Cat model, and where there were gaps, there were slow points.
My only frustration is that, now that I've read Save the Cat, I find myself hearing the beats in the books I'm reading and when those books adhere overly close to the STC model, I can sometimes find them to be a little formulaic. Probably, if I'd never read this, it wouldn't bother me, but that's the fate of reading as a writer!!
My only frustration is that, now that I've read Save the Cat, I find myself hearing the beats in the books I'm reading and when those books adhere overly close to the STC model, I can sometimes find them to be a little formulaic. Probably, if I'd never read this, it wouldn't bother me, but that's the fate of reading as a writer!!
returnender's review
4.0
Absolutely loved this book. It's basically a template on how to plan your book so it comes out as something worth reading. Maybe not on the first draft or even the second but there will be something worth it there.
The author breaks down a bunch of popular books by its Save The Cat! genres, which also helps a lot.
Reread value: whenever I start plotting a new story, I should at least open the book and work through the "templates".
The author breaks down a bunch of popular books by its Save The Cat! genres, which also helps a lot.
Reread value: whenever I start plotting a new story, I should at least open the book and work through the "templates".