Writing Books I Recommend: Save the Cat! Writes a Novel

Cover of SAVE THE CAT! WRITES A NOVEL

Whenever I teach a structure of fiction course, this is the book I start with. Based on a very popular screenwriting book, this volume talks about how to make your protagonist a hero, gives a super helpful beat sheet, and then devotes a lot of pages to a discussion about genre that is unlike any other genre discussion I've seen. This book will give you a solid overview of what's expected from novel structure, and there's a reason I start with it in a novel class.

WHO IT'S FOR: 

Novelists, and particularly novelists that lean toward the commercial or genre end of the spectrum. Sometimes MFA students don't love the rigidity of the structure, but I emphasize that you don't have to use it. (I once heard a very wise writer, Mary Robinette Kowal, say that craft was for when intuition was not enough, and that writerly intuition will almost always beat craft rules.) But I argue that it's generally a great idea to understand the expectations before you subvert them. 

WHAT IT'S ABOUT:

This book starts with a discussion about making your protagonist story-worthy, emphasizing the relationship between character and plot. Next, in a very long chapter, Brody goes over the Save the Cat! "beat sheet," or a list of expected story beats with a detailed explanation of what's meant to happen where. Here, she breaks down the roles of each of the acts in the three-act structure, and her imagery of ordinary world, antithesis, and synthesis is great. 

For much of the rest of the book, she breaks down genre stories in a way that I haven't seen elsewhere. For example, in the "Whydunit" chapter, Brody makes the case that readers don't truly care about who committed the murder, but rather about why they committed the murder. Each genre chapter provides a case study, breaking down the beats of a popular novel in the genre, and then it gives a reading list of other exemplar texts.

The book ends with a super helpful discussion of how to write loglines, and then with a chapter on troubleshooting.

WHAT'S USEFUL:

Seriously, so much. In the first chapter, Brody introduces us to the idea of wants vs needs, and there's an in-depth discussion of why one of these is general and one is universal. The beat sheet is also helpful, and I have created my own beat sheet template that I always pull out when I'm brainstorming an outline. Again, I can't recommend the genre discussions enough, and one day, I'll write a review of each of these chapters, after having read all of the exemplar texts. There's an entire novel writing education at your fingertips here. 

The other useful thing here is Brody's checklists. At the end of each chapter and concept, Brody provides a checklist to make sure your story is wringing the maximum amount of tension, propulsion, and emotional resonance from each beat.

WHAT THIS BOOK DOESN'T DO:

This is not a book that discusses industry, query letters, or breaking in. It's a book dedicated to teaching the idea of the expected version of craft. As I noted, some students don't love these expectations, and I often hear them equated to a "formula." I prefer instead to think of this structure as a puzzle, something that you put together but that rewards work and challenging thinking. 

One thing I'll note here is that, in the book STORY by Robert McKee, McKee talks about these expectations, using a triangle diagram that I find very useful. On one point of the triangle is what McKee calls the "archplot," or the "classical design," and it's the story structure that we expect, the hero's journey. At another point, McKee places "anti-structure" or "antiplot," and at the third point of the triangle is "minimalism." I won't go into the distinctions of these terms, but McKee argues that the further you go from the classical design, the more your audience shrinks. Importantly, however, your audience might become more dedicated as you move away from the classical design. McKee's point here is this: you have to understand that the story structure you choose affects the audience you attract.

WHAT TO READ FIRST:

This is a great first text, so no need to read anything first. But if you did want to have some more background, Debra Dixon's GOAL, MOTIVATION AND CONFLICT (review here) would be a great choice for reading before, after, or during your read of SAVE THE CAT!. 

WHAT TO READ NEXT: 

STORY GENIUS by Lisa Cron

INTO THE WOODS: A FIVE-ACT JOURNEY INTO STORY by John Yorke

STORY by Robert McKee