Writing Books – Save the Cat!

by Blake Snyder

There’s nothing like a good title to catch your attention. In fact, that’s one of the first points Blake Snyder makes in Save the Cat! If you’re a writer who thinks “The right title will come to me eventually,” you need to at least read what Snyder has to say. Trust me, I’ve been right there with you. But the insights that Snyder unfolds as he goes along will help you focus in on the essentials of your story. What he conveys certainly works for screenwriting, but it also applies to other forms of storytelling.

Blake Snyder

His prose is direct and engaging. It’s like sitting down with an upbeat, cheer-leading mentor. The delight Snyder takes in doing his own storytelling gets transmitted to any reader of this book. Beyond all the helpful pointers he presents, this book reminds us all that storytelling is supposed to be fun for the storyteller.

Even though I have plenty of practice in writing, I’ve found that what Snyder has to say has been helpful to me when I’ve been a little stuck on a problem in a particular project. The enthusiasm that underlies his advice encourages me to believe that there is a solution to whatever problem I’m dealing with.

I’ve recommended this book to writers who need some guidence in getting their stories organized, or who are trying to figure out how to pitch their stories.

Since this book came out, I have encountered those who dislike Snyder’s seemingly facile handling of structure issues, or the coy-cuteness of the tags he gives for story beats. And of course, there are readers and followers of the book who treat it like gospel. But Snyder himself, would have pointed out that the book is a method for looking at your story structure, not an iron-cast blueprint. He would have laughed and agreed with those who think the story beat tags are cute/coy. But the point about them is that they are memorable, which is what makes them useful. As for that concern about those who treat the book as gospel, he would have said that the important thing is whether or not the writer tells a good story. Because above all, helping others tell good stories was what was important to him.

This is the book I recommend to those who are beginning to get serious about being writers. I certainly do not discourage them for reading the other books on story structure, the ones that have a longer history on bookstore shelves. But if you start out with Snyder, you will always remember his enthusiasm about the act of telling a story – which is a valuable gift to any aspiring writer.