Save the Cat!

By: Blake Snyder

Narrated by: George Newbern

Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

Here's what started the phenomenon: This book has been a best seller for over 15 years and has been used by screenwriters around the world! Blake Snyder tells all in this fast, funny, and candid look inside the movie business. Save the Cat is just one of many ironclad rules for making your ideas more marketable and your script more satisfying. Others include these: 

• The four elements of every winning logline 
• The seven immutable laws of screenplay physics 
• The 10 genres that every movie ever made can be categorized by - and why they're important to your script 
• Why your hero must serve your idea 
• Mastering the 15 beats 
• Creating the perfect beast by using the board to map 40 scenes with conflict and emotional change 
• How to get back on track with proven rules for script repair 

This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat.

©2005 Blake Snyder (P)2018 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Best book I have read on writing screenplays.

I have read a lot of books about screenwriting, movie making, etc, and the Save The Cat series is the first that have gone beyond telling me I need pen and paper and software and selling skills and actually taught me things that have convinced me to change things in my scripts.

I thought I had my stories pretty well "fleshed out", but this book teaches you that at a certain number of minutes into a film, you should have specific things established. And at other points, you should pivot your story to another point.

Like all common sense, this may sound like a "well duh" statement once said, but that's the thing about common sense: Everyone thinks they knew it before it was said, but how many applied it? This book teaches you how your script needs to be broken down, how you may need to add plot points to have the pivots needed, etc.

This isn't just how to arrange and how to find an agent, it is literally at what minute in a 90 minute film you should be making this story point and that story pivot.

This original in the series is better in my opinion than the Strikes Back follow up, but both are good and make good companion pieces.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Excellent foundation

I read this book to accompany a screenwriting class, although my screenwriting is awful, this book laid an excellent foundation for concepts I had no idea about.

I look forward to reading the next in the series.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

If you only read one...

This shouldn’t be the only book on screenwriting you read, but it may be the only one you’ll keep coming back to.

It’s shockingly astute if you can reject the myth that writing is a magical process. And, if you can overcome a writer’s ego that the “laws” of this craft can ACTUALLY be articulated most accurately by phrases like “Save the Cat” or “pope in the pool.”

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Excellent intro to storytelling

I bought the kindle and audible version of this, because I figured my absorption would improve with two modes of delivery. Why? Because this primer on storytelling is great. Does it preach formulaic storytelling? It does. But for me the process of Learn the Rules, apply them successfully, and ONLY THEN break them is my personal process.

We all learn differently. I prefer structure then breakout. If you learn this way, this primer on storytelling is great. McKee's Story is a broader study, with more background and history. Save The Cat! is succinct. Less broad history and more procedural instructions. Also Blake Snyder is teaching a narrower type of storytelling, specifically for Film. McKee's can be applied more broadly, although it too focuses mostly on Screenwriting.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

little full of himslef but is very helpful.

Has helpful tips if you cant figure out why somthing isnt working or dialog is lacking he gives you some nice tools to use. overall its a good one to read!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

amazingly helpful for all sorts of writers

amazingly helpful for all sorts of writers. clear distinct steps on making likeable timeless stories.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Exceptional

Best book about Screenwriting I have ever come across. It cuts to the point and gives golden information. If screenwriting is your game, then this is a must read.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Loved it!

You'll want to listen to this over and over, savoring all the little bits!
yeah :-)

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Really a must read for any budding screenwriter!

I'm a producer looking to write a screenplay of my own, and while I've jotted the whole story down in outline format, I purposely feels off on starting the screenplay until I read (or listened to in this case) "Save the Cat!" I'm very glad I did, as the information in this guide is invaluable and I'm eager to put this knowledge to work!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Read, review, recite, repeat!

A quintessential guide the art and craft of screenwriting, Save the Cat will save your script!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Solid advice but occasionally dated.

structure and breakdown approach is a great way to assess your work and a good lense to view scripts through. However, the modern landscape of movies has changed massively and some of the advice has dated as a result. still a good read and fascinating approach.

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Love it so much. perfect for screenwriters and learning on the go after reading the actual book