Jessica Brody – Save the Cat! Writes a Novel

Writing / Book Review.

After Janice Hardy's Plotting Your Novel I had to get this one as well, as it has a great reputation and addresses similar topics... though it's quite a different book and concept in the end. 

This book uses the ‘beat sheet’ approach used by Blake Snyder to create and improve tv- and movie-scripts. Following a specific script or method might be your thing, or it might not, so I approached this book with a bit more caution.

Contents 

This isn’t exactly a text-book, not in the way Janice Hardy’s Plotting Your Novel is. At 300 pages, with a few more graphics but only a few exercises it’s similar in size, but the contents are way different: instead of a text book it’s more of a ‘method plus examples’. That’s its strength, and its weakness. Why? Because books don’t have to follow the structure given – even if most books do. The writing is a little more dense and intense than Janice Hardy’s, and it isn’t as easy to read, but it does make an author think. It also touches on some topics not covered by Plotting Your Novel.

Think of the Janice Hardy book as your basic work, and of Save the Cat! as more of a ‘food for thought’ book – an expansion for the advanced classes. It will make you think, and show you some of the nooks and crannies Hardy skips.

Verdict

This is a bit of a preliminary opinion, as I haven't gone through the whole thing extensively, but so far it's 'good, in spite of'.

As an author you should read it, because it helps you reconsider the strength and weaknesses of your own work. As a reference it’s not that good, and it certainly isn’t ‘the last book you’ll ever need’, but it will provide food for thought, and the whole ‘beats’ approach might offer you a way out when stuck.

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