Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need | Blake Snyder

Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need | Blake Snyder | OUTSTANDING READ. Period.

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Save The Cat! The ...

	Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need Blake Snyder Michael Wiese Productions, 2005 - 216 pages average customer review:based on 196 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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!

If you are serious about writing for Hollywood, this book is a must!

If you are serious about writing for Hollywood, this book is a must!

Whether you are a beginner or a pro... want to write small indies or big studio fare... which ever genre... this book is a must. It is a quick easy read, gives practical advice on how to prepare to write a script the right way from the beginning. It starts with making your concept the best it can be, then writing the best Logline to keep your focus on the true narrative of your story; to developing your best protagonist for the story, and then hammering out your simple yet effective beat sheet. If you don't do this right from the beginning, you will waste a lot of time going back and doing more re-writes than necessary. If you want to get it right from the beginning, this book is for you.

I know for a fact that "big time" working studio writers and development executives use it on a regular basis. I personally have several books that I refer back to when writing my scripts and this one is definitely in the top three along with, "How Not to Write a Screenplay" and "500 Ways to Beat the Hollywood Script Reader."

Although, if you are a beginner, you should definitely start off with Syd Field's "Screenplay" and if you are advanced, I also highly recommend John Truby's "The Anatomy of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller".

Hope this helps! Enjoy!

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OUTSTANDING READ. Period.

"GIVE US THE SAME...ONLY DIFFERENT!" It's an Hollywood addage that makes a lot of sense, yea? But it can confound fledgling writers like me. STC changes that. Pure and simple. If you want to understand WHY movies act, look, smell and feel the way they do, and WHY THEY SUCCEED TIME AFTER TIME, buy this book.

Blake Snyder has a very powerful gift: he understands how successful films are structured...and, more importantly, he CAN CONVEY THAT UNDERSTANDING to people like you and me. Seriously, STC is clever, witty, and full of more practical insights than the Tao Te Ching.

If you expect to write screenplays, BUY THIS BOOK TODAY.

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JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW EVERYTHING!!

I've been a writer for more years than I care to admit. Thought I knew it all...or most of it. For those of you who, like me, approach screenwriting with the notion 'hey, how hard can this be' only to be turned down time and time again by people you want to read your precious work; for those of you who read your screenplay and wonder what went wrong and how; any who read some of the structure books and scratch your head, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!!
Unlike the other formula books on the market today, Blake makes screenwriting fun and exciting. My first screenplay took over 32 drafts...just to get it readable! After reading Save the Cat, my next screenplay was three drafts for the reading copy.
So, for all of you veteran writers out there who feel frustrated by the complexities of the seemingly simple creative process of screenplay writing, I hope you will give this outstanding book a read. It truly is the only book you will ever need on screenwriting!

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Good info if you can get past the tone.

I bought a few different books on screenwriting to help me with some sticking points on my current script... This is one of the ones I bought.

First, there is some very good information in this book on beats and structure as long as you don't take everything as gospel. Having been a theater major I've already been soaked though with character, motivation, beats, etc... but this was still a nice refresher on some of what I already knew. For me the best information was the pushing of the log lines, and the index card breakdown... I use index cards, but like Snyder's idea for them better.

Why this book doesn't get 5 stars - first, most of this info can be found in Syd Field's books and his credibility is a little higher.

Second - The tone, or voice of the book. Snyder writes in a very conversational tone... and unfortunately I found the voice to be a bit self-absorbed and irritating. If I had to read anymore about his stupid movie "Blank Check" I would have wanted to have burned the book. Also the tone basically implies "If you don't do what I say, you're an idiot." It also gets fairly nasty where the book basically informs the reader that "Memento" was a terrible movie, but NEVER goes into the why, basically poking at the reader with an "If you liked this movie you're an idiot." I personally found a lot of the tone to be fairly confrontational, but since you are reading, you can't argue back.

This book will be easy for many to dismiss since Snyder seems to only write generic family films, but the information in here can help you with your screenplay even if (like me) you're working on a horror film.

If you are looking for a book to go into the actual formatting aspect, this book does NOT go into formatting at all. This is more about story structure and characterization. I don't think that this will be the "last book you will ever need" but it does contain some descent information if you can make it past the tone and argumentative nature of the writing style.

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