Save the Cat! Writes a Novel<\/em><\/a>. It was fun. It\u2019s totally on me for letting it get to my head that I should write a review while I\u2019m at it. Oh, boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut you\u2019re here now. If I can\u2019t interest you in some coffee instead, I should at least look at the claims Brody makes about her book and some of the criticisms it faces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After hearing so much about the book, you can imagine I started reading it, eager to bask in the promised clarity. I expected it to be along the lines of, \u201cYou have a problem. I have a solution. Here it is.\u201d But from the get-go, the book starts refuting criticisms of the method before it introduces the method to me. It was like getting caught in a fight you\u2019re not part of, and having no means to decide who you should side with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is the method too formulaic?
Will it make the story predictable?
Will it detract from the art?
Will it limit the writer\u2019s creativity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brody knows her audience. She placed that section exactly where she did because she wanted to \u201cnip that fear in the bud right there. Right now.\u201d Whether she was successful or not is another question, especially since the same criticisms are still circulating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But is Save the Cat! Writes a Novel<\/em> too formulaic? Brody says it\u2019s not a formula. It\u2019s a pattern or \u201can underlying storytelling code.\u201d Then she proceeds to give you fifteen beats detailed down to percentages. Son, take this vial. It\u2019s just tea, but you needn’t drink more than one drop at sunrise and one at sunset. Remember, only one drop, my son, only one.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nCalling it a formula, a framework, or a code is not the real problem. Brody says it herself: \u201cRegardless of what you call it, it works.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Define works. It works because it will get words on paper? Or it works because it\u2019s been proven to fit almost any novel? If it\u2019s the latter, which is an argument Brody keeps returning to in her book, it needs proper investigation. Applying the method retrospectively to many successful novels shows that those novels can be mapped onto it. So maybe the method works as a structural tool. It doesn’t necessarily mean the resulting novel works as well. The success of a story doesn’t depend only on pacing and structure. Characterization\u2014to which Brody devoted the first section of her book\u2014prose, genre, and the actual execution of the method are all factors in the success of a story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then again, is it still the story you<\/em> want to write? Wouldn\u2019t that limit your creativity?<\/p>\n\n\n\nThis is not a baseless fear. I remember feeling the same when I saw the percentages. My first thought was, how would I know if my catalyst is at ten percent when I\u2019m still writing the story? And if I decide that this point of the story is my ten percent, how am I supposed to contort the rest of my story to make up the remaining ninety percent? All the while, mind you, focusing on creating the plot. Brody looked at Henry Ford\u2019s \u201cAny customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black\u201d and said, Bet. Gather fellow writers? The fifteen beats are endless.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nHowever, back then, I was young and reckless, so I took my trusty notebook and started scribbling tables, color-coded tables. Satisfied with my handiwork, I set out to fill in the beats. I could fill in the beats only as far as the story I\u2019d already written. The table and I looked at each other, dreading what would come next. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that\u2019s just me. It must be me. I\u2019m a pantser. I have no idea what I\u2019m getting myself into when I start a story. Of course, I know the broad strokes, but don\u2019t ask me what will happen and when. We shall discover our fate together.<\/em> Maybe the method is for plotters? Brody claims the method can benefit both types of writers. She presents the method as a planning tool for plotters and a restructuring tool for pantsers. You\u2019re a plotter; you already plan your story before you write it. Save the Cat!<\/em> gives you a roadmap. It fits your approach. It won\u2019t hinder your creativity, I presume, because you\u2019re doing exactly the same thing, but instead of papers flying around you, you have a clear system. If you\u2019re a pantser, however, using this method as a planning tool is likely the surest way to abandon the project altogether. So, write your story, finish it, then go back and fill in the beat sheet. Use it as a diagnostic tool: restructure something you\u2019ve already written, check pacing, or examine where major moments fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSo, you mean, after writing my ninety-thousand-word novel, if my catalyst falls at fifteen percent of the story instead of ten, then I\u2019m doomed?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brody says in her book, \u201cYour beats are not carved in stone. Nor should they be.\u201d She\u2019s telling you to expect the beats to change as you write and edit. And she advises you to rebeat. So don\u2019t let the flexibility claim fool you. She\u2019s not telling you that the method is flexible; she\u2019s telling you to be flexible and change your story to fit the not-a-formula. No, I\u2019m being unnecessarily prejudiced against the method. I\u2019ve watched many interviews with Brody, and she didn’t claim that you should hit the beats at the exact percentage. You need to be at least in the neighborhood. It\u2019s up to you to decide how far this neighborhood stretches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The good news is, as far as I know, when you buy Save the Cat! Writes a Novel<\/em>, you don\u2019t make a blood oath to follow its guidelines and nothing but its guidelines till death do you part. Learn the framework first, then deviate deliberately. Learn the rules before you break them.<\/p>\n\n\n\nInterestingly, one of the unexpected outcomes of the book, as I mentioned before, is that it taught me how to read like a writer. So knowing the beats didn\u2019t spoil the stories for me. It’s the writer\u2019s creativity that makes the execution surprising. What did Save the Cat! Writes a Novel<\/em> do, then? It gave me terminology for my expectations of the story: Why do you feel frustrated when the writer dumps all the details of their carefully crafted world before the story even starts? Why do you feel the whole journey of the main character is avoidable because what sent them into the story wasn\u2019t big enough? You feel something is wrong, but why?<\/p>\n\n\n\nSave the Cat!<\/em> helped me put a name on it. Now, I automatically notice things like the catalyst, Theme Stated, false victory\/false defeat, and ascending\/descending movement of the plot. It\u2019s become an effortless exercise for me as a writer that helps me strengthen my writing instincts. Why did this happen where it did? How did the writer surprise me? Even getting the prediction wrong becomes a craft lesson. A good example of this happened recently when I was looking for recommendations for Good Company Lit\u2019s library. In Darkened Forged<\/em> by Kenley Davidson was the book. I ended up not recommending it for our library, but that\u2019s a story for another day.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn the beginning of the story, I recognized what I assumed was the Theme Stated. Disclaimer for the people who haven\u2019t read the book: this might contain spoilers. It fits the description Brody gave: the theme is hinted at early, it\u2019s often stated by a secondary character, it points toward what the protagonist needs to discover or the transformation ahead, and the protagonist often doesn’t believe or accept the Theme Stated when they hear it. In this story, this happens as Aislin, the main character, is leaving and her journey is beginning. Her grandmother states it: \u201cYou must find your magic, child!\u201d Aislin explicitly doesn’t believe her. She smiles and nods \u201cas if she understood,\u201d while the narration tells us she believes her family’s magic is gone. Her grandmother becomes even more explicit: \u201cYou don\u2019t believe me […] but you will find it. In a dark place, where you least expect it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lo and behold, Aislin\u2019s adventure takes her to a dark place\u2014the tunnels under the mountain\u2014as her mission reaches its end. Tal, her guide, who\u2019s been doing most of the heavy lifting on this mission, lies unconscious. She\u2019s all alone. But instead of powerful waves of magic erupting from her, Aislin confesses her love to Tal. Tal himself is full of the very thing Aislin believes she lacks: magic. So \u201cyou will find your magic\u201d carried a meaning Aislin\u2014and I as a reader\u2014hadn\u2019t initially assigned to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Needless to say, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel<\/em> is always within arm\u2019s reach. It isn’t a book you simply finish and move on from. I still return to particular sections when I need them. Its long-term value may be as a working craft reference, not necessarily a book writers repeatedly read cover to cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSave the Cat! Writes a Novel<\/em> has proven its usefulness. The number of writers who use it in one way or another, even those who have reservations about it, speaks in favor of the book. Some of the criticisms are substantive, like the concern that the method privileges mainstream or Western narrative conventions. But other criticisms, like the tone of the narration or the way information is presented, are largely a matter of taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut is it the book for you<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\nI believe it\u2019s a valuable addition to your library for sure. It may have been more influential in teaching me how to see<\/em> stories than in teaching me how to plan them, but you can still benefit from its strongest assets: plot structure and character development.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf you\u2019re entertaining the idea of using the method but you\u2019re not sure what it entails, our How to Use Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: A Practical Walkthrough<\/a><\/em> can give you valuable information\u2014and one chuckle or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I read this book in 2022. I was part of a group of writers, and we met weekly from March to December to read and discuss it. We started with eight members. By the end, there were three of us. And when we met for the last time, we still had a few pages to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-blog","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodcompanylit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodcompanylit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodcompanylit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodcompanylit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodcompanylit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2866"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/goodcompanylit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5411,"href":"https:\/\/goodcompanylit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2866\/revisions\/5411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodcompanylit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodcompanylit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodcompanylit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodcompanylit.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}