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

List Price: $19.95 Discount Price: $11.90

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Help For All Writers In Every Genre [Posted on 2008-06-30]
Mr. Snyder was the lunch speaker at a writer's conference, fortunate for me, as I fancy myself as a novelist, not a screen writer, and I would not have attended his lecture had it been optional.

Mr. Snyder has sold about 19 scripts and had eleven made into movies, putting his credibility at the highest possible level. (I am so weary of attending classes and lectures by instructors who have so far sold one item, and giving classes is how they earn their living.)

Whether writing a movie, a short story, or a novel, his tips will improve the work immensely.

He uses popular movies to illustrate his points, showing exactly where and when a critical development occurs.

The points are not exclusive to screen-writing, they apply to all writers.

Oh, the title, 'Save The Cat'? It is his label to a scene every story should feature: the protagonist should do something selfless and admirable early in the story, to make us like him, and therefore a reason to cheer for him through the later chapters.

(He goes on to list a dozen others.)

The book is worth the time and investment.

Dan Elliott Jr.

An Amazing Find! [Posted on 2008-06-30]
After spending enormous amounts of time in the screenwriting section of many bookstores and libraries, Save the Cat was the first book I came across that I actually found helpful! Most of the books I had tried before that droned on and one about the basics of how to write a story. These other books assumed that I didn't know what an antagonist or protagonist was. I wanted a book that went beyond "teaching me to write" and instead helped make my writing better - and this is exactly what Save the Cat did!

This book takes a look at structure, but also at loglines and subject matter - things that could not be found in other books. The tone of the book is probably it's strongest point - Blake Snyder writes as if he's talking directly to you, like he really cares about helping you as a writer. The rules and structure guidlines are helpful and down to earth instead of reading like a textbook.

This is a book that I have read more than once. When I feel blocked or in need of inspiration, I read a couple of chapters in order to wake up my imagination. The chapter on loglines is a great place to start and come back to if you feel that there's something majorly flawed with your story that you just can't quite pinpoint.

While I used this book to improve my writing, it is set-up to so that beginning writers can also benefit from it. A friend of mine has a kernel of an idea for a story, but he's not sure where to go next and the first thought that came to my mind was to recommend this book to him.

So, if you're looking to write a screenplay, finish a screenplay, or even take your screenplay to that next level, Blake Snyder's Save the Cat is definitely something worth investing in!

A good book, but I'd take the advice with a grain of salt [Posted on 2008-07-01]
"Save the Cat" is essentially a guide to writing mainstream American-style movies. It provides common-sense advice, the sort of stuff you don't think of in spite of the fact that it's glaringly obvious, and this advice is presented in a conversational, easy to follow manner. I enjoyed reading this book and I think it will help me. However, as with any writing book, I will be taking the advice with a grain of salt.

My greatest reservations about this book are with regards to the chapter in which Snyder states that every (mainstream) movie ever made can be classified into one of 10 basic genres. In order to prove his point, Snyder does some pretty impressive mental gymnastics, but I'm still not convinced. I'm sorry, but I still can't manage to accept the suggestion that "M*A*S*H" and "American Beauty" are both "the same film". Furthermore, although his "beat sheet" (a basic outline that can supposedly apply to any film) is impressive, after having watched a couple of movies with this in mind, I've found that trying to align them with this outline is not as easy as Snyder would make you believe.

In answer to the question that is on your mind, yes, if you're an aspiring screenwriter (or any type of fiction writer, as I believe this advice to be universal), this book is worth buying. It's better that a lot of other writing books that I have read and Snyder has sold a number of the screenplays that he has written, making him a more qualified teacher than most of the writers of these such books. However, don't treat this book as the Bible. Take with you the advice that helps and leave the rest.

Yes, this is the book you want. [Posted on 2008-07-03]
This is the book. You want to understand movies? You want a foundation to write a screenplay? You want fun in doing it? You want a great read>
This is the book.

The ever elusive Second act... is here [Posted on 2008-07-03]
If you are a seasoned "reader" of screenwriting books, you must have noticed something: every author mentions the difficulty on writing a good second act. But they don't tell you how to write one.

Blake does. Every page in this book is valuable for one reason or another, but le'me tell you: You ain'gonna find how to write a good second act in any other book.

And, as you may know for now, the second act IS the movie...

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