Save the Cat!® Strikes Back
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Product Description
Product Description
Blake Snyder is back with the book countless readers and students have clamoured for. Inspired by questions from his workshops, lectures, and emails, Blake listened and provides new tips, tactics, and techniques to solve your writing problems and create stories that resonate: The 7 warning signs you might have a great idea or not; 2 sure-fire templates for can t-miss loglines; The difference between structure and formula; The Transformation Machine that allows you to track your hero's growth step-by-step; The 5 questions to keep your story's spine straight; and, The 5-Point Finale to finish any story. It includes: "The Save the Cat![registered] Greenlight Checklist" that gets to the heart of every development issue; The right way to hear notes, deal with problematic producers, and dive into the rewrite with the right attitude; Why and when an agent will appear; How to discover the potential for greatness in any story; How to avoid panic, doubt, and self-recrimination...and what it takes to succeed and dare to achieve your dreams; and, Get ready to face trouble like a pro...and strike back!
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As with the other two 'Save the Cat' books, this is about mainstream, commercial screenplay structure. Although that definition can be extended to include many art house movies, these are not books about the art house. Readers looking for radical departures from the filmmaking establishment should search elsewhere.
The first 'Save the Cat' set out to show the common features in how a lot of successful film are constructed and it did so in an entertaining and clear cut way. 'Save the Cat Goes to the Movies' presented a wider range of film examples in each of Blake's own genre categories.
What 'Save the Cat Strikes Back' does is expand on those sections in the first two books (especially Book 1) that some people felt needed more depth. It has more detail in the way different parts of a story interconnect, how they can mirror each other and reinforce ideas. As with the other books the emphasis here is on structure; the ideas are yours, this is a guide to arrangement and presentation.
As this is Blake's last book, due to his early death in 2009, there is also a poignancy to some examples and anecdotes dealing with life and, in a few cases, death. Blake's central point being that stories are about life and its lessons, including its limits.
Leaving that aside though, I think this is an excellent expansion on the original book and well worth reading if you liked 'Save the Cat'. Of course if you didn't, then you probably aren't reading this review. :)
The first 'Save the Cat' set out to show the common features in how a lot of successful film are constructed and it did so in an entertaining and clear cut way. 'Save the Cat Goes to the Movies' presented a wider range of film examples in each of Blake's own genre categories.
What 'Save the Cat Strikes Back' does is expand on those sections in the first two books (especially Book 1) that some people felt needed more depth. It has more detail in the way different parts of a story interconnect, how they can mirror each other and reinforce ideas. As with the other books the emphasis here is on structure; the ideas are yours, this is a guide to arrangement and presentation.
As this is Blake's last book, due to his early death in 2009, there is also a poignancy to some examples and anecdotes dealing with life and, in a few cases, death. Blake's central point being that stories are about life and its lessons, including its limits.
Leaving that aside though, I think this is an excellent expansion on the original book and well worth reading if you liked 'Save the Cat'. Of course if you didn't, then you probably aren't reading this review. :)
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A wonderful book about story telling. Great insight, very practical, funny and sometimes poignant, a compact modern-day guide to the craft. This book complements works by Robert Mckee, John Truby, Chris Vogler, - and even Joseph Campbell. Definitely worth a purchase if you are a fan of popular stories, - films or novels.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
22 reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
What makes the third book valuable
10 Dec 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I had my doubts about this third book in the series and expected a lot of rehashing. Plus it comes out 3 months after Blake's death, so.... But, to my pleasant surprise, this is a great book. Number one, Blake writes about his own journey and this stuff is great. The decisions we make that either get us where we want to go or not. What is more important: Doing it your way or succeeding? Secondly, there is a bunch of new stuff, I am especially happy about the five new finale beats. Very useful.
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Save the Cat strikes again
26 Dec 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Blake Snyder's recent death is a terrible loss to the script writing community. Somehow he had the knowledge and insight to explain in simple terms the basic elements of dramatic structure. Fortunately he left this last book and it is a legacy to his memory. Again, Blake simply lays down further elements of writing a good script and deals with more advanced problems writers may get themselves into. Anyone who wants to write commercial scripts that have a chance of being sold should read all three of his books. I'm a screenwriter with 25 years experience of writing and selling scripts. Blake elucidates the techniques that many of us follow, either unconsciously or through a study of story structure. The point I'm making is that his books, and this one in particular, are not just for the beginner. Even with all my experience in writing scripts I learned a great deal from Blake's books. Every script seems to have its unique problems and Blake's books provide a guidepost for solving them. Some people may argue that he provides a formula for producing a hack script. That is untrue. Dramatic structure is just that -- structure. It's what forms the bones of every story. Yes, you can write a hack script by using a formula. But it is the writer's talent that raises an ordinary script from hackdom into art. Remember, Hamlet is based on a hack story created by some other writer. It was Shakespeare's talent that raised it from hackdom to art. Without knowledge of story structure you will end up with a mess, gauranteed. If you don't believe me watch the Sundance channel. You can see mis-conceived, poorly structured films all day long. Blake's guidlines will prevent you from creating a similar mess. I think every writer should own and use all three of his books. I do.
21 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Indispensable. If there's a 'writing' equivalent of THE SECRET, this is it.
26 Nov 2009
Format:Paperback
I just received this book directly from the publisher by ordering from their website. And it is indeed brilliant. Along with SAVE THE CAT GOES TO THE MOVIES and ANATOMY OF STORYTELLING, this ranks up there as one of the three essential screenwriting books. Throw away all the rest. This is the real deal. Read it cover to cover. Truly, one of the only screenwriting books you will ever need. What's great is that Blake Snyder gives you a simple way of 'thinking' about storytelling - it's not a formula but a well-analyzed breakdown of how to 'frame' your story to yourself and to others. It offers a simple structural guide to help you along the way when you're writing - and in this new book, Snyder offers an even more detailed breakdown of that beat-by-beat structure including a brilliant analysis of Act 3 you won't find anywhere else. FULL DISCLOSURE: My bombastic praise is real. I am in no way affiliated with the publisher or Mr. Snyder - I'm just someone who has received ridiculous acclaim for my writing in Hollywood and I felt like it was time to share THE SECRET. Along with the other two books I mentioned, here it is.
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