Save the Cat!
by Blake Snyder
Snyder's screenwriting formula: the logline, the ten genres, the fifteen-beat sheet, and the board. It is formulaic by design and has been blamed for sameness in Hollywood; it is also the clearest, most usable structural tool for beginners in any storytelling, and the beat sheet maps onto speeches and brand stories.
Read it if…
you want a concrete, fill-in-the-beats structure for a story or talk.
Skip it if…
you resist formula; this is formula.
Three things you will actually use
- Logline first; if it does not work, nothing will.
- Beats give the audience rhythm.
- Save the cat: make us like the hero early.
Do this first
Write the logline for your story or project in one sentence with irony, a mental picture and an audience.
Our verdict
Formulaic and useful.
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