Save the Cat! Writes a Novel

Zusatztext Every novelist should own a copy of this book. It will change the way you think about storiesand your writing. Jessica Brody takes the mystery and frustration out of plotting a novel. I'll never write another book without a copy of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. --Kami Garcia ! #1 New York Times best-selling coauthor of Beautiful Creatures and author of Broken Beautiful Hearts "Good plotters aren't born. They're formed by studying the twists and turns of others' stories. Save the Cat! Writes a Novel is a perfect plot study tool for all levels of writer. It will help you dissect any plot conundrum! conceive your story's blueprint! and give a beat to every pivot of your hero's journey." --Grant Faulkner ! executive director of National Novel Writing Month and author of Pep Talks for Writers: 52 Insights and Actions to Boost Your Creative Mojo Through its insightful use of beat sheets! genres! and trade secrets! this book is an invaluable guide through the daunting task of writing a novel. -- Jessica Khoury ! author of The Forbidden Wish and Last of Her Name This playful! illuminating book is a godsend for anyone seeking to understand story structure for novels. -- Emmy Laybourne ! author of the international bestselling Monument 14 trilogy! and the novels Sweet ! Berserker and Ransacker Informationen zum Autor JESSICA BRODY worked for MGM Studios as manager of acquisitions and business development before becoming an internationally best-selling author of more than fifteen novels for teens, tweens, and adults including The Geography of Lost Things, The Chaos of Standing Still, A Week of Mondays, and Better You Than Me. She's also the author of the Descendants: School of Secrets series, based on the hit Disney Channel original movie, Descendants. Her books have been translated and published in over 23 countries and Unremembered and 52 Reasons to Hate My Father are currently being developed for film through Reliance Entertainment by the producers of Zero Dark Thirty and Slumdog Millionaire . She travels the country teaching Save the Cat! workshops to novelists. Klappentext The first novel-writing guide from the best-selling Save the Cat! story-structure series, which reveals the 15 essential plot points needed to make any novel a success. Novelist Jessica Brody presents a comprehensive story-structure guide for novelists that applies the famed Save the Cat! screenwriting methodology to the world of novel writing. Revealing the 15 "beats" (plot points) that comprise a successful story--from the opening image to the finale--this book lays out the Ten Story Genres (Monster in the House; Whydunit; Dude with a Problem) alongside quirky, original insights (Save the Cat; Shard of Glass) to help novelists craft a plot that will captivate--and a novel that will sell. The Beginning . . . So, let's get this party started. We've got a big journey ahead of us, and I, for one, am antsy to get moving. First things first. What do you need? At the very least, you need an idea for a novel. It doesn't have to be a huge idea. It can be a seed of an idea, it can be a twinkle of an idea. It can even be a character that interests you, or a collection of inspiring thoughts that you hope to somehow string together. Perhaps you've got an idea but you don't know if it's worth writing. You don't know if it has legs as they say in the film industry. Can it go the distance? Can it really carry you through three hundred-plus pages of prose? Or you might already have a novel fully or partially written that's not working, that you know you have to revise. Or maybe you've started a book and don't know wher...

Autorentext

JESSICA BRODY worked for MGM Studios as manager of acquisitions and business development before becoming an internationally best-selling author of more than fifteen novels for teens, tweens, and adults including The Geography of Lost Things, The Chaos of Standing Still, A Week of Mondays, *and *Better You Than Me. *She’s also the author of the Descendants: School of Secrets series, based on the hit Disney Channel original movie, *Descendants. *Her books have been translated and published in over 23 countries and *Unremembered and 52 Reasons to Hate My Father *are currently being developed for film through Reliance Entertainment by the producers of *Zero Dark Thirty and Slumdog Millionaire. She travels the country teaching Save the Cat! workshops to novelists.
 

Klappentext

The first novel-writing guide from the best-selling Save the Cat! story-structure series, which reveals the 15 essential plot points needed to make any novel a success.

Novelist Jessica Brody presents a comprehensive story-structure guide for novelists that applies the famed Save the Cat! screenwriting methodology to the world of novel writing. Revealing the 15 "beats" (plot points) that comprise a successful story--from the opening image to the finale--this book lays out the Ten Story Genres (Monster in the House; Whydunit; Dude with a Problem) alongside quirky, original insights (Save the Cat; Shard of Glass) to help novelists craft a plot that will captivate--and a novel that will sell.

Leseprobe

The Beginning . . . 

So, let’s get this party started. We’ve got a big journey ahead of us, and I, for one, am antsy to get moving.

First things first. What do you need? At the very least, you need an idea for a novel. It doesn’t have to be a huge idea. It can be a seed of an idea, it can be a twinkle of an idea. It can even be a character that interests you, or a collection of inspiring thoughts that you hope to somehow string together. Perhaps you’ve got an idea but you don’t know if it’s worth writing. You don’t know if it “has legs” as they say in the film industry. Can it go the distance? Can it really carry you through three hundred-plus pages of prose?

Or you might already have a novel fully or partially written that’s not working, that you know you have to revise. Or maybe you’ve started a book and don’t know where it’s going and now you’re stuck and in need of some inspiration.

Regardless of your specific situation, I’m excited to have you along for the journey. Here’s a quick breakdown of what we’ll be covering in the following chapters (the structure of this book on structure, if you will):

   1. THE HERO: First, in chapter 1, we’ll talk about the main character or “hero” of your story, who they are, and why they are desperately in need of transformation.

   2. THE BEATS: In chapter 2, we’ll explore the fifteen beats of the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet in great detail so you can begin to map out the compelling, transformative journey of your novel. 

   3. THE GENRES: Then, in chapters 3–13, we’ll identify the genre of your story using the ten Save the Cat! story genres. These are not your mother’s genres (sci-fi, drama, comedy, and so on). Instead, the Save the Cat! story genres are broken down by type of character transformation and/or central theme. This will help you further develop your novel and make sure your story contains the necessary “genre ingredients” to make it successful. Also in these chapters, I’ll give you ten beat sheets for popular blockbuster novels (one for each story genre), so you can see how the fifteen beats apply to some of today’s most successful books.

   4. THE PITCH: By chapter 14, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what your novel is about,
which will help you distill the story down into a one-page description (the synopsis) and furthermore, into a one-sentence description (the logline) that you can use to pitch age…