3 Problems with Save the Cat (Writing Advice)

save the cat is one of the most popular writing guides out there but it is far from perfect and today i want to take a look at three specific issues that i have with its famous 15-step beat sheet by the way my name is brandon mcnulty i'm the author of bad parts also the author of entry wounds and welcome to my writing channel if you follow this channel at all you've probably heard me talk about save the cat at one point or another it's a good writing guide it helps because it simplifies the process of storytelling into something that basically anybody who's interested in writing can understand if you've never really sat down to write before but you want to be a storyteller you can pick up this book and get a pretty good understanding of how to structure your stories now chapter 4 and save the cat is its famous 15 step beat sheet or story outline and with these 15 steps they are meant to simplify the process of storytelling and they do a pretty good job at it but they don't do a good enough job at it because whenever you simplify things you often leave out very important information and today i want to take a look at three specific issues that i have with this beat sheet and i want to give you some advice on how to counteract these issues and fill in the blanks as far as what you need in order to tell the best possible story so before i get into the issues that i have i want to go through the 15 steps that are part of the beat sheet and i'm gonna go through this for a few minutes if you're familiar with save the cat and you don't want to see this part of the video you can skip ahead to this time stamp right here and you can get right into the issues that i have with it so again if you're if you're a veteran just skip ahead to there but if you need a refresher or you've never heard of save the cat before i'm going to go through the 15 steps right now and these 15 steps are based upon three act structure and three act structure is a way of structuring out a story where you basically break it down into three parts you have act one which is the first 25 percent of your story this is where we get introduced to the heroes and their situation and then act 2 is the middle 50 of your story this is where the heroes go through trials and challenges and they start changing as people and they're challenged to become better people in the end and then the final act the third act is the last 25 of your story this is where the hero has a confrontation with the villain and usually the hero overcomes the villain and wins and they change as a person now what save the cat does save the cat takes a look at 3x structure and says you know what let's break down those three acts a little more let's put 15 different guide posts here to make things a little easier for you and these 15 points are no doubt helpful i mean they help break down the story into something that's much easier to digest and easier to remember but as i mentioned i had some problems with it but let's go through these 15 steps and the first one is your opening image and this is an opening snapshot it may introduce the character or the setting or the situation whatever's going on in your story it's basically you helping the reader get their foot in the door by sending a message about what the story is going to be about step two is theme stated and this is where we are introduced to the central theme of your story oftentimes this is conveyed through a line of dialogue if you've ever read the beginning of a story and maybe you see a character say to another character something like you know if you keep living your life this way you're never gonna be happy that is an example of stating a theme step three is the setup and this is the first ten percent of the story and usually here you're going to introduce your hero you're going to show them in their everyday lives and you're going to show them as being unhappy for some reason because something is missing from their lives and in order for them to to get better in a sense they need to change now step four is the catalyst and this is where some event happens to the hero that sets the story in motion maybe the hero receives a piece of mail that says that they are inheriting an estate in some other foreign country or maybe the hero gets some bad news about a cancer diagnosis or the hero meets somebody new who is like a potential romantic interest or that something else happens to hero that forces them to change whatever it is there are plenty of examples of catalysts out there but something shakes up their everyday lives and convinces them that maybe they should change step five is the debate and this is where the hero is responding to that catalyst and they're saying to themselves you know what i don't want to change i don't want to go on this journey i'm afraid i'd much rather stay in my everyday lives but if i stay in my everyday lives then maybe i'll miss out on something great so they're kind of going back and forth as opposed to you know just sitting in their everyday world they're just thinking maybe i should stay here or maybe i should go maybe i should take the risk and then eventually they do take the risk because step six is break into two in other words break into act ii and this is where they make the jump from their everyday world to a new scenario and the hero takes up the challenge they choose to go into this new world into this new situation and then once we're in the second act we move on to step seven this is the b story and this is where you have a subplot usually either a romantic subplot or a mentor subplot and the character and the main character is gonna learn from the romantic interest or from their mentor and they're gonna start changing as a result of their interactions with this person and then step eight is the fun and games this is about 25 percent of your story and it's where the hero is going through challenges along their journey and maybe they're meeting new people and they're you know interacting with these new people in order to solve problems and things like that step nine is the midpoint this is usually where there is a false victory or a false defeat it can't be a complete victory because if it's a complete victory then there's no second half of the story it would just end right there also the midpoint is an area where you raise the stakes in your story then step 10 as bad guy closes in this is where things start getting ugly for the hero and then that leads to step 11 which is all is lost and the all is lost is where the hero suffers a devastating defeat often times you will have a major character being killed off at this stage of the story step 12 is the dark knight of the soul this is where your hero is responding to that all is lost they're reflecting on all the things they've gone through so far and they're just trying to piece things together and figure out how they got to this point and they're kind of you know woe is me having a drink by themselves and then step thirteen is break into three break into act three and this is where the hero gets an important piece of information that can help them succeed against the villain and it helps them move on and and get past their big defeat and you know helps them get ready for the final battle step 14 is the finale this is where your hero faces off against the villain usually the hero wins and there's a happy ending and then step 15 that's our final step and it's our final image and this is a snapshot that echoes back to the opening image so that's the save the cats story outline in a nutshell and as i mentioned i had some problems with it and all three of my major problems come from the middle of the beat sheet specifically with steps eight nine and ten eight is the fun and games nine is the midpoint and ten is bad guy closing in now the first problem i have is with the fun and games and it's just the lack of direction that it gives you with the first half of act two because the first half of act two is the second quarter of your story and basically all the fun games tells you to do is just deliver on the promise of the premise like what is the the premise of your story can you deliver on it can you be fun can you let the audience enjoy themselves and that doesn't really give you anything practical to work with it doesn't give you any checkpoints or guideposts there's no recipe for where to go or how to succeed or anything like that and thankfully there are other story outlining methods out there that do a better job of this i think just some basic examples you can take a look at are the 27 chapter method you can google this and you can find plenty of information on it but the 27 chapter method includes four different steps at this stage of the story the first step is you have the new world and this is where the hero experiences a new world or situation and then you have another step which is the fun and games just like in save the cat and this is where the hero explores and interacts with people in the new world and you build relationships whether it's a romantic relationship or maybe you're you're dealing with new people you met maybe you don't like them but you have to work together in order to accomplish something with them think about in guardians of the galaxy where you have all the main characters in in prison together and they they don't like each other but they have to work together in order to break out of the prison then the next step is the old contrast and this is where the hero compares their new world to their old world so they take a moment they reflect and they're they're kind of you know saying to themselves man i'm really having a tough now i wish i could go back to the old world or maybe they're saying to themselves okay i left the old world yesterday now i'm here i have to keep moving forward yes things are harder now but i can overcome this i know i can't if i just stick it out a little longer and then the final step here would be the build up and this is where you prepare for the midpoint which is a major turning point in your story and as you're preparing for a midpoint there's going to be struggles for your main character there's going to be internal and external struggles that will motivate your hero to eventually take matters into their own hands so these are some things to consider and i would also add one more step and that step is pinch point number one now in story structure there are two pinch points pinch point number one comes at the 38 mark of your story pinch point number two comes at the 62 mark of your story and both of these pinch points what they do they allow the villain to take action and remind us that the villain is still a threat because when you're writing act two sometimes you get so immersed in your main character and these new experiences that they're having and they're interacting with new people that you forget about the villain and the villain just kind of disappears until late in the story and you don't want that you want to remind the audience that the villain is still out there and the villain is still a threat so what you do you you have a moment called a pinch point at the 38 mark so if you're writing the first half of act two and you're going through it and you're a little stumped as to what you should be doing think about pinch point one what is going to happen what is the villain going to do that is going to shake things up again and the hero is going to have to respond to this and they're they're going to have to react and take action and move forward toward that midpoint now the second problem i have with save the cat is the midpoint particularly blake snyder's description of the midpoint he says it's this false victory or false defeat which that's okay that can work he also says you should raise the stakes and you absolutely should but what blake snyder doesn't mention in the original save the cat book is that the midpoint should include some important piece of information that is revealed to your main character and once this piece of information is revealed to your main character the main character is going to be stunned by this and they're going to have to say to themselves you know what i need to take action now up till this point maybe they didn't know that somebody was betraying them or they didn't know that there was some greater issue involved maybe it involves more than just them and this this piece of information whatever it is it's going to be a revelation to your main character and it's going to challenge that main character to go on the attack in the second half of the story up till this point up to the midpoint usually the character you're usually your main character is going to be reactive they're going to be in act 1 they're they're going to be complacent they're going to be stuck in their everyday lives then at the beginning of act 2 they're going to be reacting to their new world they're not going to be necessarily taking action on their own they're not going to be proactive until that midpoint hits until they learn that piece of information and then they go on the attack then they start going after the villain or they go after whatever goal they're seeking and then my third problem with the save the cat beat sheet is the bad guy closes in section particularly i just hate the phrase bad guy closes in because as i just mentioned the hero should be going on the attack in the second half of the story and when i hear bad guy closes in i get the impression that the hero is just kind of maybe standing there or sitting there or you know enjoying themselves and the bad guy just comes and knocks them off their pedestal and that's not what's supposed to be going on in the second half of your story your hero and your villain should be working toward the same goal or working toward you know attacking one another it should not be just the bad guy taking action against the hero the hero should be proactive the villain should be proactive both should be working hard to achieve what they want so i hope this helps question of the day have you read save the cat and did it help you as a writer let us know in the comment section below thank you guys for watching if you want to support the channel please pick up a copy of either one of my books also be sure to check out my other videos hit the like and subscribe buttons for me share this video with a friend and as always remember to keep on writing

Channel: Writer Brandon McNulty

Views: 51,558

Keywords: Writing, Writing advice, Writing Tips, Fiction, Creative Writing, How to write a book, How to write a novel, novel, book, Save the Cat, Blake Snyder, Beatsheet, beat sheet, Save the Cat Writes a Novel, plot structure, pinch points, 27 Chapter Method, three act structure, 3 act structure, save the cat beat sheet, save the cat story structure, story, structure, save the cat explained, screenwriting, save the cat beats, beats, explained, script, review, outline, jessica brody, movie, film, STC

Id: vSnAzGKmlwE

Length: 12min 43sec (763 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 06 2022