19 Dec 2023

Save The Cat! The 15 Steps To A Successful Story

Initial situation, trigger, adjuvant, final situation… These concepts are undoubtedly familiar to you. They take me back to my memories of primary school, where we analyzed Perrault's tales using this diagram. Problem: I have never been able to apply this structure to the creation of my own stories. Until the day a screenwriter told me about Blake Snyder’s “Save the Cat” methodology. 

A thousand stories, just one recipe

 producer and screenwriter Blake Snyder published “Save the Cat!: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need”, a “manual” which would become a reference in the sector with thirty- four reprints. Snyder breaks down a hundred blockbuster films into 15 steps that include classic elements (three-act division,hero's journey) and... other classic elements with evocative names (“bad guys close in”). Nothing revolutionary, but extremely effective.

And screenwriters aren't the only ones who tell stories. It even seems that the writers arrived before them. A film producer converted to writing novels, Jessica Brody, therefore delivered a version dedicated to writers in 2018, unsurprisingly titled “Save the Cat! Writes a Novel”. The article is based on this book, and I recommend reading it. It has not been translated into French but the simple and funny tone makes it accessible to casual readers of Shakespeare's language. 
Take out your colored pencils and your rulers, it will provide structure!

Act 1 The world before

Let's start by putting our hero on paper. To draw him (or her!) you have to define three dimensions: a will (what the hero believes he needs), a need (what he really needs) and a tension (what prevents him from accessing to its true purpose). Disclosure alert: by the end of the story, the hero must have moved from the world of false needs to that of true fulfillment - or at least be on the way.

Opening image : A visual of our hero before the start of his adventures.
Evocation of the theme: A character other than the hero gives a clue to the life lesson that the hero must learn - who begins by ignoring it.
Setup: Shows the hero's life and flaws, and suggests that changes are necessary.
Triggering element: It must be important enough that the hero cannot return to his previous world.
Debate : The hero wonders what action to take on the trigger, and we understand his resistance to change.

Act 2 The promise of the novel

Act 2 is the antithesis of Act 1, an inverted world where the hero flourishes... or struggles. This is the strongest part of the novel, and the one where the author deploys what he promised his readers (lightsaber fights or forbidden medieval love).

Transition to act 2: The hero performs an action which draws him into the new world of the story.
Story B: Introduction of a character who will help the hero understand his theme. This is often the mentor figure, but it can also be an enemy!
Hold your bets: The hero's adventures in this new world, and the heart of the story.
Middle : The middle of the story, but above all the opportunity to increase the stakes with a false victory or a false defeat of the hero. Story A (the plot of external events) and story B (the hero's lesson) must intersect.
The bad guys are getting closer: If the previous step was a false victory, things will get worse for the hero, and vice versa. Villains can be forces external or internal to the hero.
All is lost : It's all in the title - this is the lowest point of the adventure.
Dark Night of the Soul: The hero pauses and thinks. It is often before dawn that he realizes - finally - the lesson he must learn.

Act 3 Everything is settled  

Thesis, Antithesis, Synthesis: what if writing a novel was not so far from a philosophy dissertation? In act 3, the hero completes his inner journey (story B) in addition to completing the plot (story A).

Transition to act 3: The hero has learned the lessons of his adventure.
Final: The hero proves that he has understood the theme by carrying out a plan, which initially fails.
Ending image: Mirror image of the beginning which shows how the hero has transformed.
Wow, that's quite a list of commissions! But that’s the goal: to break down the writing marathon into intermediate steps. And “Save the Cat! Writes a Novel” is over two hundred pages long. At the end of reading you will master the 15 steps at your fingertips with the help of plans for novels as diverse asHarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone , Misery or The color of feelings.

This writing methodology does it work? 

For an aspiring writer like me, yes! Studying these steps unlocked the structure of my first novel. There are still quite a few holes in the narrative racket, but it is an excellent tool to give juice (and skeleton) to its plot. By accepting that his “beat cheat” (his plan) will necessarily evolve during the writing.

I am less convinced by the division into ten genres (from “Love and Friends” to “Superheroes”), which seems more forced to me. But maybe that’s because I haven’t yet found the genre of my story. 
And a little naughty note for the end: in 1989, Blake Snyder was paid $500,000 for the screenplay ofStop or my mother will shoot! a detective comedy where Sylvester Stallone chases the bad guys with his cake mom. You've never heard of it ? Normal, the film was a monumental failure. Shows that good recipes can fill the belly without making good cakes...