Save the Cat!® Strikes Back: More Trouble for Screenwriters to Get into ... and Out of
- Downloads：1800
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-10-21 11:21:41
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Blake Snyder
- ISBN：0984157638
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
Blake Snyder， author of Save the Cat！ and Save the Cat！ Goes to the Movies， has delivered the book countless readers and students have clamored for。 Inspired by questions from his workshops， lectures， and emails， Blake listened to you 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
- The 5-Point Finale to finish any story
- The Save the Cat！® 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
Get ready to face trouble like a pro… and strike back！
- 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
- The 5-Point Finale to finish any story
- The Save the Cat！® 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
Get ready to face trouble like a pro… and strike back！
Reviews
Clay Doran
，
I didn’t want to read these books because I thought they were too “formulaic” but now I see the universality in their approach。 You don’t have to treat it as gospel but if a story isn’t working there’s a good chance it’s because they are missing something that this book talks about。 The end of the book gets a little in the weeds for me though。 I don’t need to know how to navigate my manager and producer and agent and lawyer quite yet。 Maybe I will revisit one day when those chapters seem relevan I didn’t want to read these books because I thought they were too “formulaic” but now I see the universality in their approach。 You don’t have to treat it as gospel but if a story isn’t working there’s a good chance it’s because they are missing something that this book talks about。 The end of the book gets a little in the weeds for me though。 I don’t need to know how to navigate my manager and producer and agent and lawyer quite yet。 Maybe I will revisit one day when those chapters seem relevant but I really did enjoy the first 3/4 of this book and the lessons are way more valuable than I expected them to be。 。。。more
Jack Reickel
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Review 2: 4。5 stars rounded down--I love the Save the Cat approach to story and Blake Snyder's positivity。 There's a lot of （maybe not yet totally outdated） discussion of Hollywood practices in here， that I personally don't connect with or care about， but the discussion of story rocks here。 Take what you can， when you can。 Review 2: 4。5 stars rounded down--I love the Save the Cat approach to story and Blake Snyder's positivity。 There's a lot of （maybe not yet totally outdated） discussion of Hollywood practices in here， that I personally don't connect with or care about， but the discussion of story rocks here。 Take what you can， when you can。 。。。more
Roland
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More good advice and not too hacky。
John
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Loved it。 Excellent study。 The list of questions alone is worth the price of admission。
Mike DuBois
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A very useful follow-up to the original。
P。G。 Sundling
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Expands the Save the Cat approach by expanding 15 key plot points into 40 scenes。 This system sounds great for prototyping a story。 Another great book feature is the greenlight list of questions to answer about your story。 There's a lot that's geared specifically to movies， but other types of writers can still get something out of this book。 Although， there is a Save the Cat book geared towards novels that I'll be reading next。 Expands the Save the Cat approach by expanding 15 key plot points into 40 scenes。 This system sounds great for prototyping a story。 Another great book feature is the greenlight list of questions to answer about your story。 There's a lot that's geared specifically to movies， but other types of writers can still get something out of this book。 Although， there is a Save the Cat book geared towards novels that I'll be reading next。 。。。more
Jay Phipps
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More of the same but updated and more focused。
Nicholas Ball
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More inspiration for script and story writers （this is third in the series）， this time drilling down into some fundamental problems that start to occur after you've begun writing （largely taking the first Save the Cat book as read and you understand story and script structure/beats）。Blake has been forensic in his analysis of all the types of things that can go wrong at all stages of the process and even covers the "what after" aspect including agents， pitching， managers and living in Hollywood （ More inspiration for script and story writers （this is third in the series）， this time drilling down into some fundamental problems that start to occur after you've begun writing （largely taking the first Save the Cat book as read and you understand story and script structure/beats）。Blake has been forensic in his analysis of all the types of things that can go wrong at all stages of the process and even covers the "what after" aspect including agents， pitching， managers and living in Hollywood （or not）。 The final section is about life and inspiration in general and uplifting。The book is well written and a valuable resource。 Highly recommended （but to be read as a companion to the first book if you are having trouble， not instead of the first book）。 。。。more
lena marsden
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Blake Synder changed my life - and writing。 I was going to write to thank him personally to discover he’s no longer he is no longer with us。 Devastated。 His ability to hit the nail on the head， so perfectly， with humour and compassion， has no equal。 Save the Cat Strikes Back。 Not read it？ Do。 It’s genius。
Fred Platten
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ok， but I think a lot of the industry information is outdated。
Jana Kelley
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Good book， even for writers。 The last part is mainly for screenwriters but was still interesting to me。
Jack Reickel
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4。5 stars rounded down。 There's a lot of （possibly not yet totally outdated） Hollywood-practices talk that I don't connect with or care about， but when this book is talking story it is right on 4。5 stars rounded down。 There's a lot of （possibly not yet totally outdated） Hollywood-practices talk that I don't connect with or care about， but when this book is talking story it is right on 。。。more
Linda
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It's too bad Mr。 Snyder had an untimely death。 He must have been a heck of a screenwriting teacher。 A good book for any writer， not just screenwriters。 It's too bad Mr。 Snyder had an untimely death。 He must have been a heck of a screenwriting teacher。 A good book for any writer， not just screenwriters。 。。。more
Kerry Chaput
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I found this most helpful for pitching a novel/story。 Wonderful tips on perfecting your pitch and marketing your story。
Manuel Palacios
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3，5/5。Compared with the first book， this one is just fine。 It extends some of the concepts a bit further and talks deeper about how to sell to Hollywood and work with agents， which is not much my turf， I just wanted to improve my storytelling skills。 My reason to not give a better rating is that at some moments it kind of feels that the book is talking TOO MUCH about the online courses and its kind of an off feeling。。。 Still， Snyder had this charismatic element which always makes you like his wr 3，5/5。Compared with the first book， this one is just fine。 It extends some of the concepts a bit further and talks deeper about how to sell to Hollywood and work with agents， which is not much my turf， I just wanted to improve my storytelling skills。 My reason to not give a better rating is that at some moments it kind of feels that the book is talking TOO MUCH about the online courses and its kind of an off feeling。。。 Still， Snyder had this charismatic element which always makes you like his writing。 。。。more
Paschalis
，
elibrary
Shannon
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I have to admit， I'm not into writing screen plays。。。that's not my thing。 I do love to write and hope someday to sell a novel， I read Jessica Brody's version of Save the Cat！ （Writes a Novel） and thought this book would give me even more insight into writing。 I did get a couple ideas， the major one being you can use this 15 beat sheet and use it to plot scenes in your story。 The last two chapters on "the business" side of things I don't know if they apply to novel writers like they do screenplay I have to admit， I'm not into writing screen plays。。。that's not my thing。 I do love to write and hope someday to sell a novel， I read Jessica Brody's version of Save the Cat！ （Writes a Novel） and thought this book would give me even more insight into writing。 I did get a couple ideas， the major one being you can use this 15 beat sheet and use it to plot scenes in your story。 The last two chapters on "the business" side of things I don't know if they apply to novel writers like they do screenplay writers。 （Do we need an agent， a lawyer， and producer。。。。maybe， maybe not。 I've heard having an agent， and a publisher （in screenplay I guess that would be the producer）。。。but novel writers need lawyers too？ He also talks a lot about having to live in LA， but writers don't really need that do we？;So there are some useful tidbits here and there but not everything translates fro script writers to novel writers。 And I get that， his book is about screenplays， because that is what he did。 I'm not so sure this was a necessary read for someone like me who wants to do novel writing。 。。。more
Johannes Lilover
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Quite pointless， liked the first one in the series but this one just has a lot of old ideas。 But it can be helpful if you already had a script。 Idk I just couldn't finish it Quite pointless， liked the first one in the series but this one just has a lot of old ideas。 But it can be helpful if you already had a script。 Idk I just couldn't finish it 。。。more
Joshua Chung
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Ok read it if only book 1 gets you hooked on for more。 If not read book 1 first。 This book is only for those who can't get enough of his sharing。 Too bad this is his last book。 Rest in peace and thank you for sharing your knowledge。 Ok read it if only book 1 gets you hooked on for more。 If not read book 1 first。 This book is only for those who can't get enough of his sharing。 Too bad this is his last book。 Rest in peace and thank you for sharing your knowledge。 。。。more
M
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A good add on to "Save the Cat！。" More useful to real writers than to vicarious ones。 A good add on to "Save the Cat！。" More useful to real writers than to vicarious ones。 。。。more
Sebastien Castell
，
Save the Cat gets a a lot of of grief in some writing circles， with accusations of being formulaic and "ruining storytelling in Hollywood" （even if that were true， Hollywood seems perfectly capable of ruining storytelling all by its lonesome。） However the more novels I publish – ten in print as I write this – the more I can see merit in the method for those struggling with pacing and plot。 It's not a method I use myself， but I periodically look back at it and think， "yeah， I guess I see where I Save the Cat gets a a lot of of grief in some writing circles， with accusations of being formulaic and "ruining storytelling in Hollywood" （even if that were true， Hollywood seems perfectly capable of ruining storytelling all by its lonesome。） However the more novels I publish – ten in print as I write this – the more I can see merit in the method for those struggling with pacing and plot。 It's not a method I use myself， but I periodically look back at it and think， "yeah， I guess I see where I put that 'All Is Lost' moment in there"。As for this particular book， it's a mixed bag。 Most of it is made up of Blake Snyder's old blog posts， some of which advance his method significantly， others of which read as "rah-rah" posts about how wonderful agents and producers can be and the virtue of considering their notes。 It's not that I disagree with any of this necessarily， only that it makes for an uneven book that's not quite about the writing process and not quite about the business but tilts back and forth in-between。A lot of Snyder's development of his approach to writing was spread out in a variety of places， from the original book to blog posts to his courses。 Hopefully one day those who've taken over his business since his death will put together a concrete and complete rendition of the Save The Cat method。 Even if you don't follow it， sometimes it makes for a reassuring way of looking at your own work。 。。。more
Sarah
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Whether or not you're a screenwriter （I'm not）， if you are a WRITER， you need to listen to this book。 And then get back to work。 Whether or not you're a screenwriter （I'm not）， if you are a WRITER， you need to listen to this book。 And then get back to work。 。。。more
Stuart
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Incredibly helpful。 Man。。。 I love this man。 If only he was around to write a STC on TV specs in this new golden age。 RIP Blake Snyder and thank you。
Anna Catherman
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Unlike its namesake， Save the Cat！ Strikes Back is not better than its predecessor。 It falls just a bit short of the admittedly high standard set by the original Save the Cat！ book。 While the first half of this book is excellent， I personally found the latter half of the book a bit confusing and unhelpful。 That's primarily because I was reading primarily for generic storytelling advice for use in my novelling， short story writing， etc， rather than actually writing and selling screenplays， though Unlike its namesake， Save the Cat！ Strikes Back is not better than its predecessor。 It falls just a bit short of the admittedly high standard set by the original Save the Cat！ book。 While the first half of this book is excellent， I personally found the latter half of the book a bit confusing and unhelpful。 That's primarily because I was reading primarily for generic storytelling advice for use in my novelling， short story writing， etc， rather than actually writing and selling screenplays， though。 So this book does its job reasonably well。 No major bombshells， but worth the read if you're interested in story troubleshooting or selling screenplays， and/or if you loved the original。 。。。more
Beelzefuzz
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Expands on the beats from the first book to offer more rules。 Roughly one half of this book is on selling and rewriting yoru screenplay within the studio system， therefore this book is only about 80 pages of useful material and some of that is review of the first book。 If you want to add more formula to your notes from the original Save the Cat， then this is for you。 If the beat sheet is serving you fine， then you can probably pass on this。
Kirstie
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Updates and actions plans and plenty more handy info， especially for those who've read the previous two 'Save The Cat' books。 If you've not read either though， you might feel lost so I'd recommend checking at least of of the others out first。Also some interesting info on the paths of screen writing， including agents， managers， rewrites and other processes。 Though I'm not screen writing， it was still really interesting to read these bits just to know how 'the biz' works ;p Updates and actions plans and plenty more handy info， especially for those who've read the previous two 'Save The Cat' books。 If you've not read either though， you might feel lost so I'd recommend checking at least of of the others out first。Also some interesting info on the paths of screen writing， including agents， managers， rewrites and other processes。 Though I'm not screen writing， it was still really interesting to read these bits just to know how 'the biz' works ;p 。。。more
Jared Gulian
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I think about story structure a lot， and the Save the Cat books offer great perspective on storytelling from another angle - the Hollywood movie。 This book fills in some gaps left by the first book in the series， and it expands on other parts。 I especially appreciated the breakdown of the 'five point finale' since the first book was pretty loose on the elements of a typical finale。 Also， the last chapter， about 'Discipline， focus， and positive energy' is inspiring。 It motivates me to sit my butt I think about story structure a lot， and the Save the Cat books offer great perspective on storytelling from another angle - the Hollywood movie。 This book fills in some gaps left by the first book in the series， and it expands on other parts。 I especially appreciated the breakdown of the 'five point finale' since the first book was pretty loose on the elements of a typical finale。 Also， the last chapter， about 'Discipline， focus， and positive energy' is inspiring。 It motivates me to sit my butt down in the chair and write。 。。。more
Mike
，
This book expands on and fills the gaps the first Save the Cat title。 Both are of great value in helping a writer to get to grips with making their story work in all its elements， whether it's a screenplay or a novel。 I've rushed through this one a bit， but highlighted the things I need to keep track of， and hopefully between books one and two I'll make better progress on the book I've been writing spasmodically over a year and have got stuck on more than once。 This second book has material in t This book expands on and fills the gaps the first Save the Cat title。 Both are of great value in helping a writer to get to grips with making their story work in all its elements， whether it's a screenplay or a novel。 I've rushed through this one a bit， but highlighted the things I need to keep track of， and hopefully between books one and two I'll make better progress on the book I've been writing spasmodically over a year and have got stuck on more than once。 This second book has material in the last chapters that relates primarily to screenwriters， though as always with Snyder there are some useful gems for other kinds of writers。 But the last chapter in which discusses the disciplines of being a writer is very valuable。 。。。more
A。
，
The first book was a bit too much; this was far over the top。 There were a few helpful ideas， but this was mostly not worthwhile。 I gave up about 2/3 of the way through。
Ville Verkkapuro
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