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Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book On Novel Writing You'll Ever Need by Jessica Brody
jessieteacups's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
tatyanavogt's review against another edition
5.0
This was really helpful and really well put together, great examples and engaging to read.
mreadz's review against another edition
5.0
I will definitely be using some of the resources provided!
rebecanunez's review against another edition
4.0
"Save the Cat! Writes a Novel" de Jessica Brody es una guía invaluable para escritores que buscan perfeccionar sus habilidades en la creación de novelas cautivadoras. Publicado en 2018, el libro adopta el enfoque popularizado por Blake Snyder, pero lo adapta específicamente al mundo de la escritura de novelas.
Brody explora conceptos fundamentales de la narrativa, desde la estructura de tres actos hasta la creación de personajes memorables. Utiliza la metodología "Save the Cat!" para proporcionar un marco estructural sólido que ayuda a los escritores a desarrollar tramas convincentes y mantener la atención de los lectores.
La autora utiliza ejemplos claros y prácticos, desglosando novelas exitosas para ilustrar cómo aplicar los principios discutidos. Este enfoque práctico permite a los escritores novatos comprender mejor los conceptos teóricos y aplicarlos a sus propios proyectos.
La guía no solo se centra en la estructura, sino que también aborda la importancia de la voz del autor, la creación de personajes tridimensionales y la gestión efectiva de la tensión. Brody ofrece consejos prácticos sobre cómo abordar desafíos comunes, como el bloqueo del escritor, y motiva a los escritores a explorar su creatividad de manera única.
"Save the Cat! Writes a Novel" es un recurso valioso tanto para escritores principiantes como para aquellos con más experiencia que buscan perfeccionar su oficio. La capacidad de Jessica Brody para desmitificar la complejidad de la escritura de novelas y proporcionar herramientas concretas hace que este libro sea una adición esencial a la biblioteca de cualquier aspirante a novelista.
Brody explora conceptos fundamentales de la narrativa, desde la estructura de tres actos hasta la creación de personajes memorables. Utiliza la metodología "Save the Cat!" para proporcionar un marco estructural sólido que ayuda a los escritores a desarrollar tramas convincentes y mantener la atención de los lectores.
La autora utiliza ejemplos claros y prácticos, desglosando novelas exitosas para ilustrar cómo aplicar los principios discutidos. Este enfoque práctico permite a los escritores novatos comprender mejor los conceptos teóricos y aplicarlos a sus propios proyectos.
La guía no solo se centra en la estructura, sino que también aborda la importancia de la voz del autor, la creación de personajes tridimensionales y la gestión efectiva de la tensión. Brody ofrece consejos prácticos sobre cómo abordar desafíos comunes, como el bloqueo del escritor, y motiva a los escritores a explorar su creatividad de manera única.
"Save the Cat! Writes a Novel" es un recurso valioso tanto para escritores principiantes como para aquellos con más experiencia que buscan perfeccionar su oficio. La capacidad de Jessica Brody para desmitificar la complejidad de la escritura de novelas y proporcionar herramientas concretas hace que este libro sea una adición esencial a la biblioteca de cualquier aspirante a novelista.
kn0tp0rk's review against another edition
fast-paced
1.0
My dear friend got this book for me when she attended her first writing conference. She signed it and I love her!!!!!
I don't shrug away the opportunity to gain knowledge, but I immediately found Save the Cat! juvenile and at times immoral. Brody uses so many exclamation marks!! Girl, stop!!! And while her quirky quips didn't bother me initially, they got on my nerves the more I read. Reinforced my distaste for contemporary.
Brody is correct when she says that writers must read but it's also important to reflect upon what you've read. If all you do is mindless consumption, your writing will be equally mindless. Take a course, join a book club? I take verbose notes about almost everything I read, which has greatly improved my media literacy and writing skills. Find what works for you.
Despite Brody mentioning philosophy several times, her lack of expertise in this area was telling.
Brody states that our character's plight at a certain point is their own fault. My main protagonist is suffering from domestic violence, so I find this disgusting to assert. While a person being abused has "choices", those aren't truly autonomous choices.
I didn't like Brody's analysis of Me Before You. I haven't read this work, but her assessment was disturbing. Disabled people don't exist for the character development of able-bodied people. Suicidal people don't exist for the character development of the non-suicidal. Please avoid doing this as a writer. Your characters are fictional, but there are real people in the world who are disabled or suicidal and the way you write them reflects your values.
Don't get me started on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. We've become too comfortable advertising this book when the title was something more sinister, and that racism is still apparent inside the book. Enough.
While Brody was explaining The Girl on the Train, I found the plot so obvious it was embarrassing. Surely, this isn't how you want people to write? Maybe the book is a better experience; I'll never know because I'm not going to read it.
I laughed when she insisted that Mark from The Martian was "a regular dude astronaut". Even if she was making a joke, her prior shortcomings make it difficult to believe she's self-aware.
She pounds you over the head with her structure to the point I wanted to gag. Her analysis of Misery by Stephen King felt shoehorned into her Save the Cat! structure. Like a high school essay that already has an agenda and has to work with what it's got.
I was annoyed with Brody's belief that success equates to wealth. She states a few times that all the best books are turned into movies and make a bunch of money, which is a concerning and foolish way to measure the literery worth of a work. Succeeding financially means little more than that you had good marketing. Imagine using The Grapes of Wrath as an example novel several times and then championing this hard for the capital market.🤪🤪Couldn't be me!!!
The Buddy Love chapter made my skin crawl as it encourages unhealthy dependence. No one needs another person "to make them whole." This is outdated language from a serenade. If you insist that your friend/lover is a requirement "to make you whole", a) I doubt that's what you really mean or even the reality, b) that's not healthy; consider what it is you're actually saying. I'll digress from a lecture, but while it's true that the ones we love can challenge us to be better and improve our lives, it's cruel to think so lowly of ourselves; abusive to insist that we cannot traverse life without this other (and perhaps it is they who convinced us of our dependence).
The most helpful piece of information Brody gives is using notecards to organize the scenes of your story. Chapter 14 and 15 are an okay starting point, though I grimaced at Brody's descriptions of her own novels. They were predictable and disrespectful toward the working class. All of this fits into place as I learn that Brody was a MGM exec...Movie studio executives kill creativity faster than an aneurism.
If anything, don't be impressed by the amount of books Brody name-drops and analyzes. She lacks the skill to uncover the themes of more complex literature, which makes it difficult to take her seriously when she attempts to gives advice on theme.
This book will get you to churn out the bare minimum. You'll have another 3/10 Hallmark story indistinguishable from the heaps of content already available. Some people want that. Can't say I do.
I don't shrug away the opportunity to gain knowledge, but I immediately found Save the Cat! juvenile and at times immoral. Brody uses so many exclamation marks!! Girl, stop!!! And while her quirky quips didn't bother me initially, they got on my nerves the more I read. Reinforced my distaste for contemporary.
Brody is correct when she says that writers must read but it's also important to reflect upon what you've read. If all you do is mindless consumption, your writing will be equally mindless. Take a course, join a book club? I take verbose notes about almost everything I read, which has greatly improved my media literacy and writing skills. Find what works for you.
Despite Brody mentioning philosophy several times, her lack of expertise in this area was telling.
Brody states that our character's plight at a certain point is their own fault. My main protagonist is suffering from domestic violence, so I find this disgusting to assert. While a person being abused has "choices", those aren't truly autonomous choices.
I didn't like Brody's analysis of Me Before You. I haven't read this work, but her assessment was disturbing. Disabled people don't exist for the character development of able-bodied people. Suicidal people don't exist for the character development of the non-suicidal. Please avoid doing this as a writer. Your characters are fictional, but there are real people in the world who are disabled or suicidal and the way you write them reflects your values.
Don't get me started on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. We've become too comfortable advertising this book when the title was something more sinister, and that racism is still apparent inside the book. Enough.
While Brody was explaining The Girl on the Train, I found the plot so obvious it was embarrassing. Surely, this isn't how you want people to write? Maybe the book is a better experience; I'll never know because I'm not going to read it.
I laughed when she insisted that Mark from The Martian was "a regular dude astronaut". Even if she was making a joke, her prior shortcomings make it difficult to believe she's self-aware.
She pounds you over the head with her structure to the point I wanted to gag. Her analysis of Misery by Stephen King felt shoehorned into her Save the Cat! structure. Like a high school essay that already has an agenda and has to work with what it's got.
I was annoyed with Brody's belief that success equates to wealth. She states a few times that all the best books are turned into movies and make a bunch of money, which is a concerning and foolish way to measure the literery worth of a work. Succeeding financially means little more than that you had good marketing. Imagine using The Grapes of Wrath as an example novel several times and then championing this hard for the capital market.🤪🤪Couldn't be me!!!
The Buddy Love chapter made my skin crawl as it encourages unhealthy dependence. No one needs another person "to make them whole." This is outdated language from a serenade. If you insist that your friend/lover is a requirement "to make you whole", a) I doubt that's what you really mean or even the reality, b) that's not healthy; consider what it is you're actually saying. I'll digress from a lecture, but while it's true that the ones we love can challenge us to be better and improve our lives, it's cruel to think so lowly of ourselves; abusive to insist that we cannot traverse life without this other (and perhaps it is they who convinced us of our dependence).
The most helpful piece of information Brody gives is using notecards to organize the scenes of your story. Chapter 14 and 15 are an okay starting point, though I grimaced at Brody's descriptions of her own novels. They were predictable and disrespectful toward the working class. All of this fits into place as I learn that Brody was a MGM exec...Movie studio executives kill creativity faster than an aneurism.
If anything, don't be impressed by the amount of books Brody name-drops and analyzes. She lacks the skill to uncover the themes of more complex literature, which makes it difficult to take her seriously when she attempts to gives advice on theme.
This book will get you to churn out the bare minimum. You'll have another 3/10 Hallmark story indistinguishable from the heaps of content already available. Some people want that. Can't say I do.
fai_aka's review against another edition
5.0
Definitely a book that I’ll keep referring to as I write my own book.
emilye3's review against another edition
5.0
I think this book is great and has so many good points and really informs you about the important parts of writing a successful story. Highly recommend!