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emilye3's review
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!
laurajaylive's review
4.0
This book was in-depth and held so many nuggets of gold for writers! I have always written in a 3-act structure, but these 15 beats make outlining so much more manageable. Outlining is not something I enjoy. I just don't like plotting. But, with this book, I feel like I now have an easy-to-follow formula to test my abilities in plotting. If I try out this 15-beat strategy and it doesn't work, at least I'll know that pantsing is truly for me haha!
pink_peony's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
4.5
One of my favorite books on writing plot. Amazing and soooo informative and eye opening when it comes to story structure
alexandergrantwriter's review
5.0
~ Fantastic, In-depth Writing Instructional ~
I loveddd this book!! It was such a great breakdown of Blake Snyder’s original Save The Cat! method and did it much better in my opinion!
•
The first thing that made it better was the great attention to detail and walking through of each structure beat. Blake did this to a certain extent, but Jessica just went above and beyond and it really shows!
•
I also appreciated that she walked through positive examples of every single story archetype Blake introduced instead of comparing films that “didn’t work” because they didn’t follow the beat sheet (honestly it just felt like Blake taking the time to complain about movies he personally didn’t like). It was also a nice change of pace for Jessica to mention her credibility as a writer but not constantly use her own projects as examples like the original Save The Cat! did… that just rubbed me the wrong way and it has a lot of implicit bias in it since it’s your own project.
•
The chapter of how to craft a pitch and log line and the base formula to go off of was a great addition and definitely elevated this book even further!!
•
I highly recommend this to all writers wanting to learn better story structure, though be warned you won’t be able to look at entertainment and media in the same way again! (seriously I now can’t stop seeing it in everything I read / watch / listen to and while it’s very fun it’s very exhausting when you’re like oh now we’re at the midpoint
I loveddd this book!! It was such a great breakdown of Blake Snyder’s original Save The Cat! method and did it much better in my opinion!
•
The first thing that made it better was the great attention to detail and walking through of each structure beat. Blake did this to a certain extent, but Jessica just went above and beyond and it really shows!
•
I also appreciated that she walked through positive examples of every single story archetype Blake introduced instead of comparing films that “didn’t work” because they didn’t follow the beat sheet (honestly it just felt like Blake taking the time to complain about movies he personally didn’t like). It was also a nice change of pace for Jessica to mention her credibility as a writer but not constantly use her own projects as examples like the original Save The Cat! did… that just rubbed me the wrong way and it has a lot of implicit bias in it since it’s your own project.
•
The chapter of how to craft a pitch and log line and the base formula to go off of was a great addition and definitely elevated this book even further!!
•
I highly recommend this to all writers wanting to learn better story structure, though be warned you won’t be able to look at entertainment and media in the same way again! (seriously I now can’t stop seeing it in everything I read / watch / listen to and while it’s very fun it’s very exhausting when you’re like oh now we’re at the midpoint
rkking's review against another edition
4.0
Consider this a 4.5 review is that had been possible.
THE GOOD:
Writers who are searching for strong books on story structure have a few to choose from. This is one of the best you could get your hands on. For the most part. It's far for approachable than a lot of writing books out there.
THE GREAT:
Step by step a person could use this book to flesh out their story, plugging in points of their own story where each beat is supposed to be. This leads to a strongly structured story before you even begin drafting. Almost...
THE NOT SO GREAT:
As in depth as this guidebook is, there is a part that comes to a screeching halt. Fun and Games. Described as the point in the story where the protagonist learns of their new world/surroundings, the writer is supposed to "write multiple chapters" indicating this. This is a stark contrast to other beats in novel writing that are like "Chapter X is this, Chapter X is that. Suddenly having to come up with multiple chapters that span a single beat is a big ask, when previously it was more followable and direct.
If only the Fun & Games section wasn't so vague, I'd say this writing guide is a must read. Still. it is by far one of the most approachable and understandable ones out there, and you can't go wrong with the majority of the advice in it.
Join the RK King Readers' Tribe for an exclusive FREE short story, plus inside info, musings, promos and more: RK King Writes
THE GOOD:
Writers who are searching for strong books on story structure have a few to choose from. This is one of the best you could get your hands on. For the most part. It's far for approachable than a lot of writing books out there.
THE GREAT:
Step by step a person could use this book to flesh out their story, plugging in points of their own story where each beat is supposed to be. This leads to a strongly structured story before you even begin drafting. Almost...
THE NOT SO GREAT:
As in depth as this guidebook is, there is a part that comes to a screeching halt. Fun and Games. Described as the point in the story where the protagonist learns of their new world/surroundings, the writer is supposed to "write multiple chapters" indicating this. This is a stark contrast to other beats in novel writing that are like "Chapter X is this, Chapter X is that. Suddenly having to come up with multiple chapters that span a single beat is a big ask, when previously it was more followable and direct.
If only the Fun & Games section wasn't so vague, I'd say this writing guide is a must read. Still. it is by far one of the most approachable and understandable ones out there, and you can't go wrong with the majority of the advice in it.
Join the RK King Readers' Tribe for an exclusive FREE short story, plus inside info, musings, promos and more: RK King Writes