Reviews

Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need by Blake Snyder

devfor96's review against another edition

challenging hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

4.25

puck_jay's review against another edition

funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

4.0

Do not develop a parasocial relationship with the writer challenge level impossible (this guy is my grandpa now) 

swicksy's review against another edition

4.0

I have worked in the Entertainment Business, in particular the development business for many years and currently read and evaluate scripts for a living. I had heard a lot about this book from colleagues and thought I would give it a read, and thought it was one of the more clear and concise screenplay books out there with clear examples of strong movie ideas and an approach to not only write but hopefully sell your screenplay. It's a no-nonsense approach that anyone can follow and hopefully budding screenwriters will pick this book up and use this advice, because it is good advice.

sofijakryz's review against another edition

3.0

A clear and concise summary on how to write yet another, standard screenplay. And I was wondering why so many movies or books watch/read the same these days. The book is strongly focused on writing as a craft - like making shoes or cheese, or baking bagels. Which does explain a lot about screenwriting or writing industry and the market this industry supplies. No, I would not be able to write even half the things the author has written. But even so, I suspect that even if one practices the tips within the book by a rule, unless the person is very talented, they will hardly go very far. The market is competitive and you have to be able to do more than average thing to get published these days. Perhaps that's the reason so many newer books I pick up contain the elements of weird. The tips themselves are quite good though: thinking about the structure, characters, audience, knowing one's aims and goals as an author, studying examples of movies one likes. There are even exercises at the end if each chapter. Which is nice. What I did not like, though, was that hyperfocus on "let's bake another something using the formula" - I've read a few books too many by Dan Brown (I read 4 and they were all the same) and saw a few Hollywood movies too many. Perhaps that's why I don't watch them any more.

I also suspect the gentleman knows more tricks than he has betrayed.

richardleis's review against another edition

5.0

The tone and humor might be a little dated, even insensitive and problematic at points, but there's no question that Save the Cat by Blake Snyder is a book packed with useful, easily digestible, but comprehensive information. Ostensibly written for screenwriters, I think novelists and short stories writers will find this book equally as beneficial. It might even have a thing or two to teach poets.

"The Blake Snyder Beat Sheet" in chapter 4 damn near brought me to tears in how efficiently and starkly it lays out the beats of a good story. After I read the chapter, I created a beat sheet for my own novel-in-progress, and later the same day, I integrated it with my outline. The story I'm trying to tell is immediately more vivid, visual, and vibrant, and it's filling with incident, emotion, twists and turns. I now see the path forward through some 90,000 words, and with my new logline, beat sheet, outline, and, soon, my own Board (chapter 5 is also tear-inducing), I know I'll be able to keep the momentum going until I reach the end of my novel.

And when I'm ready to revise, there are also fantastic chapters on how to go back to recognize and fix common problems.

A little rough around the edges in terms of tone, Save the Cat is a powerful reference manual to come back to again and again.

feathre's review against another edition

2.5

To preface, I had to read this for a class and so my opinion of the book may have been biased from the start simply because I didn’t willingly choose to read this.

While this might be helpful for learning the basics of storytelling and screenwriting, the author’s condescending attitude is infuriating and this book often feels like more of an excuse for him to brag about how great he is than an outlet for actual advice. He often refers to the Disney movie Blank Check as his credentials, and if you look up any review of that movie on YouTube you’ll find out why I stopped trusting this guy as soon as he dropped that title. 

heybethany's review against another edition

informative fast-paced

2.5

it certainly taught me a lot things about screenwriting and the structure of film, a medium i have come to really love over the past few years, but idk! it was very clear to me from the start that the author had a holier than thou attitude about the whole process, so having that condescending tone pervade the entire work made it grow on my nerves very rapidly. you can teach me without having to shove it in my face every second that you know more than i do!

sportello's review against another edition

informative sad fast-paced

2.5

gerstburst's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.0

thewallflower00's review against another edition

4.0

I sought this book to learn more about the monomyth and a "formula" for a winning story. This book has that, but it's important to be a filter and not a sponge when reading it.

I heard of this book from an Imgur post when Blake Snyder died. It laid out the steps of every top-grossing Hollywood movie. (This poster applied it to Frozen.) I'm always up for anything that makes writing easier so I kept it favorited until I had a chance to really break it down.

But there's more to this book than just "the formula". It's also making sure that you have everything needed to sell a script. Like log lines, a catchy title, and things that don't matter so much in the book-writing world.

And the biggest reason you need to be a filter is that this guy makes claims that he's made hundreds of thousands in residuals, been in the industry long enough to know the keys failures and successes, like he's Ron Popeil selling a juicemaster. He's been called "Hollywood's most successful spec screenwriter". The problem? Check out this guy's IMDb page. His claim to fame is Blank Check which was harshly lampooned by The Nostalgia Critic. Second place? Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. Occasionally he uses, as examples, older movies and movies I've never heard of. I would think if you want to be successful, you want to keep your case studies as current and outstanding as possible.

So this makes you think "why should we listen?" The answer is because, sometimes, people are better at teaching than doing. And while there are flaws in the technique, the content is solid. Well, I don't know if it works or not, but if you're wise, there's things inside that I believe can help you with writing.