https://www.thestorydepartment.com/reviewed-save-the-cat/ Story. Screenplay. Sale. Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:28:35 +0000 hourly 1 https://www.thestorydepartment.com/reviewed-save-the-cat/#comment-315 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 14:28:35 +0000 https://thestorydepartment.com/?p=7991#comment-315 […] the trade magazines, the blogs, the Tracking Board. If you’re new in the game, read Blake Snyder’s SAVE THE CAT (purchase link in the right hand sidebar) or download William Martell’s YOUR IDEA MACHINE […]

]]> https://www.thestorydepartment.com/reviewed-save-the-cat/#comment-314 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:44:31 +0000 https://thestorydepartment.com/?p=7991#comment-314 Yep they’re “just movies” I guess, but Snyder’s book inspires me to make vehicles of escape. The “pope in the pool” on exposition is only one of his great real world modes for storytelling, all his one-liners stick. I made an excel version of his beat sheet, with columns by date, which is a great kind of airport lounge diary for movie ideas.

]]> https://www.thestorydepartment.com/reviewed-save-the-cat/#comment-313 Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:05:26 +0000 https://thestorydepartment.com/?p=7991#comment-313 Of the hundreds of books on screenwriting in my library, this is one of the very best. Down to earth, entertaining and practical, it takes in Snyder’s Hollywood experience, structural teachings ranging from Aristotle to Robert McKee, many useful tips; and shows a fine appreciation of how emotion drives drama. The centerpiece, his beat sheet, is a useful tool to check the structural feel of your screenplay when it’s done or to help move it forward when it’s stuck. I’ve even sought and received extremely useful advice from Snyder’s friend Mike Cheda, whose name appears in the book. I was saddened by his untimely death, but Blake Snyder leaves a body of work of which this book alone is a worthy legacy.

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