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Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need Paperback – May 25, 2005
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length195 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherMichael Wiese Productions
- Publication dateMay 25, 2005
- Dimensions6.26 x 0.53 x 8.9 inches
- ISBN-101932907009
- ISBN-13978-1932907001
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Product details
- Publisher : Michael Wiese Productions (May 25, 2005)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 195 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1932907009
- ISBN-13 : 978-1932907001
- Item Weight : 12.5 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.26 x 0.53 x 8.9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #4,260 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1 in Screenplays
- #1 in Screenwriting (Books)
- #4,179 in Literature & Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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About the author

In his 20-year career as a screenwriter and producer, Blake Snyder sold dozens of scripts, including co-writing Blank Check, which became a hit for Disney, and Nuclear Family for Steven Spielberg. His book, "Save the Cat!® The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need," was published in May 2005, and is now in its 33rd printing. The sequels, "Save the Cat!® Goes to the Movies: The Screenwriter's Guide to Every Story Ever Told," "Save the Cat!® Strikes Back: More Trouble for Screenwriters to Get Into... And Out Of," and software, "Save the Cat!® The Last Story Structure Software You'll Ever Need," are also bestsellers. Along with guiding screenwriters, novelists, and other creative thinkers, Blake's method has become the secret weapon of many development executives, managers, and producers for its precise, easy, and honest appraisal of what it takes to write and develop stories in any media. Blake was a proud member of the Writers Guild of America, west. He passed away suddenly on August 4, 2009, but he lives on in his films and his books, in the advice that will never grow old, with the spirit that will continue to thrive and inspire. His story resonates with all who loved him, and your stories will resonate thanks to his love for you. Blake's vision continues on his website and in "Save the Cat!® Goes to the Indies: The Screenwriter's Guide to 50 Films from the Masters," written by Salva Rubio and published in April, 2017.
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If you have ever wished that you had a good friend in the movie and TV business who could show you how to write your best possible screenplay – someone with a well-established track record of writing, selling, and seeing their screenplays produced, not someone who just talks about screenwriting to sell courses, lectures, seminars, and books – well, so did I.
I never found that person: a mentor who could explain a screenwriting ‘how-to’ that would work for me, not just for them. Someone respected by their professional peers and colleagues, someone with confidence earned over a successful career – yet free of arrogance.
Good humor and a congenial approach to their work and method seemed too much to ask. But, what would a screenwriting education at the elbow of such a person be worth?
Sadly, I never met – or even discovered – Blake Snyder before his untimely death, but, judging by his legacy, Blake Snyder was that person.
In Save the Cat! – a brief book with an unlikely title – Blake Snyder provides instruction, yes, but also encouragement and inspiration, laced with smiles and chuckles.
It’s fun to read, easy to understand, and challenging to master.
No matter where you might be along your pursuit of screenwriting achievement and success, Save the Cat! has so much between its covers that it makes an unsurpassed starting point, yet remains an incomparable finishing point. I plan to return to it over and over again.
I also recommend Save the Cat! to actors, directors, producers, and fans who want to understand what makes a successful screenplay work.
Rest assured that I have no connection to the Blake Snyder estate, Michael Wiese Productions, or the Save the Cat! organization. I just like the book. It’s a screenwriting education in paperback.
What I like about this book is that it takes out the guess work for you. It lays out a structured outline for you to follow. Snyder created what he calls the Blake Synder Beat Sheet and literally every movie I could think of follows its formula. He tells you "you should introduce your main character by this page, set the theme of the movie by this page, create a conflict by this page, etc..." Snyder also uses movies as examples, showing how they followed this tempo. He has good ideas on how to create meaningful, 3 dimensional characters and even how to create a B story that helps the main story flow better. I wouldn't have thought of any of this had I not read this book.
What I don't like is how Snyder is sometimes a little too "by the numbers" when it comes to writing a script. He literally says the break from act 1 to act 2 HAS to happen on page 25. Not page 24, not page 26 but on page 25. I don't agree with that. While you obviously don't want it to come too early or too soon, I don't see a need for it to happen on exactly page 25 of every single script ever written. He goes to make it sound like the big wigs at studios reading your script will toss it in the garbage if they don't find it on page 25. That's simply not true and I feel like it's forcing people to pace THEIR story at HIS speed.
He also goes on to bash other great movies cause they didn't follow HIS pace. This guys claim to fame is writing Disneys "Blank Check" mind you. I don't believe in making others look bad to make yourself look good and that's kind of what he does for a bit in the book. He disses movies like Dantes Peak, Memento, Along Came Polly, etc.. but raves about other mediocre movies like 4 Christmases and miss congeniality cause they followed his cookie cutter methods.
So to sum it up, I'm glad I bought this book because I did learn a lot by reading it. I definitely feel more confident in writing my script now and figuring out how to fill in the blanks when I wasn't sure in what direction the story should go in. While I don't think his "by the numbers" method is ideal for every script, it does help me know how to set my own pace for my own movie so I don't get carried away with one act of the story over the other. If your a beginner like me and are looking for a little guidance on how to create a story, this book is a great help!
Top reviews from other countries
I loved this book... but if you're looking for a guide that tells you step by step how to write... you'd better look somewhere else. Come back for this one later tho!
It is clearly written and structured
Very useful for organising your thoughts and approach






























