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Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need | 
 enlarge | Author: Blake Snyder
Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $11.97
You Save: $7.98 (40%)
New (34) Used (22) from $11.97
Rating:  246 reviews
Sales Rank: 1261
Media: Paperback
Edition: illustrated edition
Pages: 195
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.6
ISBN: 1932907009
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.23
EAN: 9781932907001
ASIN: 1932907009
Publication Date: May 25, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
This ultimate insider's guide reveals the secrets that none dare admit, told by a show biz Veteran who's proven that you can sell your script if you can save the cat!
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| Customer Reviews: Read 241 more reviews...
 You must be joking June 25, 2009
Paul Symes (London)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
There is no way on earth this is a 4.5-star book. It's badly written, badly formatted; it's full of boasting, most of which sounds like BS; and the movies it gives as examples are terrible. It comes as no surprise that he wrote Stop or My Mom Will Shoot - that's exactly the type of crap you'll end up writing if you like this book. I'm very sceptical that the 5-star reviews on here are genuine. Awful.
 Review by Mark F. Armstrong, Filmmaker June 11, 2009
Ken Lee (Seattle WA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Snyder dives right into demystifying everything from polishing a compelling logline to writing a screenplay that's commercially and artistically stunning after the first ten pages. Such instantaneously accessible wisdom explains why he's king of the spec screenwriters.
Most insightful look at screenwriting I have seen June 2, 2009
S. Koue (SF CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I work in film and this is THE most on target book on screenwriting I have seen. I don't totally agree with everything he has to say. I think he's a bit skewed by the genre he wrights in (PG comedies) but I do think he's still 99% correct. Films are stories and stories have pretty much fit into a number of molds since people started telling them. We pretty much all want to hear the same stories, with interesting variations. And what Blake has done is put into modern terms the formulas that work. But WAIT you say I don't like formulaic stories... An ancient greek writer put down the 13 plots that made up all stories, Blake refines it and breaks it down a bit further but essentially ALL stories fit into one of the formulas. It's not about the formula it's about HOW you tell it. What's great about StC is he breaks down the formulas. You still have to say it in a new and interesting way but the structure is laid out. If you spend a lot of time working it all out and you come up with a great script you will find it ends up fitting one of the formulas. So save some time Read the book and follow Blakes breakdown, your going to end up there anyway. And if you just love movies but have no interest in writing one, read it anyway. It will give you insight as to how things are being worked out, it's not a spoiler its a door opening up.
Screenwriting for Novelists May 26, 2009
L. Duran (Rocky Mountains)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I write novels, not screenplays, but screenwriting has a great deal to offer to us all. This CAT book is easy to read, easy to unserstand,and is loaded with helpful ideas and information. I recommend it to all who write fiction. Opal
Great Read, Great Reference May 11, 2009
John B. McMillion (San Diego, CA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The best advice for any new screenwriter always comes back to write, write, write. You learn so much by doing the story problem solving yourself. The great thing I've found after reading Save The Cat! is the author has taken everything he's learned from his years of problem solving, and illuminated all the "aha" moments he's had along the way, presenting them in everyday language you can pick up in seconds. I learned so much from reading the book, but I find I come back to it as a reference book over and over again.
I think this book is a must have, because it goes into more detail. But to really drive the points home, I learn best by example, so his second book Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies, helped me really see 1) if these beats all really exist in actual movies instead of just "writing theory", and 2) how other writers organized their stories. I think if you read the Save the Cat books, and Iglesias' book on writing for emotional impact, you'll be well on your way to writing a great story.
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