Save the Cat!

Never knew that a book on screenwriting would illuminate my writing. Not until I began reading Save the Cat! that is. I'm only about a third of the way through and already I've had so many mental light bulbs turn on--bulbs whose sockets I'd previously thought dead while slogging through other self-help books for would be authors. I've been so excited about the book, I couldn't wait until I finished reading it to start blogging about it.

Maybe it's the straightforward, no-nonsense, relatively tangent-free writing style. Or the presentation of the author's ideas from a global perspective that makes sense to me. Or the fact that screenplays are scened out, which is basically what I do with my novels as a "pantser"( If I plotted out everything in my stories, I'd lose interest and never write anything). Whatever it is, it's got me on fire to write, despite the all the forehead-slapping "oh, duh! I knew that!" moments the book has given me. I can't wait to see how the author's suggestions improve the direction and scope of my writing.

So far, Blake Snyder, the author, has covered loglines and genres in the first couple of chapters. Using his advice, I've had a lot of fun rewriting more sophisticated and direct loglines for my WIPs and figuring out which genre they best fit in. (If you click on the 'After Her Death" tab at the top, you'll read the new logline I wrote per Mr. Snyder's guidelines). I can't wait to see what the next chapter holds in store.

If you're looking for a very entertaining, short read on how to write that is chock full of information (and helpful reminders of things you already know but forget while writing the first draft), I highly recommend Save the Cat!

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