Save The Cat! Writes a Novel. A great book about story structure. Have you read it?

🤩 I’ll tell you what I’m loving about Save the Cat! Writes a Novel so far:

📚 the examples.

The novels which are referenced to back up the claims about story structure.

There’s a really nice balance in the selection of texts across genres, styles, eras, audiences.

It’s just a stroke of luck that I happen to have read a load of the books Jessica Brody talks about. For example:

✔️ Jane Eyre — my controversial opinion: Jane 😬Can’t be doing with her!
✔️ The Hunger Games — hearing her talk about it is making me want to read this series again 🔥
✔️ The Grapes of Wrath — honestly one of the best books I have ever read. I listened to it on Audible and had to pull into a layby as it was finishing. I was a total wreck. 😭
✔️ Me Before You — I bought this one from a charity shop. Yeah, it’s ok. 🤷‍♀️
✔️ Diary of a Wimpy Kid — I know. I’m cool 😎

Some she mentions that I haven’t read.

➖ Confessions of a Shopaholic
➖ The Da Vinci Code
➖ Dune or was it The Martian. Or both? I’m listening to it so I can’t easily flick back to check.
➖ Memory Man

There are others but they’ve slipped my mind for now.

💯 I caught myself nodding and ah-ha-ing as I listened this morning.

What she says makes a lot of sense.

I wonder how many would-be authors come away from this book thinking: yeah, I’ve got it. Piece of cake?

📍 She makes the whole process of plotting out a successful novel sound really do-able.

And those beat sheets she provides must be really helpful to study.

Any #indieauthors in my network who haven’t yet read this book: I strongly recommend it.

🔎 I know from an editing point of view how important planning and plotting is to the success of a story. It all has a knock-on effect even at the copyediting stage which is where I get involved.

I’m studying story craft myself so I can use structural/developmental knowledge to understand what is working and why (or what’s not working and why.)

I’m not yet at a point in my #CPD where I can advise authors on these developmental stages but I can point to others who do give advice. Jessica Brody is one such person and her style is engaging, methodical and logical so you’ll come away with a much clearer idea about plotting out a book that will satisfy readers.

❓ Have you read Jessica Brody’s book or any that she names as examples?

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