Save the Cat! Strikes Back: More Trouble For...

from Dean DeBlois
co-writer and co-director of
How to Train Your Dragon

“Blake's whole approach was used in structuring the story that Chris Sanders and I brought to the project when we took it over. We had just over a year to rewrite, storyboard, edit, animate, and light the entire film. A crazy undertaking — and time was of the essence being that the release date was immovable. Our task was to take the world of the source children's book and broaden its audience by giving it a dynamic, fantasy adventure story that would deliver on the promise of the premise. Chris and I also saw an opportunity for strong emotional payoffs within its central relationships, so we made them our primary focus.

Our first step was to lay out our concept according to Blake's Beat Sheet, and from there, we laid out the detailed structure. The Board became our foundation, and we never veered from it as we felt our way through the moments of the story. I'm a big believer in Blake's approach because everything he teaches was proven true in the years of story work I did prior to reading
Save the Cat!
The theories he touches upon are undeniable, universal truths of human storytelling, and Blake did us all a huge and lasting favor by putting them in a digestible form that people can immediately use and rely upon.”

“‘How nice of Blake to write this book just for me.’ That's what you'll be saying after you read
Save the Cat! Strikes Back
. No matter if you're a newbie or a produced writer, Blake understands that the struggle never ends. Whether you're rewriting or getting rewritten, looking for representation or leaving your representation, he's got you covered. And on those days when you don't feel like writing and all you want to do is go on the Internet and ‘research,’ read his chapter on discipline, focus, and positive energy. I guarantee you will be up and writing. I love this book!”

— Kriss Turner, Writer,
Something New
;
Writer/Producer,
Sherri
,
Everybody Hates Chris
,
The Bernie Mac Show

“Written in his signature witty, conversational style, Blake Snyder has given us another gem. As relevant to the novelist as it is to the screenwriter, this is a book no writer should be without. I've read all of Blake's books, and never begin a story without his insanely useful ‘Beat Sheet’ by my side, but this time, Snyder goes one step further, sharing his own personal transformation from struggling writer to one who's seen great success. From the most generous and genuine writer/teacher of our time, this book will inspire the reader to scale all of those seemingly insurmountable brick walls and keep going — to choose getting
better
over getting
bitter
. This book is a must read!”

— Alyson Noël, #1
New York Times
Bestselling Author,
Evermore
,
Blue Moon
,
Shadowland

“A dazzling expansion on Blake's original insights, this essential screenwriting tool is practical and profound.”

— Mark Hentemann, Writer/Executive Producer,
Family Guy

“
Save the Cat! Strikes Back
is Blake's best yet. It expands on his principles of storytelling in a breezy, colloquial style and gives us a deeper personal insight to the relentlessly positive mindset that powered his great success and his generous spirit. Blake's life was far, far too short, but his work and his inspiring legacy will remain timeless.”

— Rick Drew,
movieScope Magazine

SAVE THE CAT!
_®

STRIKES

BACK

More Trouble for Screenwriter's to Get Into… and Out Of

BLAKE SNYDER

Published by Save the Cat!® Press

Cover Design:
Brian Blevins

Interior Book Design:
Gina Mansfield Design

Editor:
Brett Jay Markel

Photos on pages viii and 87, chart on page 47:
Peter Bennett/Ambient Images

Printed by McNaughton & Gunn, Inc.
Saline, Michigan

© Estate of Blake Snyder 2009

ISBN 10: 0-9841576-0-3
ISBN 13: 978-0-9841576-0-0

FOREWORD

THE INTRODUCTION: OH, YOU'RE IN TROUBLE NOW!

You say you're a screenwriter? Great! But it doesn't always
feel
great. Why being “all typed out” and “hitting the wall” are just the start of your greatest creative breakthroughs, and why you must “strike back!”

CHAPTER 1:
WOW! WHAT A BAD IDEA!

How come no one is responding to your movie pitch? Why “too plain,” “too complicated,” and “hiding the ball” may be fatal. Plus: Fresh from the
Cat!
lab, the Rx for logy loglines and the end of the logline log jam!

CHAPTER 2:
IN TROUBLE IN THE CLASSROOM

So you've got the pitch down, where's the story? Step into a
Save the Cat!
workshop for new ways to “beat it out,” including the “Double Bump” and e-z solutions to “Spidering,” “Half-Stepping,” and “Blurry Beats.”

CHAPTER 3:
ALL LAID OUT… AND NOWHERE TO GO

Feelin’ “formulaic”? Supercharge your storyline with the new “
STC!
Structure Map,” including insight into “The Magical Midpoint,” why “Bad Guys
Really
Close In,” plus Blake's new “Five-Point Finale.”

CHAPTER 4:
STRAIGHTENING YOUR SPINE

The script's done, but your story is off track. Why? Blake cracks open his writer's casebook to reveal the cure for “story scoliosis” and the “Five Key Questions” you need to answer to make sure you deliver the goods.

CHAPTER 5:
REWRITE HELL!

Going from the private to the public, now you're getting feedback… and a deadline to fix your script! Blake turns to his own
Cat!
Writers Group for answers on “How to Hear Notes” and face down problematic producers and executives.

CHAPTER 6:
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE SELLING KIND

Blake lets loose with hits and misses of selling — and why “The Agent Will Appear!” Plus tips that explain once and for all how to dress, pitch, and follow up on any meeting for maximum impact.

CHAPTER 7:
STRIKE BACK U.

Need advice over the long haul? Blake reveals secrets learned at the school of hard knocks and provides the success stories to give you winning strategies to not just survive — but thrive! —at any stage of your career.

CHAPTER 8:
DISCIPLINE, FOCUS, AND POSITIVE ENERGY

What does it take to succeed? What is required to elude the
real
“Dark Night of the Soul”? One man's journey to find the method to dare to dream — and win!!—in and out of the confines of Hollywood.

GLOSSARY

Final Terms of Engagement from the Land of the 310—all new favorite phrases for use in the trenches, including “The Shard of Glass,” “Double Dipping,” and everyone's favorite, “The Smell of the Rain on the Road at Dawn.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

REMEMBERING BLAKE

Of course, one can't help but begin this foreword with some sort of reference to franchises.

If you're reading this book, you are most likely painfully aware that Hollywood is constantly in search of the perfect, key movie element that connects so well with people and manages to be so relatable and resonant that it leaves the audience wanting more. Discovering the magic formula that creates a movie franchise is tougher than it seems — for every
Batman
, there's an
Electra
— which means a celebration is in order when a filmmaker has successfully cracked the ever-elusive code.

I'm fairly certain that when Blake Snyder started writing his first
STC!
book, the notion of being at the forefront of creating a “screenwriting how-to franchise” hadn't crossed his mind. And if it had — he was a crafty guy, after all — I imagine the idea seemed as far away and inconceivable as Indiana Jones actually finding the Holy Grail.

Yet, here we are.

Before he passed away, Blake heard from so many of his fans, all telling him he had
absolutely
cracked the elusive code! This outpouring of praise from you encouraged him to press on in his quest. With
Save the Cat! Strikes Back
, Blake — as with any good franchise creator — brilliantly found his way to a completely fresh, chock-full-of-new-material, third book in a series. Amazing. George Lucas and Steven Spielberg should take notice!

So let's take a moment to toast what Blake has accomplished in this third go ‘round.

First, inspired by the workshops and lectures he'd held all over the world, Blake realized his audience wanted more — more guidance, more tough love, more common-sense advice on navigating and surviving Hollywood. He had his own experiences and
anecdotes, to be sure, but he also spent the last few years
listening
. He heard thousands of questions and stories and woes from you, his loyal readers and students, and now he found the time to officially address them! So answers and reassurances to common screenwriting problems and random “what ifs” that plague rookie writers are in this book.