Generally, a beat or plot point is a single action in a story that advances that story. The Save the Cat! structure is based on 15 beats, or plot points these are the key elements of a story, each of which can be very short or fairly long. But, hey, saving a cat is always a good thing. Doing any kind of good deed labels the hero as a good person. The hero doesn't really have to save a cat the cat is a metaphor. As Snyder has said, 'The hero has to do something when we meet him so that we like him and want him to win.' If the protagonist saves a cat, they can be seen as a good person. What's up with the cat?īlake Snyder coined this phrase to describe the scene, at a beginning of a story, which gets us to identify with the main character. Jessica Brody adapted this for novels, in her book Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. This structure breaks down a story into 15 beats, or plot points, which describe the hero's journey to discovery, that, in one way or another, is at the heart of most novels. Save the Cat! is an approach to storytelling developed by Blake Snyder, originally for screenplays. Here's how the Save the Cat! story structure works. Even if you are a pantser, examining your completed first draft through the lens of this structure can help you revise your novel. If you do want to plan your novel, one good way to do so is to use the Save the Cat! story structure. Or, you could be a plantser, someone who uses a bit of each approach. You could be a pantser - a writer who progresses 'by the seat of their pants,' without any planning - or you could be a planner, someone who prepares an outline, which could be just key points, or granular details. If you're planning to participate in this years National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), or if you are just getting ready to start writing a novel, there are two ways to approach the task.

The cat writes a novel