Should You Read Save the Cat! Writes a Novel? A Guide for Newer Fiction Writers
If you’re just getting started with writing fiction, you’ll have noticed the mountains of craft books out there. Some dig deep into character, some analyze the psychology of storytelling, and some give you step-by-step roadmaps for structuring a book. One of the most widely recommended in that last category is Jessica Brody’s Save the Cat! Writes a Novel.
I recently reread it, and it got me thinking about how—and when—this book can be most useful.
The Appeal of Save the Cat!
Save the Cat! is what I think of as an “all-in-one kit” for novel writing. It’s the kind of book that promises you’ll be able to sit down and write a novel from start to finish with its guidance. (Of course, you’ll need to have an understanding of writing craft and the techniques of fiction, such as scene construction and showing versus telling, to pull this off; Save the Cat! doesn’t aim to teach these skills.)
Essentially, Save the Cat! is a beat-sheet approach to novel writing. It breaks a story into fifteen “beats” (turning points) designed to give your narrative shape and momentum. These are given memorable names such as “Theme Stated,” “Bad Guys Close In” and “Dark Night of the Soul.” Some are further broken down into multiple scenes, such as the “Finale,” which is broken into five scenes, from “Gathering the Team” to “The Execution of the New Plan.”
For many writers, this level of specificity can be a relief. If you’ve written a draft that feels hazy in structure, samey in tone, or lacking in contrast between beginning, middle, and end, Save the Cat! can help you find a sharper, more effective framework, one that creates a more moving, exciting, and memorable reader experience. This is true if you’re writing genre fiction, upmarket fiction, and even literary fiction, especially if it plays with genre conventions and reader expectations.
Many authors I’ve worked with have used Save the Cat! successfully in many ways, including these:
Strengthening the contrast between act I and act II
Creating a more defined midpoint
Bringing the story to a conclusion that’s effective rather than rushed or abrupt
Clarifying and highlighting theme in a way that feels organic to the story
I’ve seen that last point—theme—especially effective in the work of some clients who used Save the Cat! to build their novels. Simply naming the theme and creating that “Theme Stated” beat can help make the story’s purpose clear, both to reader and to author, in a way that increases the power of the work.
And as an editor, I’ve also found that seeing a Save the Cat!–style beat sheet can help me understand the author’s intentions and vision, as well as possible issues with the structure of their book, in a way that a simple outline may not. And I appreciate it for that.
Where Writers Struggle with It
That said, Save the Cat! comes with numerous pitfalls.
First, while the book claims it doesn’t create formulaic stories, my experience says otherwise (and I’m far from the only person who feels this way!). Writers following it too rigidly can end up with stories that feel soulless or predictable at best, and pointless and hopelessly muddled at worst, as though they’ve just filled in the blanks of a template. And even when a story is highly effective, readers can be frustrated when they see the beats coming. (When you’re enjoying a “Fun and Games” beat with an upward trajectory, it takes some of the fun out to know that this means there’s a "false victory” coming, followed by the even darker turns of “Bad Guys Close In,” “All Is Lost,” and “Dark Night of the Soul.”)
Second, the structure often pushes plot events to the forefront while giving much less attention to something more fundamental: character goals and motivations. Without those, the beats risk feeling random—big things happen, but they don’t land with emotional impact because they aren’t rooted in what the characters want and why. This means the book often seems to lack purpose and meaning. Similarly, the all-important chain of cause and effect that links scenes across a book can be forgotten, so scenes seem to happen without any connection.
And then there’s the confusingly named “Fun and Games” beat, which takes up much of the middle of the book. The middle of a book is already a difficult area to manage, at risk of becoming what we call a “sagging middle” or “muddled middle.” As several other editors I spoke with affirmed, the label “Fun and Games” seems to make this issue worse, encouraging surface-level antics instead of meaningful escalation.
Finally—and this was my biggest frustration while rereading the book—Save the Cat! doesn’t really delve into why these structures work. Not only does this make it harder for authors to make effective story choices, but it can make for a profoundly depressing and uninspiring creative experience, since the choices presented by the beat structure can feel superficial, formulaic, and commercialized—and uninspired authors don’t create compelling books.
In other words, Save the Cat!’s rigid beat structure can take the fun out of creation, making an author feel that they have to follow a paint-by-numbers kit when they want their work to feel transformative, boundless, world-shattering.
Bottom line? Although Save the Cat! is often marketed to and used by beginners, I believe it takes a sophisticated understanding of how story works to apply its approach effectively. Without that mastery in place, the beats can feel purposeless and confusing, and writers may end up producing fiction that’s hollow or muddled rather than honed and compelling. And even if you have that understanding of story, it may be an approach you simply don’t like—and that’s fine.
What to Read Alongside Save the Cat!
It’s worth knowing Save the Cat!—although I wouldn’t call it a necessity, and it doesn’t need to be your first port of call. If you do read it, I strongly recommend pairing it with books that go deeper into the why behind storytelling. I particularly loved John Yorke’s Into the Woods, which explores why beat structures exist at all and why stories follow the patterns they do. I also recently enjoyed Will Storr’s The Science of Storytelling; although I found it less useful than Yorke’s book, it contained some valuable insights.
My favorite “all-in-one kit” is Lisa Cron’s Story Genius. Cron’s method isn’t perfect, either, but it pushes you to build from character, motivation, and meaning rather than slotting scenes into a preexisting structure. And in my view, it does a brilliant job of teaching writers to build a novel from the inside out, creating emotionally cohesive and resonant stories. (Watch out for loading down your story with flashbacks, though!)
For romance, I value Gwen Hayes’s Romancing the Beat. Unlike Save the Cat!, it doesn’t aspire to apply to every novel—it focuses exclusively on the conventions of romance, which is a genre in which beat structures are arguably more effective. Still, pairing it with a book such as Story Genius is likely to produce better results than simply following the beat sheet.
So, Should You Read Save the Cat!?
Sure—if you’d like to, and as long as you understand its pitfalls. Many authors, new and otherwise, find Save the Cat! helpful in constructing their stories. If you find it inspiring and enjoyable, that’s a good sign that it’s working for you. And whether or not you use it to begin with, once you have a completed draft, Save the Cat! can be a useful way to analyze what you have and brainstorm structural revisions.
But if it doesn’t appeal to you, there are other books out there that may work better for you. Story Genius is a good all-in-one kit, and Into the Woods discusses numerous approaches to story structure that may be more effective for your work. And if you rile at the thought of craft books in the first place? Well, you’re probably not reading this blog post, but if you are, I think that’s fine too. Stepping back to evaluate structure and craft will be a necessity at some point, but for many authors, it’s more important to put pen to paper (or keys to keyboard) and get that first draft written. Every author is different, and so is every book, and there really is no one-size-fits-all approach. If a book tells you there is, take a very big pinch of salt.
