As a followup to my post, How to write a book with Save the Cat!, I am so pleased to present Jason Kolinsky’s guest post about storytelling and the inspiration of Save the Cat! on creatives.  Jason is a partner and the first Chief Marketing Officer for Save the Cat!  I hope you enjoy.  Please share your thoughts in the comments.

 

“Story is a puzzle. And getting all the pieces to fit just right… is the point of the job.”

The quote is from the late and great Blake Snyder, screenwriter and best-selling author of Save the Cat!, who also coined the phrase “Save the Cat!”, which is the moment where we meet the hero and the hero does something—like saving a cat—that defines who he/she is and makes us, the audience, like them and want to go on their journey.

Save the Cat! has inspired countless writers to cut through the noise and clearly focus on the sound of what makes a story tick. We can all relate to the fact that just one change in our story can have a ripple effect across the entirety of a novel or screenplay. It takes time and concentration, along with constant arranging and rearranging of all the details, to get the puzzle just right.

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The Language of Storytellers

Now with the recent arrival of another Amazon best-seller, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, penned by the proficient author Jessica Brody, the impact of Save the Cat! on storytelling has been cemented for all writers interested in developing work for the stage, page, or screen.

The approach and methodology of Save the Cat! has been so impactful, it’s become the shared language within the creative culture from the writer, to the writer’s room to board rooms.

Featured on the cover of the New Yorker, mentioned in guilty pleasures like Netflix’s You, with nods in critically acclaimed favorites like Amazon’s The Romanoffs, Netflix’s Russian Doll, or on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert—even in fanboy culture like the animated series Teen Titans and among game developers who openly share their use of Save the Cat! to create and pull all the pieces of their narratives together, the impact of Save the Cat! is tangible.

Save the Cat! Resources

If you have the innate desire to turn that idea into a story, Save the Cat! is the place to start and to go back to, over and over again. The site, www.savethecat.com, is filled with tips and tactics to help any writer organize and tighten their story. The Save the Cat! Story Structure Software is a virtual writer’s board to keep your story’s pieces together.

Whatever you do, don’t give up. “The worst thing that can happen in screenwriting is not to finish. Half-written screenplays never sell.” – Blake Snyder

About the Author:

Jason Kolinsky is a partner and the first Chief Marketing Officer for Save the Cat!. Jason is a seasoned marketing leader who has won Cannes Lions and has held senior roles at world-class global communication agencies, McCann Worldgroup and BBDO/Proximity.

About Save the Cat!

Save the Cat!®  is the bestselling story methodology introduced by screenwriter Blake Snyder in 2005 with his first book, Save the Cat! The Last Screenwriting Book You’ll Ever Need. Snyder’s acclaimed ideas, methods, and software have provided thousands of writers with the resources they need to develop their screenplays and novels.