FREE TOOL ALERT: The Save the Cat!® Genre Mapper
The Save the Cat! Genre Mapper helps you determine the 3 key elements of your story
Five-Point… Fun & Games?
I get a lot of questions about how to fill out that Fun & Games section. Aside from the Finale, it’s the biggest Save the Cat! beat. In a movie, the Fun & Games section spans 7-9 scenes and typically at least 25 minutes of…
The Beats Within: How Rocket’s Story in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Leads to Transformation
See how writer James Gunn uses Blake Snyder’s 15 story beats in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3
FREE TOOL ALERT: The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet Mapper
We’ve improved our Beat Mapper, which calculates where the beats fall in your story according to its length.
Play with the Cat: Experimenting with Layers, Loops, and Chopped Harmonies in Story Structure
Learn how to experiment in storytelling using story structure in playful ways, as in Mario Moreno’s KILLA, A Mixtape Novella
Developing a Meta-Theatre Comedy – The Play with Speeches
See how UK playwright James Woolf uses Blake Snyder’s story beats to create his hit South London play, The Play with Speeches.
Can Your B Story Be a Buddy Love, While Your A Story Is Another Genre?
I love systems. I’ve studied many throughout my life including improv, Meisner-based film acting, and Kenpo karate. And the big a-ha with any good system is that once you learn the rules and practice them constantly, you eventually get to the point where you do…
Best of Blake: Why Clear Story Structure = Clear Thinking
This blog was originally posted on April 16, 2009. If we can tell a story well, we can communicate on every level in a quicker, more effective way! One thing I hear from audiences I get to speak to, from writers in class or in…
Best of Blake: Act Zero
Deciding what is important in any story we tell—no matter how we tell it—is the writer’s job.
David Heska Wanbli Weiden “Beat Out” His Award-Winning Novel, Winter Counts
Read how acclaimed novelist David Heska Wanbli Weiden, author of the best-selling “Winter Counts,” used the Blake Snyder beat sheet to write the novel.