Save the Cat!® Forum - Recent Topics

Beat Mapper Page Count

greveshane — Tue, 03 Feb 2026 15:59:57 +0000

This is probably a dumb question, but I'm attempting to write a book for the first time and I'm new to all of this.

When the beat mapper asks how many pages my novel is, what is it referring to? Pages of word document? A printed manuscript? A published book?

Thanks

Shane

The Beat Sheet Sequence. Story told out of order.

askgenenow — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 19:21:50 +0000

One Character is introduced in the current timeline. But most of his story takes place five years earlier. The story alternates between the two timelines. The Beat Sheet appears to focus on sequential growth or change. How do I handle this?

Minor POV Characters

askgenenow — Fri, 26 Sep 2025 19:01:18 +0000

I have some minor POV Characters. Most have character arcs, but do they really need full beat sheets? They are only in the book for a few chapters?

Content Not showing in Manuscript

Glen Trainor — Sun, 12 May 2024 03:07:03 +0000

Writing a novel and ading content to the scenes. But when I click on Manuwrite or export to Word or PDF, it does not show the content that i have typed into the scenes. Just a blank page

Revisions

BHD — Wed, 10 Apr 2024 13:07:04 +0000

Hi,

Simply said, I am using the STC framework in the app to complete a revision and need to establish if the number of ‘pages’ entered is my current total or my aim?

Thanks!

Re-ordering a sequence

David Reeves — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 21:13:04 +0000

Does anyone here know how I can re-order individual scenes in a sequence?

The Platform 2019

Jessica Mastro — Thu, 09 Nov 2023 17:45:42 +0000

Hi everyone!

Just watched this Spanish film The Platform. I really enjoyed it, would recommend. I'm having a ton of trouble figuring out the beats though. Can anyone help me out???

Cannot open scene detail view

David Reeves — Sun, 24 Sep 2023 21:14:51 +0000

I can not open the scene detail view. I can open the detail view in all the other categories, beats, notes, characters, locations, things, etc. When I try to open detail view for scenes, either by double clicking the title bar or by clicking the keyboard icon then selecting the edit in detail view option I receive an error message. "System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'txtools.dll' or one of its dependencies. The specified module could not be found." I am working on a brand new Lenovo thinkpad running Windows 11 Why is happening? Help me please.

Not saving progress

Brian Lucas — Mon, 31 Jul 2023 20:02:38 +0000

More than once I have closed out my Save the Cat software only to reopen it later and see that some of the cards I filled out on my board are now blank, or edits I've made have not been saved. Am I doing something wrong? I assumed it was autosaving as I went along and I don't see a "save" button... nor does it ask to "save changes" when I close.

Help appreciated.

Holiday Greetings and a book proposal

freealise — Sun, 25 Dec 2022 19:28:59 +0000

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year! 🐈

Having recently stumbled upon the A-ha 'Take on Me' music video analysis, I thought it's funny but there should be more like that in the music business. For now it is sadly inferior in storytelling quality to movies - why not tell about those videos and lyrics specifically, like "Save the Cat rockin' out" maybe?

Sincerely,
Marina
freealise.com