I am boarding the midnight flight to Beijing tomorrow evening and will be spending my Thanksgiving holiday in China. I am very excited to be speaking to the filmmakers of Beijing Film Academy and introducing the techniques of Save the Cat! to a whole new group of writers, directors, and producers.
But my main mission is to learn!
We are screenwriters with a global audience, one I want to get to know a lot better. And I hope my trip is just the beginning of even more learning experiences I get to have with writers around the world.
As part of my daily activities, I monitor the Google Analytics for this site. This is the country by country, state by state breakdown that shows exactly where readers who view this site are located, and shows when and how often they check in. It’s fascinating — and a little addicting! We have recently had a huge uptick in interest, I note, from Germany, England, Ireland, and France, for instance! Welcome to you all! Thanks to this site, I also correspond regularly with readers in India, Australia, and New Zealand. It is a constant reminder of the global marketplace available to us as writers and the ongoing extension in the reach for our stories.
I hope to keep learning about storytelling in all parts of the world, to see primarily where our common ground is both as writers and as audiences. How do cultural differences translate and either invite or prevent us from enjoying the stories unfolding in our imaginations? How are American storytelling models just that, and maybe only that. And while many American films translate well and dominate the world marketplace, is their success attributable to storytelling prowess — or just marketing power?
I am fascinated. You should be, too. And I look forward to reporting on what I’m finding and engaging in this learning process together. Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I will be posting next Monday from China.
p.s I’d also like to give a shout-out to the lone reader of this site in North Dakota. For many months since getting introduced to the Analytics system, and eagerly checking out the daily tracking report from all over the world, there was one state in the U.S. — and one state alone — that had zero, zip, nada viewers: North Dakota! What was up with that? Was it something I said? Finally, I am pleased to report, a lone reader in Bottineau has checked in — and I am so glad. Whoever you are, sir or madam, welcome!
Blake Snyder
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Big brother is watching us…
Have a great trip–and Happy Thanksgiving!
Have a great trip, Blake!
If you need any airplane reading, right now I’m reading a terrific book called “What Happens Next”, which is a history of American screenwriting (and of course, American film). It’s a real page-turner, and I’m learning lots of fascinating things (ie: in film’s early history, half of working screenwriters were women). I’ve also been enlightened to the fact that even though the medium has evolved and developed over time, a lot of basic elements have remained the same. Including what studios want and are looking for in screenplays and stories. If people think movies are “formulaic” now, they should go back and take a look at the 20’s!
Oh, and Anita Loos was hot!
Enjoy your trip to China, Blake! Is this your first time there? I’ve been four times now (my wife is Chinese). You will find the people enthusiastic, generous, hospitable and eager to learn. Even for a nobody like me, they rolled out the red carpet and treated me like royalty. Have a grand time and don’t drink too much baijiu! (bring some back if you have an old table you want to refinish)
Have a fantastic trip, Blake. The Analytics site sounds fascinating…how informative! Other great reads are Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers (new) and Blink and Tipping Point. Blink really seems to speak to the artist in all of us who write and validates our gut feelings, and Outliers shows we need to put in the hours (blood, sweat and tears) to see any success.
So to all of us as the “Boss” (in this case Bruce AND Blake) would say, “NO RETREAT, BABY, NO SURRENDER!” Happy Thanksgiving!
Blake….Just discovered your site. I read both “cats” and have learned much and also realized that I actually am on track with some things in my writing.Thanks!! I performed in Hong Kong in a small circus troup back in 1995 and found the people to be a wonderfully friendly and warm audience. From Bellingham to Beijing Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Wishing you a safe and joyful trip as well as a very happy Thanksgiving.
Have a great trip Blake! I just finished “Save The Cat!” and loved it.
I have quite a bit of experience with Google Analytics and there’s a book you may find helpful called “Web Analytics an Hour a Day” by Avinash Kaushik. It’s well put together and helps show you how to focus on the important parts so you can gather real insight about your visitors.
Cheers from Toronto,
Steven
Have a great trip!
By the way, where’s the gunman holding you up in that photo you’ve posted? :)
Have a great trip! Can’t wait to hear about it when you get back!
Hey, be safe and have a wonderful thanksgiving in China! Be well.
richie the deaf punk
P.S., I cant wait to read your 3rd book, any idea when it ll be release?
Have a happy visit to China.
I’m also interested in and fachinted by how small our globe is sometimes. My blog has visits from so many parts of the world. I’m honored.
Storytelling differs all over the world, but some things tend to hit the heats in everybody. But you in USA you do your own movie out of a foreign film, instead of watching the original. That is strange, I think.
Mr.Snyder gave us a speech when he arrived to Beijing.
Hope we can use your way to help our original story become globe popularity.
Waiting for his whole-day lecture today. It’s 1:20 in Beijng.
nighty-night!
Warning: tongue-in-cheek follows.
Blake,
I signed up and now I’m about to pop,
anticipating your next workshop.
I’ll be in Los Angeles this weekend,
but I’m afraid you will extend
your trip to China, and leave us here,
without your guidance, or your cheer.
I’m worried that China has you hooked.
I’m worried you will be too gad-zooked
to get on the plane and come back home.
I’m worried you will want to roam!
And so, without solicitation
(but with sincere felicitations)
I’ll leave you with a few requests
to consider on your Chinese quest:
Old or new, China’s exotic.
Resist the urge to be Quixotic!
Don’t wander off the tourist trail.
Don’t trek the Chinese hill and dale.
Don’t ride the rapids of Chinese rivers.
You’ll get wet, and get the shivers.
Don’t rum amok and slip and fall.
Don’t tumble down the big Great Wall.
In the market districts, resist the urge
to shop and buy, to blow and splurge.
If all those packages hurt your back,
you’ll have to lecture “on the rack.”
If confronted by muggers, don’t “Billy Jack.”
Just run and scream out loudly, “Ack!”
If signs are in Mandarin or Cantonese,
use your Chinese interpreter–please!
Don’t break the law or get in trouble.
In fact, stay in your hotel bubble.
But most of all. . .
Don’t listen to offers from Chinese execs
who want to write you Chinese checks
for staying and running their writing show
You must resist and tell them, “No!” ;)
Seriously–hope you’re having a great trip and all the adventure you can stand, but come home safe and sound in time for the LA Beat workshop. I’ll be there and I am pumped! See you then. :)
I Google Analytics for all the sites I design, including the http://www.nwsg.org site.
It is thoroughly addicting, informative, and helps with marketing….just like SAVE THE CAT.