Save the Cat developed by Blake Edwards for screenplays can be used for novels too. I know many novel writers have mixed emotions on the subject of outlining. Those reluctant to outline are pantsers. They feel it inhibits one’s creativity. I have found and the consensus is, however, that outlines can really help you get and stay focused, so you bring it home.
That means finish what you are writing and to write what is called a satisfying story. I found Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody to be helpful in organizing my outline. I agree with what Brody says, that this concept, developed by Blake Snyder for screen writing can be applied to writing a novel. The main difference would be how it is written. Novel writing a relies more on description, narration and internal monologue than a screenplay.
All of these models build on the three-act structure originally developed by Aristotle. He proposed that the plots of dramatic narratives should be structured to represent a single whole action that focuses on a main character’s journey in a story that includes a beginning (setting up the action), a middle (the rising action and climax) and an end (the resolution). This is universal and could be used to frame most stories.
In his book, Save the Cat, Blake Snyder called the three-act structure: thesis, antithesis and synthesis and broke the story down into fifteen beats, a term used in screenwriting showing moments or points of action that lead to a complete story. This way of looking at story is easily adapted to novel writing and using these beats creates a masterful way to lay out the everyday protagonist in a well-told story. Putting these two models together, as one model would be simplified as follows:
- Act 1: Beginning: The Set-Up.
- Act 2: Middle: Complications & Obstacles.
- Act 3: End: Resolution.
Jessica Brody’s book also does a good job of explaining what these beats consist of.
I find it helpful to turn them into questions that helps spark my creativity and see how they would fit in organically with the story I was imagining and writing.
Brody also had an interesting section of what she called the Whydunit, which is a great term for describing mystery and crime stories. We are reading these she says to find out the why not the who. In that sense, it helps us she believes to learn more about ourselves, or the dark side of human nature. One of the things I have also noticed really grabs a reader’s attention is to set up answered questions that drive the reader to find out what happened and what Brody calls “the dark secret that lies at the heart of it.”
Brody also gave examples form novels where we find this structure and where the beats are located in the story. She also suggested using a cork board and index cards, to lay out the scenes within the chapters. Each index card might represent a scene. For a 75,000-word novel you might end up with 90 cards. I prefer a word document that incorporates the beats and serves to guide my writing.
There are many people who feel an outline inhibits their creativity. They are called pantsers. They like to fly by the seat of their pants. I have found an outline can really help focus the creative process. The other guide of course will be your characters. Creating deep characters can have a magical effect on your process as they guide the way as well as understanding story structure. As Lisa Cron and others say, the brain is wired for stories.
