Once we’ve made our logline, it’s time to introduce our novel planning process. One way to plan your novel in a way guaranteed to win NaNoWriMo is the save the cat method.
Save the Cat
Save the Cat is a book by Hollywood Screenwriter Blake Snyder on the mind-blowing secret formula for telling a story he’d observed throughout his life in Hollywood. His observations are all based upon only fifteen plot elements he claimed were in every successful movie. Shortly after his book (not an affiliate link, I get no commission from this) by the same name was released, writers noticed the formula also works for successful novels as well. And in case your novel sells enough to make a movie, you have the plot elements already to make it a Hollywood blockbuster!
The Formula
Here’s the formula:
- Opening image
- Setup – the current perfect world of your protagonist
- Theme stated – something said to your protagonist that forms the theme of your novel
- Inciting incident – the one incident that drives EVERYTHING in the novel after it
- Debate – this can be internal, or by two persons about the protagonist – should he do it? Can he do it? Can he risk it? Etc.
- Break into 2 – this is usually the action that occurs at the beginning of act II.
- B story – usually a relationship, or something else that runs concurrent to the rest of the novel.
- Fun and games – Blake describes this as “This is the part you came here to see”. A pursuit, the training montage, etc.
- The midpoint – the action that occurs dead set in the middle of the novel. Notice all the turns are ACTIONS.
- Bad guys close in – from this point until the end, things begin to go wrong for your protagonist.
- All is lost – your protagonist can’t win!
- Dark night of the soul – this is the scene in “Elf” where Buddy stands on the bridge, thinking of killing himself. He is saved by Break Into Three, when he sees Santa’s sleigh malfunction.
- Break into three – the Action that kicks off act 3 and all its madness. In “Lord of the rings”, this is the drums in Moria that herald the battle!
- Finale – the climax of your novel. Your protagonist must be losing until the last four pages of the novel. Then it’s “Leroy! You all warmed up yet?”, followed by “who’s the Master?” “I am.” If you know what movie I’m talking about, this moment should encapsulate the feelings you had the first time you saw the movie!
- Closing image – this scene is the very last scene in your novel – it either echoes or mirrors the first scene. If first was a sunrise, this is a sunset. If someone arriving, it’s someone leaving. It can be the same object or place, shown in perspective of the change wrought by the novel. It’s artsy – you’ll love it.
More information
I can’t get too into detail on each section – after all, Blake Snyder wrote three entire books on this system. If you’d like more information on this system, pick up a copy of “Save The Cat” from your favorite book store and study it!
What to do
Get these fifteen points onto paper. I ALWAYS plot out my novels on paper, never on computer. Supposedly, it works a different part of your brain and keeps you from writing the same story over and over!
Using the brief definitions, take each beat and fill out a plot point for your novel. These form your major plot points, and using the next steps I’ll give you will create the minor plot points that string these together. Is it cheating to plan your novel like this? No, there’s been similar planning systems like this for novels for many years.
Conclusion
I’ve used this system (and the Dramatica system before this) to plot all of my novels. After you’ve done the final two steps (coming in the next couple of days), you’ll KNOW what you have to write in each scene. That eliminates all of the panic, and leaves only the clarity needed to get the word counts every day.
