We put a movie on at my house, and after it’s finished we talk about that story for an hour, at least. He wants to eventually direct films, though he could end up writing or editing, too. “Just proving the case” makes it sound so simple, doesn’t it? But what Blake had done, I felt, was nothing short of astonishing, as he revealed the veritable DNA of story after story and type after type.Ī brief aside: My son just finished his first year at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. I found five different examples of each story type and broke them out into the beats. In writing the second book, I wrote ten different chapters, each one about a different story type. So what I wanted to do in the second book is basically prove my point, prove the case. The other important thing in the first book was the concept that there are ten story types. That was the important thing in the first book. I’ve been lucky in that I’ve had a lot of success in selling scripts, and so breaking down the components of what makes any story work has always been my goal.

As a writer myself, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure it all out. What I’m trying to get across is that there’s a function for every section of a story. I pointed out fifteen points on the Blake Snyder beat sheet that I think are unique. How does your latest book, Save the Cat Goes to the Movies, expand on this concept?īS: In the first Save the Cat, I proposed that most well-structured stories fall into certain patterns. TW: In the first Save the Cat, you introduce the idea that every story falls into one of ten new genre categories– Monster in the House, Golden Fleece, Out of the Bottle, Dude with a Problem, Rites of Passage, Buddy Love, Whydunit, Fool Triumphant, Institutionalized or Superhero. I’m going to share the first question from that interview with you here, because it’ll help to establish a grounding for the Save the Cat series and this interview as well. Blake had just released his second book, Save the Cat Goes to the Movies, when we had our phone interview. One of mine was with the brilliant and oh-so-charming Blake Snyder, author of a series of books for (screen)writers beginning with Save the Cat. I think I can safely say one of Kath’s favorites was her interview with Diana Gabaldon (of Outlander fame). These interviews not only brought us some fantastic traffic and were instrumental in raising WU’s profile, they were richly rewarding to everyone, including Kath and me. Back in the early days at Writer Unboxed, Kathleen Bolton–my friend and co-founder here at WU–and I used to do weekly interviews with authors and industry gurus.

Monet by Salva Rubio