#blake snyder

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[englewoodafterdark]

Planning a Series Outline

Hi! This is Hannah and I co-write Englewood After Dark. I was asked recently to explain our outlining process, so here goes.

First, Freytag.

I’m sure at some point we’ve all seen this:

A lot of us, when we’re taught creative writing, are given this and shown it as this is how three act structure is. Freytag’s Pyramid is kinda the basis. But have you ever wondered wtf you’re supposed to include in the rising and falling action?

I certainly used to. And the thing that helped me quantify it was Blake Snyder’s book, Save the Cat. Snyder is a screenwriter, but his work on quantifying the three act structure into what he calls The Beat Sheet applies to all storytelling processes imo.

So, I’m gonna paraphrase his beat sheet and break it all down but this time from the perspective of an Audio Drama creator. This is my process for writing a season outline.

But first!

Know your characters. Know how they begin the story and know how you’d like them to end. Do they start a naive optimist and end a jaded realist? Do they begin stubborn and resistant to change and end stubborn, resistant to change and dead?

Second!

Know what your ending is. This is advice I wish someone had given me when I first started writing. If you don’t know where you’re going, how will you get there?

Third, in the info-graphic, you’ll see the different parts represented by cards on a cork board. Essentially, the more cards, the longer this specific thing should take. So, for example, the Catalyst is normally quite quick, but the Fun and Games often lasts quite a while.

Buckle in! This is gonna be a long one.

Act 1:

Opening Image: This is you showing your main character(s) in inertia. Tell me what the character’s struggles were at the start. This should be mirrored by the Final Image, where (most often) all this is reversed.

Set Up (Theme Stated): The set-up is exactly what it sounds like. Show me the character in their ordinary world, introduce me to their day-to-day. Show me the problem the character has which must be solved by the end. If I have a character whose flaw is inaction, for example, I will show them in the set-up just letting the world wash over them and failing to act. And, as a caveat, give me the Theme. This is the 'truth’ of the story or what your story is really about on a deeper level. 'Would anyone even notice if you just disappeared?’ Another character demands of your main character, and then, through the story, the main character answers the question.

Catalyst: If this doesn’t happen, nothing does. I like to think of it as a diverging path. If the main character didn’t do this, the set-up would continue forever. Nothing would change. No one would grow. It is the choice of change come knocking.

Debate: The character considers their options after being presented with the catalyst. Maybe they could just bury their head in the sand? Can they really do the thing they’re being asked to do? What if they fail?

Break into 2: While the catalyst often happens to the protagonist, here is where they make the choice to commit to this new adventure. They move forward, quite literally, into the story and into a new world.

Act 2:

B Story: Sometimes thought of as the love story, the B story is where the main character comes to meet someone or several someones who help them understand their own Theme. I’m not suggesting that it has to be romantic. In fact, mostly, it’s a platonic love of found family that really makes this beat make sense. The B Story follow us through the rest of the narrative, and they are the ones, often, who incite the events of the Midpoint.

Fun and Games: Also known as the ‘Promise of the Premise’. If you’re writing a haunted story about a ghost-detective sleuthing through the afterlife, then here we see them finding clues and spooking witnesses. If it’s a sci-fi treasure hunt, we’re planet hopping and digging up danger. It’s fun! It’s trailer-able.

MidPoint: I like to think of this as a ‘it all comes crashing down’ moment. During your Fun and Games, things were looking up but suddenly with the MidPoint, things become terrible and impossible again. The stakes are raised, things are getting tough. We have to buckle down and try something new. It cane be really useful to include a ticking clock at this point, pushing the characters to move quickly if they want to succeed.

Bad Guys Close In: The Bad Guys can be quite literal, or in fact just personal demons. I like to do a combination of both. Bad Things are happening: characters are being split up, characters are betrayed, Things are Bad.

All is Lost: Exactly what it sounds like. The character loses everything they thought they gained. They push away their B-Story friends. They’re fired from the case. Someone fully dies. Things are the worst they’ve ever been. Rock Bottom.

Dark Night of the Soul: Your character is staring out of a rainy window, wallowing in their lack. Lamenting this hopeless turn of events. They realise that it’s their flaws that have led them here, and they finally know that. But it’s too late. Or is it? Return of the B-Story! They’re here, they’re ready to give advice, or share information, or do something. The main character must chose: act on this? Or die?

Break into 3: The main character chooses to try again. They’re ready to get the fuck up and try, with their friends. They have a new final goal, and they won’t stop until they accomplish it.

Act 3

This is where we move away from Synder and into territory from another author: Jessica Brody. Snyder likes to just call this ‘Finale’ which is still vague to me, so I like to borrow from Brody here and split the Finale up:

Gathering the Team: The B-Story, the Main Character, and any allies they have amassed come together to finally thwart what needs thwarting.

Executing the Plan: The new Team move on their plan, putting things in motion. Finally accomplishing what felt impossible.

High Tower Surprise: But, alas, there was some further obstacle. Some moment of doubt, some terrible revelation, or slip or obstacle. The hero is down, and they’re maybe done for.

Dig Deep Down: Themes, baby! The Main Character knows what must be done, they muster their strength and go for it. No more time for doubts. Maybe time for a heartfelt flashback though.

Execution of the New Plan: Once more with feeling. The character pulls themselves together and acts. They finally manage to do what they set out to do. They win, or lose. Whichever way it goes, it is final, as they gave everything to achieve it.

Final Image: The opposite of your Opening Image, showing how the main character has changed.

That was a lot. But, essentially, once I’ve added a quick paragraph for each of these cards, I have a rough outline of my entire plot.

I flesh this out by deciding then how many episodes I will dedicate to each Act. From there, I write little episode summaries, fleshing out details and filling in the cracks in my more generalised outline. For those summaries, I think about where we are in the overall plot structure, and provide the details.

If you’d like to see how I lay this out, I’ll include our plan for our vignette Schrödinger’s Pledge below. It's not a series, but it should give examples of each step.

Schrödinger's Pledge Spoilers are coming!

Opening image Helen surfaces from under the water of the frat house pool and a sister calls out that she thought she’d drowned. Helen alludes to being a good swimmer/ being able to hold her breath. Helen, still dripping wet, is led from the rush party by Jared towards the Cypress Phone Booth. He asks if she’s scared. Helen clearly thinks he’s an asshole.

Set Up/ Theme Stated - You can’t live in the past. We meet Payton stood outside of the Phone Booth waiting for Muffy to finish up. She tells Jared to fuck off. Jared says he’s gonna wait to take Muffy back and Payton says no thanks gtfo. Jared leaves. Helen and Payton have a tense back and forth where they talk around the subject of how they became enemies.

Catalyst Muffy steps out of the booth and is hysterical. Payton consoles her sorta. Set up the rules of the booth.

Debate Payton puts Helen in the booth.

Break into 2 Helen gets in the booth and picks up the phone.

B Story/ Fun and Games Helen connects through the phone to who she thinks is her mother. She has an emotional conversation with her ‘mother’ for a while. She wants to understand her mothers drowning; did she really kill herself as Helen suspects, or was it as accident as it was ruled?

Midpoint Helen realises this isn’t her mother and that she’s been in the phone booth for more than the allotted time.

Bad Guys Close in Dead!Helen tells her that there is no living through the phone booth for her - a legacy must be given. Time has no meaning to the dead.

All is Lost Helen tries to open the door, Payton gloats about how she was prepared to lock her in, but didn’t need to.

Dark Night of the Soul The booth begins to fill with water and Helen wonders if it is all over for her.

Break into 3 Helen holds her breath and plays dead. Not for the first time with Payton.

Finale: Payton opens the booth to check on her plan, Helen grabs her and pulls her inside, slamming the door. Payton screeches and Helen picks up the phone and makes a collect call to the after life, opening the connection and locking them both inside together. Helen hands Payton the phone and Payton succumbs to the horror of the booth. She hears her grandmother admonishing her for being an embarrassment and begins to smash her own face into the window of the phone booth. Much to Helen’s horror.

Final Image: Helen crawls out once Payton is dead and Jared is waiting to ask her if she’s going to ‘babble’ about all of this.

[filmcourage]

The Nutshell Technique Versus Save The Cat - Jill Chamberlain

Watch the video interview on Youtube here.

[feline17ff]

Save The Cat! By Blake Snyder (2005)

The prophecy was foretold

:(

[wackus-bonkus-maximus]

‘And yup here comes the dark night of the soul :)’

Wackus I swear with one measly tag you have struck fear into my tender reader heart 😨

I mean we all knew it was coming but I’m not ready

hehe >:) this goes back to the 3 act structure I was supposed to do but didn't

basically i took the same beats from the snyder structure and stretched them into 5 acts. instead of the dark night of the soul beginning act 3, it will end act 4.

the star is where we are now >:3

[adamwatchesmovies]

Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

The way Sylvester Stallone ended up starring in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot is much more interesting than the film itself. In the ’90s, the kings of action blockbusters were Arnold Schwarzenegger and Stallone. After reading the script by Blake Snyder, William Osborne and William Davies, Schwarzenegger knew it was awful. Knowing his rival would jump on the project if he feigned interest, Schwarzenegger told the press he was “very interested”. In no time, Stallone underbid him and got the role. Later, he would go on to call it one of the worst of his career. That's funny. This movie is not.

Sergeant Joseph Andrew Bomowski (Sylvester Stallone) dreads the upcoming visit from his mother, Tutti (Estelle Getty). When she attempts to illegally buy him a firearm, she witnesses a murder. Now the two must work together to determine who is selling high-powered weapons on the black market.

This movie (and the similarly awful Cop and a Half) is the ultimate bad buddy cop “one’s a” movie. We’ve seen movies where one’s a white cop and one’s a black cop, where one’s a man and one’s a woman, where one’s a young guy and one’s an old veteran, and so on. When they’re good, they deliver a compelling police action film and memorable bits of comedy that take advantage of the differences between the leads. When they're bad, you get this.

Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot was sold on the gimmick alone - they certainly didn’t have a stack of amusing scenarios in mind. There’s maybe a single joke that lands. The rest is painfully unfunny and unoriginal. It isn’t even a movie about a cop being paired up with an old lady; it’s a cop paired up with his overbearing, irritating mother. You know the kind. We're talking about a woman who sees a perfectly clean room and decides it’s filthy but then goes on to destroy prized possessions in her attempts to make everything “spotless”. All this at 3 in the morning because common sense is something that escapes her.

I understand the movie is a comedy but even so, its characters are just way too dumb. Sure the movie “had to happen” but you never believe this scenario would play out the way it would. Every attempt at hilarity just makes the film longer and fills you with resentment. You look at Stallone’s face and you can tell he knew exactly how bad a movie this was. He puts no effort into the role. Even Estelle Getty isn’t particularly good and she should be the star of the show!

Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot feels like an episode of a TV show that would've been canceled after 15 minutes stretched out to an hour and a half. At most, This should’ve been a short skit parodying buddy cop movies. Maybe this began as a joke someone took too seriously or director Roger Spottiswoode had a vision that got lost on the way to the screen. Regardless, you’re sitting there, powerless to do anything about the barrage of anti-fun coming your way. You accept it’s going to be bad within the first few minutes. You hope you can somehow acclimate yourself to the level of dimwitted writing and just when you're about to, Stallone delivers a title drop that lands like a blue whale on an inflatable pool. It just drains away all of your remaining will to live. This was made in 1992? Good gracious. (On VHS, June 14, 2019)

[mandyraine]

Story Structure: Save the Cat

Learn about the Save the Cat story structure in Leni Zumas' novel, Red Clocks.

The Save the Cat story outline, originally a screenwriting structure developed by Blake Snyder, emphasizes the importance of creating a likable protagonist who goes through a series of ups and downs before ultimately achieving their goal. There’s more than one way to save a cat. Image generated using artificial intelligence. Here is a general breakdown of each act: Continue reading Story…

[blogdemocratesjr]

The desire to find one’s parent or child is the desire to shore up and defend existing DNA and survive.

—Blake Snyder, Save the Cat: The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need

[dandelion-jester]

This week's Patreon Blog is up!

So this week, I wanted to talk about a little bit of book mail I got today! 'SAVE THE CAT! The Last Book on Screenwriting That You'll Ever Need' by Blake Snyder. It dropped through my postbox this morning and I spent the next handful of hours reading the first few chapters. So, I thought I'd give my first thoughts on this famous book on the craft!

If you have any interest in books on the craft, chances are you've probably heard of 'SAVE THE CAT!' I personally heard about it from my favourite writing podcast, 'Writing About Dragons and Shit', where it has its praises sung on the regular by screenwriter, author, and Dungeon Master B Dave Walters. For a long time, I didn't think I'd ever actually get around to reading it, as screenwriting is pretty low down on my list of mediums to learn and honestly? Everything I heard about Blake Snyder made him sound very annoying. I've read a significant portion of 'On Writing' by Stephen King and I can't stand the way it's written, I find him deeply irritating. I assumed Blake Snyder would be the same...

Read more on my Patreon here for only £1 a month!

[as-de-spadas]

Me? Making a Watchmen meme? It's more likely than you think.

[jdms-flat-ass]

JEFFREY DEAN MORGAN | It’s the dimples for me 🫣

[kylaym]

I have received inquiries about whether my MoTA keychains/postcards are for sale. So recently, I organised all the items I have and put together this list! There is only a limited stock available (what you see in the pictures is all I have).

Shipping costs are not included. Feel free to DM me for more details!!

[mastersoftheair]

some of my fav shots from the trailer (via JumpTrailers)

[filmcourage]

The Big Problem With Save The Cat Is That It Doesn't Apply To Every Genre - Daniel Calvisi

[darkimpala1897]

Buck and Bucky wedding would be pure chaos I'm just saying.

Bucky would walk down the aisle to 20th Century Fox Fanfare, because he's Bucky.

Hambone, and Douglass would do drunk karaoke.

Brady would be the one crying the entire time and I mean the entire time.

Blakely would be trying to sleep with the groomsmen.

DeMarco snuck Meatball in, who ate everything.

Rosie would have the best speech ever.

Crosby would have a drunk speech.

Bubbles would embarrassingly dance around, making everyone question who invited him.

Curt would be spilling all the embarrassing stories, he definitely knocked down either the wedding cake or ice sculpture or both well screaming "I'm Irish" at the top of his lungs.

Dickie is trying to clean up Curts mess.

Quinn lost BabyFace, and Bailey within five seconds somehow.

Winks and Ken are just filming the entire thing.

Kidd and Harding are just old man dancing together.

Helen is wondering why she came.

Sandra and Marge are also questioning why the fuck they came.

Murphy and Fredkin are literally the most chill ones, but Murphy eventually gets so drunk that he starts taking off his clothes.

Smokey is making sure nobody gives themselves alcohol poisoning, he ends up herding everyone home like drunk cattle.

Stormy is just embarrassed to know these people.

Daniels, Jefferson, and Macon were dragged to this shingdig by DeMarco who said "It'd be fun." And fun was one way to describe it.

[picspammer]

God doesn't make the world this way. We do.