I used to wonder why people hated the save the cat book. I thought it was a hatred of formulaic storytelling. But I’m reading it for university and I think people just hate how arrogant the author is.
So in the interest of improving my storytelling craft, I’ve started reading Save the Cat! by Blake Snyder. It’s the bestselling screenwriting guide out there and for better or worse, it has dominated Hollywood spec script writing for years.
The first chapter introduces the idea of a “logline” — a one sentence description of what your story is about. Snyder’s assertion is that if you can’t do a one sentence logline that describes your story in a way that grabs the attention, you don’t have your story idea yet and you need to keep working. He gives some examples:
A cop comes to LA to visit his estranged wife and her office building is taken over by terrorists — Die Hard.
A wealthy businessman falls in love with a hooker he hires to be his date for the weekend — Pretty Woman.
Now fanfic is all about you do you — it doesn’t need a logline or even a coherent story. But I tried to come up with a logline for each of my Stranger Things fics just to see if I could.
When She Was Special: A teenager tries to get back together with his ex-girlfriend but keeps getting interrupted by Lovecraftian monsters.
When He Was Special: Angsty teenage romance drama meets The Call of Cthulhu.
And All The Days Were Special: Teenage “losin’ it”/first time story… but it’s at Area 51.
As Black As My Love’s Heart: Two teenagers who hate each other fall in love as they cross a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
I’m wondering if a Hollywood producer would pause at any of these and say, “Interesting, tell me more.” 😊
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.
‘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.
