Writing Wednesday - Save The Cat! Video Course and Beat Cards

Once again I am back with Save The Cat! and a review for WOW! Women on Writing and boy, am I excited what I have been working with over the past month.

The first is the Save The Cat! beat and scene cards.

According to the website, the beat cards are used to...

Crack your story from the “Opening Image” to the “Final Image.” Save the Cat!® Beat Cards provide writers with the 15 key plot points to map out your script or novel. Every set contains 15 individual index cards with helpful explanations of each beat to form the foundation of your story.

 

 

And the second set of cards are scene cards... 

Every scene of your story needs to communicate “place,” “basic action,” “emotional transformation,” and “outcome.” The Save the Cat!® Scene Cards help writers nail the purpose of every scene. Each set of cards contains 40 color-coded cards broken down by act, with 10 extra cards because we know you’ll need them.

Each of the beat cards are for each 'beat' of the story. Then the scene cards cover the scenes for each beat. These cards are color coded for the three acts, with an extra color for additional scenes. 

While the beat cards are 3 sets of 15 beats per pack, the scene cards are 40 scene cards for your book. To me, unless you are George R. R. Martin, the 40 scene cards, or as I think of them as chapter cards, are more than enough. 

All the cards are the size of regular index cards, and with only 15 beat cards, there is enough room for 2-3 sentences per card and don't take up too much room on the wall or in my planner. It also makes it easy to take 1 or 2 and stick them in your bag to take with you if you are writing elsewhere. 

I have combined in my existing 'chapter cards' in with the beat cards. My next step is to take my 'chapter cards' and integrate them onto scene cards. Exciting! 

The only 'downside' to the cards is the 'tip' on each card are in a pale grey. That makes them a bit hard to read. However, as you are supposed to write on the card, having the tip in such a pale ink makes it easy to write over it and not have it impact your idea or make you have less space to write. So while I'm not exactly happy with that, I well understand the choice of ink.

What I did find really, really helpful was their new video course, hosted by Jennifer Zhang, who was fortunate enough to actually take classes with Blake Snyder.

About the course from the website...

Cracking the Beat Sheet is designed for writers to turn their idea into a movie or novel, this learn-at-your-own-pace online class helps you develop the 15 key “beats” or “plot points” of their story. Strung together, in the right order, these 15 beats make up the blueprint to a successful screenplay or novel.

You'll Turn an Idea into a Story by Learning to...

·       Create a solid beat sheet that will serve as the road map, and the 

        'backbone of your story.
·       Identify and know the key components of your story genre
·       Learn the clichés of your genre so that you can break them like an    

        artist

·       Plot your hero’s journey and “transformation”

·       Troubleshoot your story idea for viability
·       Write a compelling logline or elevator pitch

Find out more details about this course by visiting this link here:

https://www.savethecatcourses.com/courses/cracking-the-beat-sheet

My take on the course?

LOVE IT!

While I have the book and have read it and use it for reference, going through this class online really made things clear to me and I kept getting ideas on how to improve or polish what I am currently working on.

It also allowed to me see I was hitting the 'beats' with where I was going with the story and gave me confidence I am on the right track with the story I want to tell.

The course did focus on screenwriting, it is easy enough to translate the information into book form. I especially liked how contemporary movies where used to illustrate the various beats. This allowed me to really 'see' how that particular beat worked, or needed to work, in my case.

The course also comes along with reading assignments from the book on the chapters which go along with the particular lesson. There are also handouts with information from the lesson just covered, as well as writing assignments based on that particular lesson.

Another great thing about the video lessons is the videos are only 30-45 minutes long. Not long enough that you get distracted and bored watching it. They are very to the point, but not dry. And of course, being a video lesson, you can replay it and stop it to take notes if you want.

Plus at $59, the cost is very reasonable and I feel doable for most 'starving artists'. 

So...

The cards, both the beat and scene cards are out on my desk and being used. I have several pages on notes on my iPad which I refer to as I go through my cards. Between the cards and the course I am feeling energized and excited about working on my novel. 

By 'Cat', I think I've got it!