If you are a writer, then the following blog post is for you.

I’ve just completed the Save the Cat! Cracking the Code Online Course based on Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! screen writing approach, and cannot say enough good things about it. Information from this course applies to all fiction writing, and is designed for writers to turn their ideas into a movie or novel. Last year I reviewed Save the Cat! Writes a Book so the name might sound familiar.

Here is what you receive for $59 from this self-paced six months access course of 25 individual lessons :

• Over 3 hours and 17 minutes broken into of original video production
• 9 downloadable worksheets
• 3 reading assignments (book not included)
• 4 homework assignments

The course teaches how to:

• Create a solid beat sheet that will serve as the blueprint, road map, and “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 “transformation”
• Troubleshoot your story idea for viability 
• Write a compelling logline or elevator pitch
• Develop a title to your story that anyone can visualize

In addition to the course, I received Save the Cat! Beat Cards, and Save the Cat! scene cards.

Save the Cat! Beat Cards are 3×5 index cards you can use to plot your story’s key plot points from Opening Image to Final Image. Each set contains 15 individual index cards with explanations of each beat. Although these cards are handy, if you go through the course or read the book, you can make your own cards using plain 3×5 cards.

With Save the Cat! Scene Cards you receive 40 color-coded 3×5 cards that list the elements needed for every scene. Again, as with the Beat Cards they’re handy, but you could use plain index cards if you’d like.

Although the course description says it takes 3 hours and 17 minutes of video, I found myself stopping the video and backing it up to absorb all the information presented. With that said, it took me longer to finish the course.

The lectures include examples from movies which provide additional clarity. By the end of the course, everything started to fall into place. I saw how the information would help the weak areas in my current work in progress and improve my overall novel writing.

If you’re looking for a great online writing course that dives deep into the art of storytelling, Save the Cat! Cracking Your Beat Sheet course may just be the thing.

I wish you well.

Sandy

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I received this course and Save the Cat! cards through the W.O.W. blog tour for a fair and honest review, which is exactly what I gave.

You can find my March Inspire a Fire post here. Please stop by and read it.