Course Review: Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet
/First of all, thank you so much to WOW! Women on Writing and Save the Cat! for the opportunity to take and review this course. Spoiler alert: It was excellent, and I highly recommend it! Below, you will find my more detailed review including specifics about how you can take the course too.
Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet is currently offered for $59 through the Save the Cat! website. The course is described as “an on demand, learn at your own pace course that elevates your storytelling capabilities and empowers you to crack your own idea for a novel or screenplay.”
The Save the Cat! storytelling method was originally created by screenwriter Blake Snyder, so it is most applicable to screenplays, however the method has been used successfully by novelists as well. The book Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody explains how novelists can use this method when crafting their novels.
If you’ve read any of the Save the Cat! books, the information in the course won’t be completely new to you, however, I have read both the screenplay and novel writing books and I picked up some new information as well as gained a deeper understanding of what I had already read.
The course is intended to be taken at your leisure over four weeks, but it is self-paced so you can take more or less time depending on your schedule. Below, is a breakdown of what you will learn each week.
Course Outline
Week 1: Get Your Pitch Ready
In the first week of the course, you will come up with a title and logline for your story and learn about Blake’s ten story genres.
Week 2: Understanding Your Beginning Beats
In week two, you learn about Blake Snyder’s “beat sheet” and the fifteen story beats he includes on it. The examples in this lesson really helped to clarify why your story needs these beats. You will also learn which of those six beats are what Blake calls the “pillar beats.” These are the key beats you absolutely can’t miss.
Week 3: Refining and Completing Your Beats
After discovering the six pillar beats in your story, Jennifer explains the nine remaining beats during week three.
Week 4: Perfecting Your Beats and Completing the Transformation
In the final week of the course, you learn how to polish and refine your beats and how you can apply the Story Spine Checklist and the “Is It Broken?” test to ensure your story beats are the best ones for your story.
What You Get with the Course
Each week of the course includes videos taught by Jennifer Zhang. She’s an excellent teacher—engaging with a great sense of humor. The videos include a lot of examples from movies (many you’ve likely already seen) so you’ll have a thorough understanding of the material.
You will also receive a reading assignment from Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting That You’ll Ever Need, but if you don’t have access to a copy of the book, you won’t be lost. Watching the videos, then reading the assigned material helps to reinforce Blake’s concepts.
Included with the weekly material are PDF handouts for the key concepts covered that week as well as a homework assignment. While taking the course, I worked on a story I had already started and the homework assignments helped me get a lot clearer on what was going to happen in the story. I was also a lot more excited to work on it after taking the course.
The video lectures range from 3 minutes to forty-five minutes for a total course length of 3 hours and seventeen minutes. The worksheets, reading assignments and homework all tied together to ensure optimal understanding of course material. I finished the course feeling one-percent more confident in my story idea.
I enjoyed being able to pause the videos and take notes. As I mentioned earlier, I also really enjoyed Jennifer’s sense of humor. She made the course really fun, and I love how she ended the course by saying the main point of all this work is to set your audience up to care. Yes, of course, we want our readers to care about our story! That really hit everything home for me.
If the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet course is new to you or if you’ve heard about it, but weren’t sure it was right for you, I hope my review has helped you decide to take the leap. In my opinion, it is one of the best online course deals around for only $59. Even though I read the books, the course made all the information so much clearer. It really shed some light on why all good stories need the fifteen Save the Cat! beats.
If you’d like to read more course reviews or reviews of the Save the Cat! Story Cards, here’s where you can find them:
February 22nd @ The Muffin
What goes better in the morning than a muffin? Grab your coffee and join us today over at our blog, where we launch another blog tour for Save the Cat! We talk about their online course and their story cards, interview the Save the Cat team, and host a special giveaway you don't want to miss.
https://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com
February 23rd @ Cathy Stucker's Selling Books
Join Cathy as she reviews the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet Course. Perfect if you want to finally outline your novel!
February 23rd @ And So She Thinks
Join Francesca and read her review of the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet Course. You don't want to miss this!
https://andsoshethinks.co.uk/blog/
February 24th @ Chapters Through Life
Visit Danielle's blog as she reviews her experience with the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet Course.
http://chaptersthroughlife.blogspot.co.uk
February 24th @ Margay Leah Justice
Join Margay as she reviews the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet course and the Story Cards.
http://margayleahjustice.blogspot.com/
February 25th @ Author Anthony Avina
Join Anthony as he shares a Save the Cat! guest post about why the title of a story matters.
https://authoranthonyavinablog.com/
February 26th @ Writer Unboxed
Join Therese as she reviews the Save the Cat! writing course Cracking the Beat Sheet. Don't miss it!
February 27th @ Jessica Samuels
Join Jessica as she shares her insights into the Save the Cat! Story Cards.
https://jessicasamuelsauthor.com/
February 28th @ The Faerie Review
Visit Lily's blog as she reviews the Save the Cat! Story Cards and shares her insights into the Cracking the Beat Sheet course.
https://www.thefaeriereview.com
March 1st @ Michelle Cornish
Join Michelle as she reviews the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet course.
https://www.michellecornish.com/blog
March 1st @ Memoir Writer's Journey
Kathy shares the Save the Cat guest post discussing stress testing dialogue and scene.
https://www.krpooler.com/blog/
March 2nd @ Cathy Stucker's Selling Books
Visit Cathy's blog again as she reviews the Save the Cat! Story Cards! Find out how this item will help you storyboard your novel.
March 3rd @ Knotty Needle
Visit Judy's blog as she reviews the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet and the Save the Cat! Story Cards.
https://knottyneedle.blogspot.com/
March 4th @ Author Anthony Avina
Visit Anthony's blog where you can read his experience with the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet course.
https://authoranthonyavinablog.com/
March 5th @ Quill and Books
Visit Kathryn's blog and read her review of the Save the Cat! Story Cards.
March 7th @ Sioux's Page
Join Sioux as she reviews the Save the Cat! Story Cards and her experience with the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet course.
http://siouxspage.blogspot.com/
March 7th @ Help Me Naomi
Visit Naomi's blog today and you can read her review of the Save the Cat! Story Cards and the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet course.
March 8th @ World of My Imagination
Guest writer, Stephanie Anne, reviews the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet course and Save the Cat! Story Cards on Nicole's blog World of My Imagination.
https://worldofmyimagination.com/
March 9th @ Cathy Stucker's Selling Books
Visit Cathy's blog again where you can read a guest post from the Save the Cat! team about why structure is a friend, not a formula.
March 9th @ Sandy Kirby Quandt
Sandy shares her review of the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet course and the Save the Cat! Story Cards.
March 10th @ Brooke's Reviews and Sweeps
Join Brooke as she reviews the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet course and the Save the Cat! Story Cards.
http://www.brookereviewsnsweeps.com/
March 11th @ Jill Sheet's Blog
Visit Jill's blog today and check out her insights into the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet course and the Save the Cat! Story Cards.
http://jillsheets.blogspot.com/
March 12th @ Finished Pages
Join Renee as she reviews her experience with the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet online course.
March 13th @ Writer Unboxed
Visit Therese's blog again as she reviews the Save the Cat! Story Cards. You'll want to check these out if you want to storyboard your novel!
March 14th @ The Margate Bookie
You'll definitely want to catch today's guest post where Save the Cat! discusses the power of the writer's board.
https://margatebookie.com/news/
March 15th @ My Heart is Booked
Join Danielle today where she reviews the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet course and the Save the Cat! story cards.
https://www.myheartisbooked.com/
March 15th @ LM Harley
Visit Laura's blog and check out her review of the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet course.
http://lmharleywriter.com/index.html
March 18th @ Cathy C. Hall Writes
Join Cathy as she shares her thoughts about the Save the Cat! Story Cards.
March 19th @ One Writer's Journey
Visit Sue's blog today as she shares her insights into the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet online course.
March 21st @ World of My Imagination
Join Nicole and read her review of the Save the Cat! Story Cards.
https://worldofmyimagination.com
March 22nd @ Mint Miller Writes
Mint Miller treats us to a review of the Save the Cat! Story Cards. Don't miss it!
https://www.mintmillerwrites.com/
March 23rd @ Karen Brown Tyson
Join Karen as shares a Save the Cat guest post discussing the benefits of using a board.
March 25th @ WOW's Editor Blog
You don't want to miss WOW's editor-in-chief, Angela Mackintosh' review of the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet online course.
https://wow-womenonwriting.com/
March 26th @ World of My Imagination
Writer Kate Mahony is a guest reviewer at World of My Imagination and she shares her thoughts about the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet course.
https://worldofmyimagination.com
March 27th @ Joyful Antidotes
Visit Joy's blog today where you can read her review of the Save the Cat! Cracking the Beat Sheet online course.
