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Top 5 Reasons Scenes Get Deleted From Novels

Since January 1st, I’ve been DEEP in revision mode for my NaNoWriMo novel (which as of now is still a secret…sorry!). But I can tell you this. It’s needed a ton of work so far! But I will say I’m having a blast revising it, possibly more so than most of my revisions.

As I sort through my scenes and beats and determine what to keep and what to cut, I’ve been finding, interestingly enough, that most of the scene cards that I’ve labeled “CUT” on my storyboard fit into one of five categories. These are by no means the only reasons you might cut a scene from a novel, but in thinking back on previous novel revisions, I think most of my cut scenes can be categorized under one of these five labels. Let’s take a look.

1) Duplicate Information

When fast drafting, it’s easy to write in scenes that basically serve the same purpose or reveal the same type of information. By definition, fast drafting is always writing forward, never going to back to edit. And sometimes when I’m really into fast drafting, I don’t even go back to review what I’ve written in previous days (to avoid the temptation to edit). So naturally, I end up forgetting that I already have a scene whose purpose is to introduce the main character’s biggest fear, or flashback to their traumatic breakup, or deliver some crucial piece of information about the world.

In the revision process, when I’m taking inventory of my scenes, I will almost always find scenes that essentially serve the same purpose, that’s when I either get out my scissors (and cut the duplicate scene completely) or get out my needle and thread (and attempt to stitch the two scenes together).

2) Pacing Killer

Ah, this is a big one. In my first drafts, I tend to a have a lot of scenes or partial scenes that come smack dab in the middle of a super exciting, riveting, fast-paced section of the plot and….SCREECH! Bring it a jolting halt. Maybe the scene is just in the wrong place and needs to be moved. Or sometimes it’s a scene that, looking back, doesn’t really belong in the story at all and can be “snip snipped” right on out there.

This typically happens when I’m working out the story as I write the story (which happens a lot in first drafts.) Maybe I’m just discovering something new about the character’s backstory and so I add it in right there, in the middle of all the action, when really it goes somewhere else, or doesn’t need to be spelled out at all. Or sometimes I’ll simply take WAY too long to get a character from point A to point B, when I could just cut all of that and have them be at point B at the start of the scene.

When drafting, these explorations or journeys might feel super important, but when we step back and look at the novel as a whole in the revision process, we see that we don’t actually have to spend three pages describing the character’s uneventful commute to work. We can just put them at work and keep the plot moving along at a nice pace.

3) Repetitive Actions or Events

I’ll often get so inspired by an idea for a certain action or event, that I’ll end up including it more than once. Like a clever way that a character finds a piece of information, a surprise visitor at the door, or the lights going out just as the character is about to achieve some important goal.

In reviewing my manuscript I’ll often find more than one instance of these exact same events, possibly triggering different realizations or discoveries, but they still feel repetitive.

When writing the System Divine trilogy with Joanne Rendell, we’d do this often in our early drafts. One of our ongoing jokes was how often our characters passed out and came to in a totally different scene. “There they go again! Fainting like damsels in distress!” we’d say.

In one draft of the second book, one of our characters had at least three head injuries. Whenever we’d find another one, we’d laugh at our eagerness to bring bodily harm to our poor characters and then either delete or revise the scene.

4) Discordant Tone

“One of these things is not like the other!” Remember that beloved Sesame Street game?

This happens a lot in my first drafts, when I’m still feeling out the tone of the book. Perhaps I think the book is going to be a dramedy, so I sprinkle in all of these funny scenes to lighten the mood. Then, in reading back one of those scenes, I’m like, “Woah! Read the room!” It feels totally out of place tonally with the rest of the story.

Again, all of this is fine. First drafts are about discovery. Second drafts are about fixing. When I find these tonally discordant scenes I typically cut them and try to figure out where and how to deliver any important information elsewhere in the story.

5) Doesn’t move the plot forward

And finally, my favorite one of all. Well, not really. I actually hate this one. I can’t tell you how many cherished scenes I’ve had to cut because they fell into this category. And trust me, I try to argue for every single one. “But it’s some of my best writing!” “But it’s so funny!” “But the dialogue is so clever!”

While all of that may be, if it doesn’t move the plot forward (or deliver some piece of essential new information), then I usually come to the same, sad conclusion: it has to go. I’m convinced this is where the phrase, “Kill your darlings” originates. And after I’m done holding my vigil for my murdered scene, I read the manuscript back and begrudgingly admit that it does read better without that unnecessary scene weighing it down.

How can you tell if the scene doesn’t move the plot forward or is unnecessary? Easy. Cut it and see if the rest of your story collapses like a house of cards. If it doesn’t, then it wasn’t that essential to the overall structure or integrity of the story. I call this the “Lift Out Test” and you can read more about it here

So there you go! The top 5 reasons scenes get deleted from my first drafts. I hope this sparked some inspiration for your own novel revision process or your current work in progress.

But I’ll be honest. Revision is a tricky beast. It can be easy to “revise in circles,” second guessing every little change and doing WAY more work than you need to. That’s why I created the Complete Novel Revision course, to walk you step-by-step through the entire revision process, hand you a tried-and-true formalized revision strategy, and ensure you’re always doing the right task at the right time. I even revise a novel right along with you so you can see how I approach every step of the process. It’s like having me as your personal revision coach. The course is available on-demand so you can go at your own pace.

Click here to learn more and enroll

Happy Writing and Revising!

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How I Prep My Novels (Step by Step)

This year’s NaNoWriMo was the first year (in a long time…maybe forever?) I got to:

1) Start a new novel on November 1 (In past years, due to deadline timing, I was usually having to finish novels or just make 50k words of progress somewhere in the middle of a novel)

2) Draft a novel (in other years I haven’t been finishing a novel, I’ve been a NaNo Rebel, revising instead of drafting)

3) Work on a novel that’s NOT yet under contract! (With all my currently contracted books in the hands of publishers or agents, I actually get to write a book for FUN this year!)

So I took the opportunity to really dive into this NaNo thing full on, doing all the prep to gear myself up for November 1st when I could hit that gas pedal and GO! I’m even dabbling in a brand new genre I’ve never written before! (sorry, not quite ready to share which genre yet!)

But what I CAN share with you is exactly how I prepped my novel. So here we go!

Step 1: Idea Exploration

I’ve had this idea for about 6 months now and I’ve been waiting for a gap in my schedule when I can sit down and work on it. Lucky me, that rare gap just happened to fall during NaNo season.

Once I realized I had this precious pocket of time, I started just exploring the idea without any structure or guidelines or lists or beats. I spent about a week just thinking about it in whatever direction my brain felt like going.

I thought about where it takes place, who the lead characters and supporting characters were, what kind of voice I wanted the narrator(s) to have, what kind of things I wanted to happen in the plot, what kind of themes I wanted to explore.

I like to do this kind of exploration aloud with a recording app. I’ve loved using Otter.ai (not sponsored!) to record my brainstorms because it also transcribes them as I talk.

So this time was spent walking around my yard or office, just talking things out, getting excited about some things, feeling blah about other things, but generally getting things out of my head.

I absolutely LOVED this part of the process because it’s a step I normally don’t get to do, or I have to do quite quickly, or combine it with other steps. Because I’m usually on a tight deadline, I don’t have a lot of time to just lavishly soak in an idea. It was as heavenly as soaking in a hot bath.

Step 2: Building My Story Bible

After I finished languishing in my idea bath, I created the structure of my “story bible” or “story plan,” which is a growing document or database where all of the details of my story will live from here until I’m finished revising.

I’ve used lots of different software in the past to build my story bibles. Word/Google Docs works great if you use the Style headers to build a table of contents. Lots of writers prefer apps like Scrivener, Dabble, or Plottr. For this book, I started dabbling in an app called Notion, which I hope to share more about in the future as I get more proficient at it. Or an old fashion notebook would do (I’d choose one with tabs you can label, or create your own tabs with post-it notes).

The whole idea here is organization. Structure. Being able to sort your ideas into easy-to-access categories which makes the drafting process smoother (so you’re not spending half of your precious daily writing time searching for ideas!)

I typically organize my Story Bible into Characters, Plot, World (or Setting), and Notes.

Within Characters, I have a profile for each POV character (I think I’m going to have 5 for this novel! EEK!) and side character. Then within each character, I create sub-headings for things I want to brainstorm or learn about each one (like Problems, Wants, Needs, Backstory, etc.)

Within Plot, I keep beat sheets, chapter outlines, and synopses if I choose to do them.

Within World, I create a profile for every setting and location in the story with sub-headings for things I want to brainstorm or learn about each one (like lighting, mood, history, key sensory details, etc.)

Within Notes, I put everything else, like random ideas that I don’t have a place for yet, notes from research I do for the book, and brainstorms that haven’t been finalized yet. This is my general “dumping ground” for ideas until they become concrete enough to move to a dedicated place within the story bible.

(If you want guidance on building a story bible or story plan, check out my Novel Fast Drafting course, where I walk through creating one with you.)

Step 3: Organizing My Ideas

Once I created a neat and tidy place to put everything, I started organizing! This is when I listened back through all of my brainstorms (or read the transcriptions) and started organizing my ideas and notes into their rightful place.

As I did this, new ideas inevitably popped up so I jotted those down in their rightful places as well.

By the end of this step, I had sort of a hodge-podge, barely visible, crooked skeleton of a story plan taking shape. A few beats where there, a few character details, a few setting ideas. But nothing was complete or ready for writing yet (at least not for me!) It was all very swiss-cheesy (full of holes).

Which meant it was time to start my SERIOUS brainstorming!

Step 4: Serious Brainstorming

This has been, by far, the longest part of the process.

For a few weeks, I went part by part through my story bible fleshing out everything with as much detail as I could. This included Character profiles, beat sheet, and my Setting profiles.

This is usually not a SUPER logical or sequential part of the process (for me). It feels more like my brain is a pinball bouncing around from idea to idea. But thankfully, because of Step 2, I can capture those ideas in a more organized way (because I have dedicated places for everything.)

For instance, for the days I chose to work on fleshing out my beat sheet, I would start in the beat sheet section of the bible. But because plot is so connected to characters, I would inevitably get new ideas about my characters and I would have to bounce up to the character section, jot down those ideas, and then return to the beat sheet to keep going with plot. But sometimes that character idea would spark an idea about a setting, so I’d bounce up to Settings, jot down those ideas, and so on and so forth.

(A hint: Don’t delete anything. When new ideas come out that negate old ideas, instead of replacing the old idea, strike through it and put the new idea next to it. That way, you still have record of the old idea if you ever want to resurrect it. I usually don’t delete those strike-through ideas until well into the revision process. If you’re using Word you can delete the older ideas with tracked changes on and Word will keep them archived for you.)

For me, this part of the process always feels partly chaotic and partly exhilarating. It’s a rush during which I’m madly trying to capture everything (recording apps help here too if the ideas are coming too fast and too furiously to write them all down!) and I often feel quite breathless and fatigued at the end of each brainstorming session.

But eventually, things start to take shape. My character profiles start filling up, my beat sheet starts filling out, my settings start feeling like real places. And the ideas stop flowing like a geyser and start flowing more like the last trickles of a hose after it’s been shut off.

That’s where I’m at now. Just catching those last few trickles of ideas and sorting them into the right places.

For me, this is usually a sign that I’m ready to start writing. The brainstorm has become more of a brain sprinkle, which means I’ve pre-discovered nearly everything I can pre-discover. Now, it’s time to start writing so I can discover the rest. (And there will be PLENTY more!)

(If you need help brainstorming your beats, check out my Save the Cat! Novel Writing Course where I guide you step-by-step through the Save the Cat! process and brainstorm a novel along with you.)

Step 5: Research and Last Minute Prep

The next step I do is any research that I think will help me in drafting. Now that I roughly know what the story is going to be and who the characters are, I can start doing some research or last minute prepping and organizing of my story bible.

I want my story bible to be pretty clean and organized before I start writing as I know it will just get messy again during the drafting phase, when I’m hastily jotting down ideas for revision and future scenes. (I don’t normally do a full story bible reorganization until after the first draft is done and I’m ready to start revising.)

This is also a good time in the process to prep your schedule and calendar as well, finding those dedicated times to write each day (If you don’t have a solid writing routine, this blog post will walk you step by step through creating one!)

Also important is getting into the right “mindset” for fast drafting. (This blog post is a good place to start!)

So that’s my prep routine! I wish all of you the best of luck in these last few days of November and beyond.

May the word count be with you!

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Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel: Sneak Peek and Cover Reveal



Attention Save the Cat! Fans! I’ve got BIG NEWS! 

In this post, I’m revealing all the juicy details about the next book in the Save the Cat! Series, Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel, written by yours truly, including a first look at the cover!

So, yes, it’s true. I wrote another Save the Cat book focusing entirely on young adult novels and I know you have questions so I’ll do my best to answer them.

If you don’t yet know what Save the Cat! Is be sure to read my post, What is Save the Cat!? Then, come back to this one when you’re all caught up on the lingo. 

Okay, onto the questions!

When does the book release? 

The book is scheduled to release in May 2023. Which I realize feels like a long way away if you’re reading this post in the fall of 2022. But hopefully the time will go fast. 

And if you need something to pass the time, don’t forget about my official Save the Cat! Novel Writing course, which is available to stream right now in the Writing Mastery Academy! 

And if you just happen to be reading this after May 2023, then you’re in luck! The book is out! Drop everything, run to your local bookstore, grab yourself a copy, and start working on those 15 beats!

What formats will it release in? 

Similar to Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, the book will be released simultaneously in paperback, eBook, and audiobook, so whatever your preferred method of absorbing information might be, we have a format for you! 

Why a YA version?

I had a feeling this question would come up! Why do you need a YA version when the original book already had plenty of YA examples?

Yes, it’s true, the original did have some YA examples and although the structure of a young adult novel is similar to the structure of any other novel and follows the same 15 beats as any other story, the filter through which we tell young adult stories is quite unique. 

And I can speak to that from experience. 

After writing more than fifteen YA novels in my career, I can safely say that YA is its own novel-writing beast and it does warrant its own guide, if for no other reason than to laser-focus our study of story structure using exclusively young adult examples. 

Which is what this new book does. Every page, every beat, every genre, every tip is geared toward helping writers of young adult fiction tell the best stories they can tell. 

In writing this book, I’ve analyzed over 100 young adult novels to give you the most in-depth look at these types of stories and characters so I can also give you the best possible chance of writing your own young adult bestseller. 

How is it different from the first book? 

Besides being filled exclusively with young adult examples, there are actually a few things that are completely new and different in this book that don’t exist in Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. 

First and foremost…

Customizing Your Beat Sheet Chapter

In the first book, there’s a very extensive chapter about how to build your Save the Cat! Beat Sheet (AKA your structure road map) and make it the most compelling it can be. And from what I’ve heard, writers found it extremely helpful. YAY! However, I also got a lot of questions from writers that usually began with the phrase, “But what about…” 

“But what about…multiple points of view, prologues, flashbacks, backstory, villain stories, Catalysts that come on the first page!?”

Many of these were not addressed in the first book, or addressed very quickly. 

Basically what all of these questions are asking is, how do I customize the Save the Cat! Method for my story? 

Good question!

One of the great things about being a novelist is flexibility. We have the potential to do so many creative things in the novel-writing space and young adult novelists are some of the most creative novelists out there! But in the end, we still need a solid structure and a well-told story. 

That’s why, in addition to including another very extensive chapter on the 15 beats, in Save the Cat! YA, I also included this new chapter about customizing those beats to work for you. Think of this chapter as sort of the “advanced beat sheet” chapter where you can take the foundations that you’ll learn about in the Save the Cat! Beat sheet chapter and make them your own. Once again, analyzing and breaking down tons of examples from young adult authors who put their own creative spin on basic story structure so that we can learn what works and get inspired by some of the greats. 

Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult SERIES chapter!

This one comes by very popular demand and I’m very excited about it! 

Duologies, trilogies, quartets and more! In this book, I break down series in the most detail I’ve ever done, and show you how the Save the Cat method (and those same 15 beats!) can be used to help you structure, plan, and write a compelling series. And yes, this chapter is filled with…you got it, more YA examples!

There are two bigger differences between Save the Cat! YA and Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. But I’ve also included some new ways to look at plot and structure, some new tips and tricks that I’ve discovered along the way for writing the best novel you can. But I’ll let you discover those on your own when the book comes out. 

I already own the first book, do I need the YA book too? 

The short answer is no, you don’t need the YA book. if you already own and use the first book. But it’s very possible you might want it. 

For the very reasons I just listed. Not to mention the opportunity to study even more examples of the beat sheet in the action. 

Just like Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, Save the Cat! Writes a YA Novel comes with 10 full beat sheet breakdowns of popular novels. That’s 10 more in-depth study tools that you can use to craft your own story, regardless of what age group its intended for. 

And in this book, because multiple-point-of-view stories are becoming more and more popular (especially in the YA space), I’ve chosen to break down 4 different novels with multiple points of view. And one of those novels contains 5 points of view! As you might know, this means there are 5 intersecting beat sheets going on. It’s a marvel of structure, to be sure and I had so much fun writing that beat sheet. 

So if you’re curious about multiple points of view, or just how to take your plotting up a notch, you might find some of the more complex structure breakdowns in this book extremely helpful, even if you’re not writing young adult. 

But like I said before, the 15 beats are the 15 beats. They haven’t changed since I wrote the first book, so there’s nothing new about the Save the Cat! method, itself. But my perspective on those 15 beats and how to teach them has changed somewhat. 

I’ve learned a lot since I wrote Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, namely from talking to authors, answering your questions in my webinars, hearing what you’re struggling with. And all of that has opened my eyes to new ways of talking about structure and new ways of breaking it down. 

So, no, you don’t need this book if you already have the first one, but you never know how it might inspire you, break you out of a plotting blockage, or just help you see story structure and your story structure in particular in a new light.

What are some of the YA novels you break down in this book? 

Well, I do need to leave some mystery alive. I can’t tell you everything. 

But I’ll give you a small taste of some of the novels that are featured prominently in this book. Note not all of these have full beat sheets in the book, but they’re all referenced quite often as stellar plotting examples.

Here are some of the books that I analyzed in Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel:

Six of Crows by Leigh BarudgoChildren of Blood and Bone by Tomi AdeymiThe Fault In Our Stars by John GreenWarcross by Marie LuAristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire SáenzWe Were Liars by E. Lockhart Plus many, many more!

Hopefully by now you’re getting excited. Are you ready to see the cover? 

I give you, Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel!

 

Tada! 

Isn’t it fantastic? I love the colors, love the scribbles, love the cat, love it all! 

And best of all, you can pre-order your copy now!

If you can’t wait until May, be sure to check out Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, the first book, or my official Save the Cat! Online Novel Writing course where I walk you step by step through the 15 beats of the Save the Cat! Method with tons of examples from popular books and movies, and I brainstorm a novel right along with you so you can see how I approach the Save the Cat! process from start to finish.

That course is available to stream on demand in the Writing Mastery Academy.

Until next time, writer friends. 

Happy Writing!

 

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5 More Ways to “Save the Cat”

“Why is it called Save the Cat!?”

A question I’ve been getting a lot since my novel-writing guide, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, was first published back in 2018.

It’s often a confusing title because the term, “Save the Cat!” actually has very little to do with the core of the book, which is the 15-beat blueprint that writers can follow to craft a compelling story. (Click here for a quick crash course on the 15 beats)

The term “Save the Cat” refers not to any of these 15 beats but rather to a strategy that Blake Snyder included in his original screenwriting guide. It says, if you want to make your hero likeable or at least relatable, you should have that hero do something redeemable within the first 10% of your story, like save a cat.

But this tip often gets misconstrued and some writers think they actually have to add a scene to their story where a cat is literally saved (from a tree, shelter, or perilous situation).

Not true.

There are actually many ways to save a cat (i.e. have your hero do something redeemable or give them a quality that makes the reader like them, root for them, or want to keep reading to find out what happens to them).

So, for this blog post, I thought I’d break down 5 of my favorite ways to save a cat (none of which actually include any endangered felines.)

1) Have them help a stranger in need

This one is probably as close to saving a literal cat as you can get without actually saving a literal cat. If you want to get your reader on the side of your hero, a very fast way to do that is to show them helping someone in need, preferably someone they don’t know. This automatically gives the impression that this person has goodness in their heart and creates compassion in the mind of the reader.

My co-author and I used this technique in the first book our System Divine trilogy, Sky Without Stars, in which we show our hero, Chatine, (a con artist and thief) stealing a loaf of bread and then eventually (begrudgingly) giving it to a starving mother with a crying baby.

I recently saw this same tactic being used in the Hulu show The Old Man.

Minor Spoilers Ahead

At the start of episode 3, we meet a man at a bus stop who helps a woman with crutches onto the bus. Moments later, we find out this man in a professional hit man, hired to kill the main character. By the time we learn this, we’ve already felt some compassion for him, giving us all sorts of conflicting and intriguing emotions. The hit man is not the hero of the story but the effect is the same.

End of Spoilers

2) Give them a relative or close friend who relies on them

Also a popular choice, you can give your hero someone who relies heavily on them. For food, financial stability, security, medical supplies, or even emotional support. Once again, this shows compassion which easily transfers to your reader. So that whatever your hero does next (whether it be likeable or not), the reader already feels something for the hero and is invested in what happens to them.

A famous example of this strategy in action is from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Katniss’s sister Prim (and their mother) is highly dependent on Katniss not only to bring in extra food but to keep the family together.

Victoria Aveyard, author of Red Queen also used this tactic, introducing Mare as an important source of food and income for her struggling family.

And one of my favorite examples of this is from the classic Emma by Jane Austen. Emma is not known to be one of Jane’s most likable heroines. She’s a bit spoiled, self-involved, and “clueless” (hence the title of the modern-day adaptation starring Alicia Silverstone.) But her father would be absolutely lost without her. He’s an incredibly anxious man who relies heavily on Emma for support. And we soon learn that’s one of the reasons Emma has vowed to never marry. She can’t bear to leave her father alone. Aha! Now, we’re on her side.

3) Show a weakness or vulnerability

“Don’t judge someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes,” goes the old saying. Well, then, let us walk a mile in your hero’s shoes. Or rather, give us the “cliffnotes” version of that mile by just showing us a specific weakness or vulnerability.

This gets us instantly on your hero’s side by proving to us that they are, indeed, human. They are struggling with difficult emotions, tragic pasts, and vulnerabilities of their own.

In Dustin Thao’s You’ve Reached Sam, Julie is dealing with the aftermath of her boyfriend’s sudden death. She’s shut out all of his friends and family, refused to go to the funeral, and barely even talks about him anymore, which doesn’t sit well with some of the other characters who think she’s being cold. But we, the reader, are given a glimpse of her vulnerability. Her pain. We understand why she’s shutting everyone out. It’s just hurts too much.

I used this same tactic in my novel The Geography of Lost Things in which we first meet the hero, Ali, dealing with a recent break-up and doing everything she can to avoid her ex at school. But the focus of the Set Up beat is less on the break-up and more on the recent death of her father (a man she had a distant and strained relationship with). This serves to show the reader her vulnerability and maybe even shed some light on why the break-up with the ex happened in the first place.

4) Stack the conflict (or enemies!) against them

It’s hard to dislike someone when their world is falling apart and an evil ogre is trying to kill them. We can use conflict (both external and internal) to stack the odds against our heroes which in turn, stacks up the reader’s sympathy for what they’re going through.

In Sabaa Tahir’s An Ember in the Ashes, both heroes are faced with mounds of conflict right from the start. Laia’s brother is being hunted by the Empire for being a suspected rebel which leads to a raid on her house and the murder of her grandparents (all in the first few chapters!). Meanwhile Elias is trying to escape the Empire to which he’s pledged his loyalty and service as a soldier. And then we learn that his own mother is his commander and a pretty evil villain to boot. Instantly, we’re on both of their sides in part due to the sheer amount of conflict and enemies they’re dealing with.

I went with more emotional conflict in my novel, The Chaos of Standing Still, in which the hero, Ryn, is trying to survive the upcoming one-year anniversary of the death of her best friend. A death she still hasn’t properly grieved. As that fateful day looms closer, so does the emotional pain that she knows she will experience. Stacking up this emotional conflict right from the start was done quite purposefully, to try to bring the reader into Ryn’s world and her pain in an impactful and engaging way.

5) Make them really good at what they do

Admittedly, I think this one is the hardest to pull off but I absolutely love when it’s done well so I wanted to include it.

We, as humans, enjoy watching people crush it in their fields. We’re fascinated by geniuses, virtuosos, and wunderkinds (or wunderkid if you’re a Ted Lasso fan). When someone is really good at what they do, we can’t help but want to watch them (hence the reason I’m so obsessed with Simone Biles.). And we can use this same idea to get our readers behind our heroes.

The most obviously example of this, to me, is Sherlock Holmes, who is never really that likeable in any rendition of the character. In fact, his coldness and unlikability is one of his defining characteristics. And yet, that guy keeps fascinating us! Why? Because he’s brilliant and we like watching him in action.

Same goes for Beth Harmon, the hero of the Netflix limited series, The Queen’s Gambit. She’s not the kind of character you meet and instantly want to be BFFs with. But she’s kind of character you meet and instantly want to stick with, just to see her play another chess match.

It’s also, I believe, one of the reasons readers fall so head over heels in love with Kaz Brekker from Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows. Not because he’s saved any cats but because we love watching his brilliant mind work. We delight in seeing him always stay one move ahead of everyone else and discovering just how he’s going to get himself out of the next predicament (and the next, and the next…)

But like I said, this one can be difficult to pull off. When someone is so good at what they do, they run the risk of becoming even more unlikable, because they’re automatically less relatable. This strategy can easily backfire if you’re not careful. Which is why I recommend pairing this one with another method (either from this list or your own imagination) to make sure your hero is not all virtuosity and no vulnerability.

For example, Beth Harmon isn’t just a prodigy chess player. She’s also an orphan who’s been mistreated and soon develops a substance abuse problem. (Which serves as both conflict and vulnerability).

Kaz Brekker isn’t just a criminal mastermind. He’s also dealing with a tragic backstory, has a hidden weakness for Inej (whom he saved from the Menagerie) and is seeking vengeance on a bitter enemy.

In other words, readers will only be fascinated with brilliance for so long. Eventually they’re going to want to get a peek at the humanity that’s hiding beneath the surface,

So, those are 5 of my favorite ways to Save a Cat without actually having to endanger any fictional cats in the process. I should also note that these methods can be combined for double the impact.

In Sky Without Stars, we show Chatine giving her loaf of bread to a starving mother only moments before we introduce her horrible, abusive parents (layering in the conflict and the vulnerability).

And what about that short scene I referenced from The Old Man?

Minor spoilers ahead!

In only a few minutes we not only see the hit man helping a woman in crutches onto a bus, we also hear him on the phone with his grandmother, assuring her that he got the right type of pain medication from the pharmacy, which shows a relative relying on him.

End of spoilers

And of course, these 5 strategies aren’t the only ways you can get your reader to root for your hero. Feel free to use your creativity and come up with your own!

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What is Save the Cat? (and why do so many writers love it)

Maybe you’ve heard your writer friends talking about Save the Cat! and felt yourself nodding a long while secretly wondering, “What the heck is save the cat?”

Maybe you read about it on a blog post or saw it mentioned in a Youtube video. Or maybe you were just searching for cute cat pictures and wound up here.

Either way, I’m here to clear everything up and tell you exactly what Save the Cat! Is, why it’s so popular among writers, and why YOU should be excited about it too.

Let’s start with a very short definition before we dive into the deeper stuff, like why it works, why people use it, where it came from, and how it can help you.

A very short definition:

The super short, very officially sounding definition is this:

Save the Cat! Is a story-structure method that breaks stories down into a 15-beat blueprint that writers can easily follow to craft engaging, well-paced stories with a satisfying character arc, whether those stories be screenplays, novels, novellas, memoirs, stage plays, or short stories.

Oh, and I should also mention it’s the method that I’ve used to write over 20 novels that have been published by major publishers like Simon and Schuster, Random House, Macmillan, and Disney Press.

So, yeah, it kind of works.

But where does that mean? A story-structure method?

Well, to answer that we need to go back in time.

[Cue time warp sound effect]Save the Cat – A (very) Short History

The story starts back in 2005, when a successful screenwriter, Blake Snyder, released a book called Save the Cat! Which quickly became not only a bestseller but a go-to guide for screenwriters and filmmakers across the world and remains today one of the most popular screenwriting guides ever printed.

But contrary to what some might believe, Blake didn’t invent a storytelling method. He didn’t just say, “oh, here’s a cool, new way to write a movie. From here on out, we should all write screenplays like this!”

Not at all. He didn’t actually invent anything. He simply studied movies way back to the beginning of the medium and found that all of those movies followed a similar pattern. In other words, they could all be broken down into the same plot points (15 of them to be exact), told in the same order and appearing roughly at the same place in every movie. Just like a blueprint.

And he called those plot points “beats.”

He gave the 15 beats fun, fancy names like “The Bad Guys Close In” and the “Dark Night of the Soul” and constructed an easy-to-follow template that screenwriters could follow to write their own movie. Because if every great movie follows this same blueprint, naturally, it stands to reason that, anyone could follow this blueprint and have a compelling screenplay on their hands.

When I picked up the book, back in my early days of novel-writing when I was struggling (and failing) to get an agent and sell my first book, I fell instantly in love with it (not just for its easy-to-follow narrative, but also for Blake’s fun, relatable voice). But mostly, I was dazzled by how simple yet effective the method seemed to be.

And I started to wonder:

Does this work for other forms of story too? Could it possibly work for novels? 

Like for instance, my failed novel that nobody wanted anything to do with.

I decided to try it out.

I got out that old, rejected novel manuscript (the one that had been turned down all over town, by about 35 different agents) and reworked it, following the 15-beat template that Blake outlined in his book and what do you know? That revised draft landed me an agent and soon after a book deal with St. Martin’s Press.

Since then, I’ve sold over 20 novels to major publishers which have been translated in over 20 languages. And every single one of those books, I wrote using the Save the Cat! Method. So, yeah, I would say it works. At least, it worked for me.

But then I started to wonder:

Is it just my particular type of storytelling that it works for?

Maybe I just happen to write books that kind of feel like movies? Is it possible this 15-beat pattern that Blake found in movies also exists in other novels? Is it possible it’s existed all along?

So, I set out to do some research.

I collected a wide variety of books, from all different genres, from all different time periods and for all different age-groups like:

The Girl on the Train by Paula HawkinsMisery by Stephen KingEverything, Everything by Nicola YoonHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK RowlingThe Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck.

And I proceeded to study their structure. How the events of the plot flowed.

And here’s what I found:

The Secret Storytelling Code!

At around 10% of the way through all of these stories, something happened to kick the plot into action. A life-changing event of sorts.

Like in The Girl on the Train when Rachel blacks out and wakes up to find blood in her hair and no memory of the previous night.

Or in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone when Harry finds out he’s a wizard.

Or in The Grapes of Wrath when Tom Joad returns home to find his family farm has been completely deserted.

And then, I found that about 20% of the way through all of these stories, the hero made some kind of decision to try something new or go somewhere new.

Like in The Girl on the Train when Rachel makes the decision to try to solve the mystery of Megan’s disappearance, Harry Potter boards the train for Hogwarts, and Tom Joad and his family set off down Route 66 for California in search of work and prosperity.

At 50% of the way through I found that all of these stories contained a major turning point that raised the stakes of the story.Like Megan’s disappearance being upgraded to a murder case, Harry winning the quidditch match only to discover a professor was bewitching his broom in an attempt to kill him, and Tom Joad and his family reaching California only to be found that there’s no work and they were tricked.

Then, at 75% of the way through all of these stories there was a kind of rock bottom moment, where the hero hit an all-time low point.

Like Rachel locked up in Scott’s house with the threat of being killed, Harry and his friends finding out that Voldemort is about to get his hands on the Sorcerer’s Stone and Tom Joad’s mentor Jim Casy dying in a fight that leaves Tom wanted for murder.

And finally, I found that around 80% of the way through these stories, a kind of resolution was discovered and the hero set out to fix everything that had happened previously.

Like Rachel boarding the train to confront Megan’s killer, Harry and his friends going after the sorcerer’s stone themselves, and Tom Joad setting off to help organize migrant workers.

That’s either a really strange coincidence. Or it’s a kind of code, buried deep within all stories.

I call it the Secret Storytelling code. And it’s been there since, well, forever. Blake Snyder found the code in movies and I found the same one in novels published all the way back in the 18th century as well as novels published yesterday.

That is the Save the Cat! Method.

The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet

It’s a pattern that exists in successful stories everywhere, made up of 15 common plot points or “beats”. And the ones I just mentioned are 5 of them.

Blake gave these common beats names like Catalyst, the Break into 2, the Midpoint, the All is Lost, the Break into 3, among others. And the 15 total beats make up a structure blueprint that’s commonly referred to as the Save the Cat! Beat sheet.

So, yeah, you could call it a blueprint, you could call it a structure template, but I like to call it a storytelling “cheat sheet.” Because naturally, if this is what successful stories have in common, then all we have to do to craft a successful story of our own, is follow the pattern. And what we ultimately end up with is a story that tracks a compelling character arc, keeps readers or audiences engaged, and leaves them feeling satisfied when it’s all over.

 

When to Use Save the Cat!

So now that we know exactly what the Save the Cat! Method is and where it originated, let’s talk about how to use it.

Contrary to popular belief, the Save the Cat method is not just for outlining a novel or story in advance (although it is super helpful for that too and I use it to outline all of my novels before writing them), it almost makes for a very handy revision tool.

Maybe you’re the kind of person who likes to just start writing, without having a particular plan or outline in mind (which is also called “pantsing a novel” or “writing by the seat of your pants”.)

Well, eventually, you’re going to have to revise that novel and make sure it’s built around an effective structure. That’s when you’d compare your first draft with the beats of the Save the Cat! Beat sheet, figure out which beats you’re missing, which beats need to be amped up, which beats need to be shorter or longer or come earlier or later, and make revisions accordingly.

But the Save the Cat! Method is also great for figuring out what’s broken in a story you’re currently working on, busting you out of storytelling blockages, and getting your story back on track if you’ve wandered too far away from the main plot.

But I especially like using the Save the Cat method for test driving new ideas.

Whenever I get a new idea for a novel, or even an inkling of an idea, I always do a “beat sheet” test drive where I sit down and quickly sketch out some rough ideas for the beats of that idea. I know if I can brainstorm some brief, initial ideas for at least 10 of the beats, then I have a story that can go the distance.

On the other hand, if I’m struggling to find enough inspiration for just a few beats, I can pretty much tell I don’t have an idea worth writing. The idea is probably not wide enough in scope to get me through an entire story. This beat sheet test drive technique saves a lot of time compared to getting 100 pages in and then discovering there’s not enough story.

So, that’s the Save the Cat! Method, why it’s extremely useful, and how it might help you. Am I missing anything? Oh, duh. One of the most frequently asked questions of all. WHAT THE HECK DOES SAVING A CAT HAVE TO DO WITH IT?

Why is it called Save the Cat?

Good question. The title originates from Blake’s screenwriting book, in which he tells screenwriters that if you have an unlikeable hero on your hands, you’ve gotta do something early on in the story to get the audience on the hero’s side. The hero has to “save a cat” (like from a tree or a burning building, or a shelter). Okay, they don’t have to literally save a cat, but they have to do something that redeems them or warms them to the audience, regardless of how unlikeable they might be.

Like think about the scene early on in the animated film, Aladdin where Aladdin steals a loaf of bread from a market stall (not exactly a likeable thing to do). Then gets chased by the cops, wreaks all sorts of havoc in the marketplace, making him even more dislikable. But in the end, what does he do? He gives his half of the bread to a starving mother and her child.

Instantly, we’re on his side.

This is a perfect example of a Save the Cat! Scene or moment.

So, no you don’t need to save an actual cat, but I’d just like to point out that on the very first page of the Hunger Games (a scene that also appears in the movie adaptation), Katniss relays the story of how she tried to drown the stray cat that Prim brought home because it was another mouth to feed, only to be stopped by Prim’s relentless begging. And so yes, Katniss saved a cat. This quick backstory serves an important purpose, to show us right off the bat, how close Katniss is with her sister.

And if you’ve watched The Night Of on HBO, you might remember some very poignant Cat saving by the lawyer, John Stone.

So there you have it. The full story of What is Save the Cat!?

Be sure to dive deeper by checking out my book, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel or my Official Save the Cat! Online Novel Writing course, available to stream on-demand.

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How to Build a “Frankenstein” Revision

Revising can be messy. As someone who thrives on order and checklists and clean documents, unmarked documents, I’ve never liked how messy the revision process can feel. You’ve got tracked changes turning your pages into Jackson Pollack painting, comments cluttering up the margins, unfinished subplots dangling about, and torn-apart scenes strewn through your manuscript like debris after a hurricane.

I. DON’T. LIKE. IT.

That’s why I invented the Frankenstein revision. (Okay, so I probably didn’t really invent it. For all I know it’s been around since Mary Shelley herself.) But I’ve come to love it. So I thought I’d share it with you, just in case you too, suffer from messy-manuscript-phobia.

Since “inventing” it, it’s become one of my favorite things ever and I rarely revise a manuscript any other way (at least not for the first few drafts when things are getting shuffled around the most.) I even recently used it for revising the second draft of my upcoming non-fiction book, Save the Cat! Writes a Young Adult Novel.

Why is it called a Frankenstein revision? Well, what do you first think of when I tell you to picture Frankenstein’s monster? I, personally, think of mismatched body parts stitched together. And that’s what this revision is. Instead of revising or rewriting your manuscript in your existing document, you stitch various parts together in a new document.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how I do it.

(Hint: this method works best if you have more than one monitor, but you can achieve the same results by splitting your single monitor into multiple windows).

Step 1: Open Your Current Draft

Open your first (or current) draft on one screen or window. This will be what you pull text from. This should not change or be edited at all. Think of it as “locked.”

Step 2: Open a Separate Blank Document

Open a brand-new, blank document on a second screen or window. This will become your next draft. Name it something that will help you identify it. Like “[Book title] – Second Draft” or “[Book Title] – Frankenstein Draft”. I actually like to name my files, “[Book Title] – Second Draft Rebuild” (for reasons that will make sense in the next step.

3) Rebuild Your Story

As you work through your revision plan, you’ll be copying and pasting sentences, paragraphs, or maybe even full scenes from your first document (current draft) into your second document (next draft). This text may or may not appear in the same order in your next draft, which is why it’s helpful to have the full, intact current draft document open on another screen so you can pick and choose what to pull in and when.

Any sections that don’t yet exist in your current draft, but need to be added to the next draft, can be written in as you go. These can be full scenes, subplots, new threads, or even just a chunk of dialogue.

I personally like to start at the beginning of my next draft and work through the story chronologically, copying and pasting parts that I do have and writing in parts that I don’t have. I essentially rebuild my story based on the next-draft storyboard I’ve created in my revision plan.

Don’t have a revision plan yet? Build yours here with my Complete Novel Revision Course!

4) Stitch Things Together as Necessary

As you rebuild your story, you’ll probably find that the text doesn’t seamlessly fit together piece by piece, especially when you’re rearranging a lot of scenes. You’ll probably need to add some “stitching” in places to make story flow properly.

For example, if you’ve pulled a scene from near the end of the first draft and are now putting it closer to the start of the novel, you’ll probably need some timeline “stitching” to make it work sequentially, and possibly some tweaks to the actual scene to remove any references to plot points or events that haven’t happened yet or characters who haven’t been introduced yet.

5) Continue Building and Stitching Until You’re Finished

Repeat steps 3-5, copying and pasting from your current draft into your new draft, adding in new text when necessary, and fusing it all together until you’ve worked through your revision plan and your next draft is complete.

Now you have a “Frankenstein” revision! You’ll probably have to go back through it a few more times to make sure that stitching really is seamless and there’s no unsightly limbs hanging out where they shouldn’t be.

I find this method to be so much more organized and controlled and it helps me gauge where I am in the process at all times because I’m literally rebuilding my story anew.

Also, copying and pasting from my current draft, instead of trying to revise in the draft, helps me see the story more clearly and makes it easier for me to let things go that really don’t serve my next draft. It’s so much harder to deletesomething from your draft than it is to simply not add it into the next draft. It’s sort of a psychological trick. Deleting makes it feel like you’re erasing hard work. Leaving it in the old draft and choosing not to copy and paste it into the new draft just reminds us that it’s still there, and it has a place…in the old draft. But not necessarily in the new one.

So, if you’re looking to shake up your revision process, try the Frankenstein method with your next draft and see if it helps you tackle that revision monster once and for all!

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Where Do Flashbacks and Backstory Belong in the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet?

Flashbacks and backstory can be extremely useful storytelling devices that give your reader important information about the history of the world, a character’s past, and why certain characters behave a certain way. When used sparingly and strategically, backstory can provide context and clarity and even create empathy for unlikeable characters.

But where do you do this when using the Save the Cat! method for writing novels?

Are there specific beats where these elements go? Yes and no. The short answer is there is no hard and fast rule as to where in the beat sheet you can place a flashback or deliver backstory to the reader. There’s no one beat that is the ultimate “flashback” beat. But there are places in the beat sheet where these literary devices work better.

Most likely, you’re going to deliver backstory (through flashbacks or other means) in the “multi-scene” beats. So, we’re talking the Setup, Debate, Fun and Games, Bad Guys Close In, Dark Night of the Soul, and Finale. (For more on these beats, check out my blog post here). The single-scene beats (especially those foundation beats which pivot the plot) are best kept in the present moment. (For more on the foundation beats, check out this blog post.)

For example, a Catalyst which sets the story into motion is probably going to happen in the present, not in the past. Unless, there’s a very compelling reason. Likewise, the Midpoint, which raises the stakes of the story and pivots the direction of the plot, is probably going to happen in the present as well. Same goes for the All is Lost and those beats where the hero is making a decision and taking action (Break into 2 and Break into 3). These beats work best in the present, as they’re dictating where the story goes next.

The Setup, on the other hand, is where you are literally setting up your hero and their world, so perhaps a little sprinkling of backstory here—maybe a flashback or two—will help accomplish that. And notice I said “sprinkling.” Backstory is the most compelling to read about when it’s sprinkled in here and there, as opposed to dumped in all at once (especially at the start of the story.) Give the reader just enough for them to understand what’s happening in the present, but always leave them wanting more backstory…not less of it.

Similarly, the Debate beat is designed for contemplation and internal reflection, making it a fitting place to perhaps dive into the past for a moment, to show how that past might influence the big decision coming up in the Break into 2.

In general, the multi-scene beats are good places to weave in backstory because you have time. You have pages. The Fun and Games beat is long. It might be nice to give the reader some short breaks from from the primary storyline by diving into the hero’s past and revealing some important backstory.

The operative word with backstory and flashbacks, however, is always necessity. Nothing slows a plot more than unnecessary backstory. Backstory should be used to explain a character’s behavior, raise the stakes of the plot, help reveal the theme, inform the events of the present, or connect to the present storyline in another meaningful way. The rule is, if the story doesn’t make sense without it, then it’s necessary. If you can lift it out and the story still works, then you probably don’t need it.

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How I Start My Save the Cat! Beat Sheets

“How do you approach the beat sheet?”

There’s a question I get asked a lot. Logically, you might think I start with the Opening Image and just work my way through, beat by beat, until I reach the Final Image.

But that’s not usually the case.

Although all of my novel brainstorm processes are unique, for the most part, I follow a very specific approach for starting my beat sheet. I find that this approach is especially helpful when I’m in the very early planning stage of a novel and I’m just trying to flesh out some initial ideas, but I don’t have a lot of details cemented in my mind yet.

I start with the “Foundation Beats.”

What are the Foundation Beats?

They are the major turning points of the story, meaning the moments where the story direction pivots. So, naturally, these are all single-scene beats.

The Five Foundation beats of any story are:

CatalystBreak into 2MidpointAll is LostBreak into 3

(More on all the beats can be found in this blog post.)

These five beats are the tentpoles that the rest of the beats are strung between. Like how the Debate is strung between the Catalyst and the Break into 2. And similarly, the Fun and Games connects the Break into 2 to the Midpoint.

The foundation beats help form the basic structure of the story.

For example, just look at how these 5 beats form the foundation of the Pulitzer-prize winner, The Goldfinch by Donna Tart (spoiler warning!)

Catalyst – A terrorist attack on the Met kills Theo’s mother, kicking the story into action.Break into 2 – Theo moves from New York to Las Vegas with his dad (and makes the proactive decision to bring the painting he stole from the Met with him). This thrusts the story into the upside down world of Act 2 and sets Theo on a story-wide goal to keep the painting safe and hidden.Midpoint – Theo’s Dad is killed in a False Defeat, sending the story in a new direction and introducing a new goal for Theo: get back to New York to escape child protective services.All is Lost – An adult Theo discovers that the painting he’s been trying to keep safe for years…is gone. This connection to his mother and the day she died serves as a whiff of death and a low point of the story.Break into 3: Theo travels to Amsterdam with his childhood friend from Las Vegas (synthesis!) to recover the painting

Obviously, the novel has a lot more going on than these 5 beats. But I think it’s wonderful (and reassuring!) to see how even a 700+ page literary classic still has to have a solid structural foundation to stand on. And that structure is shaped by these 5 foundation beats.

That’s why I often find it easier to nail down these beats first, before tackling the other beats. Because they help shape the rest of the story.

So, I’ll usually set up my 5 “tent poles” and then figure out how to get my characters from tent pole to tent pole (using the longer, multi-scene beats.) When you have those single-scene beats established first, it gives you something to write toward (or plot toward.)

If you’re wondering, “What the heck do I fill the Fun and Games with? It’s soooo long!” ask yourself, “What do you want the Midpoint to be?” Because the Midpoint—the next tent pole after the Break into 2—should dictate what kind of plot points you establish in your Fun and Games in order to get to that Midpoint.

If you’d like to watch me walk through this very process, beat by beat, with one of my own novels, there’s a full Bonus Lecture in my Save the Cat! Novel Writing Course where I show you exactly how I use the Foundation Beats to kickstart my brainstorm.

So, if you’re struggling to start your own novel brainstorm or even your novel revision, or if you’re feeling overwhelmed with the task of juggling all 15 story beats, try starting with these five beats, and see if that doesn’t help you nail down some helpful foundations to work with.

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How to Read Like a Writer (5 Tips)

It’s no secret that one of the best ways to become a better fiction writer is to read lots of fiction. But I think it goes beyond that. I think, to become a better writer, you can’t just read a lot. You have to learn and practice how to read books as a writer. Not as a reader

And the two skills are definitely not the same.

Which is why for this blog post, I thought I’d break down my 5 top tips for learning to read fiction like a writer.

Before we get into the tips, let’s first talk about the key differences between reading like a reader and reading like a writer, and the ideal mindset to be in when you do the latter.

When you read fiction as a reader, you’re usually seeking an enjoyable experience. Entertainment. You’re trying to guess what comes next, living on the edge of your seat, feeling thrilled by the twists you didn’t see coming (or maybe even frustrated that you didn’t see it coming!)

However, when you read fiction as a writer, it’s essentially not about entertaining yourself, it’s about educating yourself. It’s about trying to figure out what the writer did and (most importantly) why.

Why did the author put this scene here? How does this character reaction service the entire character arc? What does this piece of worldbuilding do to immerse the reader? What purpose does this scene serve to the entire plot?

These are the kinds of questions you should be asking yourself as you read fiction as a writer. It doesn’t mean you can’tread fiction as a reader anymore. It’s just that when you sit down to study a novel, for the purposes of learning from it and honing your own craft, you’re going to be approaching the process differently. You’ll be wearing a different hat.

So, let’s put on our “writer” hats and get studying!

Tip 1: Read the novel as a reader first

Yes, I’m sorry to say, to read a book effectively as a writer you have to read it twice. First as a reader, then as a writer. The books I break down for the Save the Cat! examples and beat sheets are all books I’ve read at least twice. It’s nearly impossible to identify all the intricate details of what the writer has done if you don’t know the ending of the book and where the characters are heading.

So the first step is always to read the book first. But this is when you get to read it as a reader. For entertainment. So, enjoy yourself! Let yourself be surprised, shocked, thrilled, lulled into a false sense of security only to have the rug ripped out from under you! Then, once you have the full picture of the story in your mind, turn back to page one and start again.

Tip 2: Try to identify the beats…at the least the 5 “foundation beats”

Once you have the full picture of the story in your head, on the second read, you can start to see how things fit together. You can start to identify the structure of the story.

If you follow the Save the Cat! method, this could mean creating a beat sheet for the book. It doesn’t have to be a fully fleshed out, polished beat sheet like the ones I include in Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, since it’s only for you. You can just do more of an outline, writing bullet points for each beat. Or if the idea of finding and identifying all 15 beats overwhelms you, just identify the “foundation beats:” Catalyst, Break into 2, Midpoint, All is Lost, and Break into 3. Because the foundation beats are the “single scene” beats, and the turning points of the story, they tend to stand out the most when you’re reading and are the easiest to find.  (Read more about the foundation beats here!)

Crafting a beat sheet will help you identify how the author structured the story and how they used major turning points to pivot the plot in different directions. As your read and “beat,” ask yourself things like:

How did the Catalyst break the status quo?How did it eventually lead to a Break into 2 decision?How is the Act 2 world different from the Act 1 world?Does the Midpoint feel like a false victory or false defeat?How were the stakes raised at the MIdpoint?What was lost at the All is Lost? Was there a whiff of death and what was it?What “plan” was created at the Break into 3

Forcing yourself to identify these things and even write them down will go a long way in helping you understand structure in general and then you can take these insights and apply them to your own manuscript

Tip 3: Identify the “Before” and “After” Character

How does the main character change in the novel you’re analyzing?

It’s helpful to compare a Before and After snapshot of the hero. You can do this simply by making a list of the character’s problems and flaws (external and internal) that are presented in Act 1 of the story and then see how each of those things have been improved upon (or not!) by the end of the novel.

Like, here’s one I break down in my Complete Novel Revision Course in the lecture about character transformation:

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (Small spoilers below)

At the beginning Eleanor is:

LonelyAnti-socialHas no friendsScarred by the tragedies of her pastCoping with those tragedies through alcohol and a rather delusional fantasy life

By the end, Eleanor is:

Seeing a therapistCoping with her pastSeeing things as they really areFacing up to what happened to herStarting a new romantic relationship

These quick snapshots will help you identify and see character transformation on a macro-level, which is a lot easier than analyzing it chapter by chapter or even scene by scene. So if you notice the character is plagued by guilt at the start of the novel, jot that down in the “Before” snapshot and then see if you can identify any change to that problem by the end. Are they still plagued by guilt? Or have they gotten over it?

Tip 4: Label the Backstory

Backstory and flashbacks are one of those storytelling devices that are hard to implement well. We want to dump it all in at once, when really it should be more finessed than that.

Backstory should be doled out gradually, over time, in an intriguing way. Which means revealing it little by little–only enough to give the reader enough context to understand and appreciate what’s happening to the character (internally and externally) at that moment of the story…and always leaving them wanting more.

My first indication that an author has implemented backstory well is when I’m itching to read more of it.

My first indication that an author has not implemented backstory well, is when I’m skimming over long backstory dumps in the story, trying to get back to the main story.

Once again, a great way to learn how to implement backstory well is to study others who have done it! At the very least, it’s helpful to identify the areas of the story where the writer delivered backstory. This could be a full-on flashback, a memory, or even exposition (when the writer tells the reader something important about the backstory.)

If you don’t mind marking up your physical book, you can use an actual highlighter for this, or just some colorful sticky notes. If you’re reading an eBook, the highlight feature is built in. Take note of how the backstory is weaved in, how the writer transitions in and out of it, how sporadic or non-sporadic it is, and also what the writer is withholding, making you desperate to learn more.

If you want to take your backstory study a step further, you can even create a spreadsheet. (Bear me with me here!) Build a spreadsheet (in Excel, Google sheets, Numbers, or other app), label each row as a chapter in the book and then record what you learned about the character’s backstory (if anything) in that chapter, and maybe even your analysis of why that piece of information was revealed here.

If the book has multiple main characters or points of view, you can use the columns to keep track of each one. If this sounds like a lot of work, it is! But it’s a lot of illuminating work that will help you start to see patterns in what makes for effective backstory.

Tip 5: Identify the Goals of Key Scenes

All stories should have goals. And many writing teachers (myself included) will also insist that every scene should have a goal. Even if it’s as small as getting a cup of coffee or sending an email or finding a book in the library.

A scene goal helps the reader understand why this scene is in the story and how it serves the plot. If the reader can’t understand that, even on a subconscious level, the story will feel like it’s dragging in that moment, because the scene lacks purpose and connection.

So here’s a challenge: Go through the book you’re analyzing scene by scene (or chapter by chapter) and start identifying the goals of each scene. Or at least each key scene. Like the major scenes where big plot points happen.

You can even add this to your spreadsheet if you want!

Once you identify scene-level goals, you’ll start to see how they connect to form and impact larger story-level goals. Storytelling is all a big web of goals. And when you write them all out, your eyes will be opened to how these goals feel like links in a chain.

And if you want to take it a step further, you can also identify the conflict of each scene. Like scene-level goals, scene-level conflict doesn’t have to be big. It just has to be big enough to make the scene-level goal difficult.

Like a long line at the coffee shop where the character is trying to get coffee, a temporary wi-fi outage preventing the character from sending the email, the book the character is looking for is already checked out from the library, and so on.

Add these scene-level conflicts to your spreadsheet and watch how the story unlocks, the curtain is pulled back, and the magic is revealed.

So those are my 5 tips for how to read fiction like a writer.

I will warn you, however, once you pull back that curtain and start taking a look at how it all works, it might be more difficult for you to read like a reader in the future. You’ll start seeing these same patterns in books you’re not trying to analyze. It won’t ruin books for you forever, it’ll simply change the way you experience them. But in the end, it’ll make you a better writer. So hopefully it’ll all be worth it!

If you want to dive deeper into scene-level goals and conflict, backstory, character transformation, and structure, check out my Complete Novel Revision course, streaming on-demand now in the Writing Mastery Academy.

 

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The Most Organized Way to Revise a Novel (+ Free Revision Kickstart Guide)

So, you’ve written a first draft of a novel. Now what? 

If you’re like most writers, the thought of revising your first draft (especially if it’s a messy one) is so daunting, you’re afraid to even begin. Sadly, many authors finish a first draft and then tuck it in the proverbial drawer never to be seen again, because they’re just too overwhelmed by the idea of making it work. They’re plagued by questions like: 

What do I focus on? 

How do I keep myself organized?

Where do I start? 

Well, say goodbye to revision overwhelm and fatigue and say hello to the most organized and efficient method for revising a novel. 

This method–which I call the “Level Down Revision Method”–was developed from my own experience revising more than 20 novels with major publishers. It’s modeled after the process professional editors use to guide authors through their revisions. 

And it’s a game changer. 

This method has saved me thousands of hours of time, rewrites, and wasted effort and anxiety. It breaks the revision process down into manageable steps to ensure you’re always doing the right task at the right time and avoiding any superfluous work. 

It’s specifically designed to make you feel organized, confident, and in control of the revision process. (And if you’ve ever tried to revise a novel before, you know how easy it is to feel disorganized, insecure, and completely out of control.) 

In this post, I’ll introduce you to the Level-Down Revision Method, show you how it works, and how it will put you on the fast track to novel revision success! 

 

If you want to dig deeper into the method (including a step-by-step guide on how to get started using it), be sure to download my FREE Level-Down Revision Kickstart Guide or check out my Complete Novel Revision online course. 

 

To fully understand the benefits of the Level-Down Revision Method, we first need to take a look at the other revision method. The one that leaves you feeling overwhelmed, disorganized, and unfocused. (I know this method well because it’s how I used to revise my novels, before I developed my current method.) 

The Least Efficient Way to Revise Your Novel 

Turn to page 1 and start revising. 

That’s it. 

Seems simple enough, right? Seems logical even. I wrote the book in order (or most of us do), why not revise it in order? 

But actually, this is the least efficient way to revise a novel. And unfortunately, the way that most authors do revise their novels. 

Here’s the problem with revising a novel this way. 

It means you’re attempting to rewrite scenes, fix character development, restructure the plot, add subplots, delete subplots, polish clunky sentences, add conflict, ratchet up tension, flesh out worldbuilding, fix inconsistencies, find the perfect word to describe the sky on page 245…

ALL AT THE SAME TIME! 

If just reading that paragraph made you feel overwhelmed, try actually doing it!

It’s no wonder so many authors give up on their novel revision! It’s just too much to handle all at once! 

Trying to revise your novel this way is sure to leave you feeling: 

Disorganized – Because it’s difficult to track your goals, your tasks, and your progress, which in turn makes it difficult to hold yourself accountableInefficient – Because you’re bound to do way more work than you need to Unfocused – Because when you’re trying to do so many different types of revision tasks at once, it’s hard to do any one of those tasks well Overwhelmed – Because it’s impossible to hold ALL of those tasks (and the ripple effects they’ll surely have in the story) in your head at once

As you move through the manuscript and find more things to fix, you’ll find yourself doubling back (again and again) to revise what you’ve already revised, which can make the revision process feel never-ending! 

Again, I know all of this because I used to do it this way. And it was very stressful. 

Then, I developed the Level-Down Revision Method and it changed everything. So, let me walk you through how it works. 

The Most Efficient Way to Revise Your Novel

The Level-Down Revision Method essentially breaks your revision into multiple levels or “passes” through the manuscript. 

It starts with a macro-level view of your story and works down to a micro-level view of your story, allowing you to focus on one level (or type of revision task) at a time. 

Which provides you with a structured and organized method for tackling a revision. 

And it looks like this: 

The Three Levels

Here’s an overview of the three levels and what you should be focusing on in each. 

The Story-Level Revision 

The first revision level is the Story-Level revision (also called the “Developmental Edit”) This is where you focus on bigger picture items that affect the entire story, like structure, plot, character arcs, character development, worldbuilding and the overall pacing of the plot.

This is by far the most extensive level of the revision process where you will probably spend most of your revision time. But it’s important to spend the time here to nail down that overall story, because having a well-structured story automatically makes the next levels of the revision process easier and more streamlined.  

The Scene-Level Revision

Once you have your story firmly in place, you can move on to the Scene-Level revision (also called the “Detailed Edit”), tackling the novel in smaller pieces and ensuring that each scene (or event in the plot) is crafted effectively.

This is the “medium-level” view where you revise each scene as though it’s its own mini-story, focusing on scene pacing, scene structure, and essential scene elements. 

The Page-Level Revision

And finally, the last revision level is the Page-Level revision (also called the “Line Edit”) where you revise each page, line by line, making sure your writing is dynamic and compelling on every page. All the nitty gritty editing work is done at this level where you focus on polishing sentences, word choice, syntax, and more line-editing work. This is the most zoomed-in revision level. 

Why the Level-Down Revision Method Works

Breaking the revision process down into these three levels allows you to concentrate on one aspect of the revision at a time, which is much more effective and efficient than trying to do it all at once. 

It also ensures you aren’t doing any superfluous work (like spending hours revising a single paragraph just to have it be cut the next day when you realize it doesn’t fit into the current plot or doesn’t serve the character’s story arc. Or spending two days revising a single scene only to discover it needs to be moved to an entirely different place in the story and you have to start over.) 

Revising your novel using the Level-Down Revision Method makes you feel: 

Organized  – Because it breaks the process down into achievable steps and gives you trackable goals to work toward.Efficient – Because it ensures you don’t do a ton of superfluous work.Focused – Because it allows you to dedicate all of your efforts to one type of task at a time, which makes it easier to hold the necessary story parts in your head when you’re working on them.Empowered – Because it makes you feel confident you’re doing the right task at the right time, which keeps revisions “doable” and “controllable.” 

And the best part is, instead of feeling like the revision is never-ending, you get to complete each level of the process with a sense of “victory!” A milestone achieved!

How to Organize Your Revision Into Levels

Now that you understand the revision levels, you can start organizing your revision notes and ideas into these levels and tackling them at the right time in the process. 

You’ll want to work through your revision list and notes one by one and categorize them as “Story-Level,” “Scene-Level” or “Page-Level.” 

The goal here is to figure out what you need to do next and what can wait for a future level or draft. In other words, you don’t want to start tearing apart scenes (Scene-Level) or fixing sentences (Page-Level) before you get your story structure figured out (Story-Level) as it will only lead to wasted time and energy.

The quickest way to determine if an idea or revision task is Story-Level, Scene-Level, or Page-Level is to ask yourself the following questions: 

Does this idea affect the entire story (or multiple scenes/chapters?)

If yes, then it goes in the Story-Level Revision. 

Does this idea affect only this scene/chapter? 

If yes, then it goes in the Scene-Level Revision. 

Does this idea affect only this page or paragraph? 

If yes, then it goes in the Page-Level Revision. 

 

For example: 

Do you need to introduce the love interest sooner? 

That will probably affect more than just one scene as moving characters around tends to have ripple effects throughout the story. So it’s a Story-Level revision. 

Do you need to add more conflict to a big fight scene? 

This is probably referring to a single scene in which the fight takes place, which means the changes made here probably won’t affect too many other scenes in the story (if any). This goes in the Scene-Level revision. 

Do you need to rewrite the description of a specific building? 

As long as the description doesn’t affect every scene that the building is in, this is a Page-Level revision. If, however, the task requires more world building in general and that world building will ripple through the rest of the story, it would be a Story-Level revision. 

 

So, there you have it! My Level-Down Revision Method, your key to a successful, organized, efficient revision process. 

If you need help analyzing your story and deciding what tasks you should be doing in each level, my Complete Novel Revision Course comes with complete checklists for each revision level that use to self-diagnosis your own manuscript, revise common story-level, scene-level, and page-level issues, and confidently determine when you’re ready to move to the next revision level.

I also walk through the entire process with my own project and revise a novel right along with you, including storyboard demos, scene-card demos, and even live line-editing demos!

Happy Revising!

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