Save the Cat! Novel Calculator
The Save the Cat! Novel Calculator is a tool you can use to estimate where the Save the Cat! beats should be found in your manuscript according to the total page or word count. Each beat tends to fall around the same percentage (or range of percentages), so we can do some simple math to figure out approximately where each beat should land.
Keep in mind that all stories are a little different, so your results might very slightly from what the calculator shows, which is perfectly okay. After all, writing is an art, not an exact science!
How to Use the Calculator
Simply enter your actual or estimated total Word/Page Count and click the Calculate Beats button to see the results.
If don’t have an actual or estimate for your total Page/Word Count yet, choose a few popular novels that are in your same genre and use an average of those to come up with an estimate. Again, the goal here is not to be exact, but to give some general guidelines.
To give a few examples, here are some average Page and Word Counts for a few genres:
Genre
Average Page Count
Average Word Count
General Fiction
280 to 400 pages
70,000 to 100,000 words
Science Fiction / Fantasy
360 to 400 pages
90,000 to 100,000 words
Thriller / Horror / Mystery
280 to 360 pages
70,000 to 90,000 words
Young Adult
240 to 360 pages
60,000 to 90,000 words
The Save the Cat! Novel Calculator
Estimated Total Pages or Words :
Beat
Page / Word Count
Opening Image
Theme Stated
Setup
Catalyst
Debate
Break Into 2
B Story
Fun and Games
Midpoint
Bad Guys Close In
All Is Lost
Dark Night of the Soul
Break Into 3
Finale
Final Image
Hope this calculator is helpful! If you’d like to learn more about how to write a novel using the Save the Cat! method, check out my book, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and the official online companion course, available on Writing Mastery Academy.
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