Save the Cat! Beat Sheet Workbook

by Jamie Nash

Break out your favorite pencil and roll up your sleeves! The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet Workbook provides key writing prompts and asks all the important questions—but you bring the story, filling out the pages that walk you step-by-step through the Save the Cat! process.

The official hands-on companion to the best-selling Save the Cat! and Save the Cat! Writes for TV, this interactive workbook helps you dig deep into every aspect of your story. It’s inspiring, easy to manage, and your guide to:

• Idea and Concept Brainstorming – Unlock your idea engine with a series of exercises and prompts geared to help you find your best story idea.

• Meaningful Themes – Explore yourself, matching your story to something that speaks to your soul and represents your tastes and personality.

• Story Genre Identification – Nail down that pesky question of “What is your story?” with the Save the Cat! Story Genres.

• Create Fully Developed Characters – Give life to main characters who have wants, needs, and flaws. Surround them with a supporting cast that provides opportunities for conflict and thematic tension.

• The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet – Discover the tools and detailed exercises to give your story the structure to succeed.

Genres: Writing

192 pages, Paperback

Published November 8, 2022

About the author

.Jamie Nash is an author and screenwriter who writes fun and adventurous Middle Grade novels.

He's written kids movies like SANTA HUNTERS and TINY CHRISTMAS and scary movies NOT for kids like EXISTS and ALTERED.

Reviews

[Kathryn Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not what I expected...not in a bad way, just different. I love all the Save the Cat resources. I usually start my stories using their framework and go from there. I was expecting a normal workbook that assumed you had a general idea for the story and was showing you how to turn the idea into an outline.
This book is an excellent workbook for anyone who is very new to writing fiction or for a middle school or high school student wanting to learn how to write. In fact, there are activities in this book which I have done with my 6th graders when they were developing characters. (I've taught middle school for 19 years.) Also, the font throughout the book is a kind of handwriting font rather than Times New Roman. This also give it a childish feel. The first 135 pages are activities to help you brainstorm, world build, develop characters, etc. 136-192 has activities to help develop the plot in the Save the Cat framework.
I probably won't use it because I've already written dozens of stories and have my own way of creating characters, world building, etc. I also own (and have reviewed other STC products my blog Quill and Books) the book and cards. Those tools will be more helpful to me at this point in my writing journey. I do highly recommend it for new writers!

[Margay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've explored and reviewed several works in this series and have become such a big fan of the method, I just had to try out the workbook, too. I must admit that I haven't completed every task (there's a lot) - yet - but I am having fun with the process, which is pretty much the them of this book. It is loaded with lots of fun, out-of-the-box exercises designed to help you get to the core of your story. And of course, the beat sheets - the workbook wouldn't be complete without them! So whether you're writing for TV, the movies, or a novel, pick up this book, have fun with the exercises, and by the last page, you should have a very good basis for your next project.

[Kenny Johnson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I imagine some may find this book useful, but it's just not what I was expecting or looking for. The graphic design suggests its a book for teens or children, though I'm not sure if that's the intention. The content itself is fairly light, which isn't unexpected for a workbook, but much of the book is really geared toward readers making lists of things they like, fear, or get mad about to hopefully lead the reader to ideas about what kind of stories they want to tell. I guess that's fine, but it's not really specific to the Save the Cat beat sheet.

If like me, you were looking for a tool to help structure your story, then I think you'll likely be disappointed.

If you're looking for a cute book that's more focused on encouraging you to put some of your thoughts to paper then maybe you'll find something here to love.

So take my low score with that disclaimer. It's just not a book for me.

[Kaino · Rating 2 out of 5]

Luin kirjan heti Jessica Brodyn Save the Cat! Writes a novel:n jälkeen, ja siihen verrattuna workbook oli pienoinen pettymys. Minulla oli selkeästi eri odotukset sitä kohtaan, sillä petyin lapsenomaiseen grafiikkaan ja vähäiseen sisältöön. Workbook sopii paremmin TV/elokuva-käsikirjoittamiseen kuin kirjan kirjoittamiseen, mikä varmasti onkin tarkoitus. Mielestäni workbookista saa myös enemmän irti, jos ei ole minkäänlaista aloitusideaa vaan lähtee liikkeelle täysin tyhjältä pöydältä. Itselläni on jo kirjoitusidea valmiina, joten monet tehtävistä tuntuivat tarpeettomilta ja turhilta.

[Willow (Taylor's version) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping to find good use in this beat sheet workbook of Save the Cat! but I sadly believe this to be a poorly executed, thoughtlessly made cash-grab. I would maybe recommend this to a ten-year-old who hopes to create their own story from scratch, but even then, they could find writing advice books much more tailored to themselves.

[UnderseaDavis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall solid workbook if you’re doing save the cat as a group/classroom, but it feels a little too easy after you’ve gotten through original cat or any of the remixes…

Should be the first cat you read (or you can skip it). Do NOT read it last (mistake I made).

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun and interactive workbook to go with a great book. Got me thinking about my novel idea in a different and deeper way.

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who have the Save the Cat! books for writing screenplays, TV series, and novels, this workbook is a must buy. I am one of those writers who needs to have multiple input and formats to create on and this book did the trick. I highly recommend watch the YouTube video of Jamie Nash discussing it as well.