Save the Cat!

At our writing group meeting today, one of our members shared a presentation on Blake Snyder's "Save the Cat," a 15-point writing structure that I find very useful. She explained the origin of the title by saying that, early in the story, your main character needs to do something heroic to gain the empathy of the reader, such as saving a cat. One of my favorite instances of this is in the movie "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl." We're introduced to the character of Captain Jack Sparrow, who we learn is a pirate. Now, since pirates are not generally considered heroic or nice guys (at least they weren't before the POTC movies), the writers needed to show that Captain Jack was a heroic figure and nice guy. So, when Elizabeth Swan faints and falls into the sea, Jack jumps in to save her. In doing so, he proves that he's a hero and a decent guy. He also risks his own neck, because he's recognized as a result of his efforts and under the law, can be hanged for piracy. So this is how we know he's a good guy.

I first heard about Save the Cat at the Romance Writers of America National Conference last summer. One of the movies the speaker used to illustrate the story "beats" was "Legally Blonde," which is one of my favorites. One of the reasons I like it so well is because of the character growth arc. Elle has a flawed goal at the beginning of the story; she's trying to win back her boyfriend after he dumps her. At first, things seem to be working for her, but then there's the eye-opening scene where she finally realizes (and says to her ex, Warner,) "I'm never going to be good enough for you, am I?" So then her goal changes, and the audience is still rooting for her to win, because she's made the right choice. I contrast this with another movie, "My Best Friend's Wedding." I'll use the actor's names, because I've only seen this movie once and don't remember the characters' names. In this one, Julia Robert's character schemes to break up the wedding of her (male) best friend, so she can have him herself. Just as in Elle's situation, this is a flawed goal. All through the movie, the audience can clearly see that her best friend loves his fiancee, and that the two of them should be together. Yet, JR's goal doesn't change. All the way up until the end, she's trying to break up the wedding and tell her best friend how she feels. Finally Rupert Everett's character has to point out to her the futility of her actions. And then the movie ends. This felt like a real let-down for me. I was never rooting for JR's character to succeed, because I knew it wasn't the right thing for her to be doing. If she had learned that lesson herself, early enough to change directions and find something worthwhile to do instead, the movie would have worked for me.

Hearing about Save the Cat was a really eye-opening experience for me. The speaker addressed all these "beats" of a story (which works for both books and movies) and I realized that many of these beats were already in place in my own novel. So I felt like I've been getting at least some elements of my novel right without even realizing. One thing I haven't figured out yet is how Claire, my protagonist, is going to Save the Cat. She is a cat owner, so I could use a literal example. I based Claire's cat Harry on my own cat Lucky, and I saved his life once. He was on a tie-out cord in the back yard, and managed to climb up into a tree, get tangled up, and fall, so he was dangling from his neck. I heard his cries of distress, and, having just gotten out of the shower, ran outside in my underwear to rescue him. I think that works as a heroic novel element. And, although no one saw me (in my backyard which had a six-foot high wooden fence around it), I think I'll add a witness or two to Claire's situation. Excuse me, while I get back to my writing...

FOX Mondays

My sister started posting on Facebook about how much she loves the new show Sleepy Hollow, emphasizing that since the hero was British, I would love it, too. Then a colleague at work asked if I watched it and went on and on about how good-looking the hero was. Then I read an exchange on a fellow writer's blog about which one of them had persuaded the other one to start watching Sleepy Hollow. So I decided to give it a try. I've watched nine of the first ten episodes, since the pilot was no longer available to view online. And after watching all those eps, my reaction was pretty much mediocre, which is surprising to anyone who knows me. As my sister pointed out, I love British heroes. All my fave actors are from the UK. And I love supernatural story lines, so why wasn't I more impressed with the show? I can't really point to anything specific, other than the characters aren't that compelling for me. I'm just not that interested in what happens to them. It doesn't mean it's a bad show, just that it doesn't really do it for me. Part of the problem may be time-related. Sleepy Hollow comes on right after Almost Human, also on Fox Monday nights. Now, I love Almost Human. I have from the very first. It's an action/sci-fi show, set in the future, which is usually not my thing at all; I love shows that hearken back to the past. So if this kind of story doesn't interest me in general, why did I start watching? Two words: Karl Urban. I've been a huge fan of his since I saw him in Star Trek. And I freely admit that I will eagerly watch anything he does. But he is not the reason (okay, the only reason) I love Almost Human. I love the interaction between the characters; I love the way he interacts with his new android partner. I can't wait to see each week's show, and find out if he's ever going to get romantically involved with his co-worker, who clearly reciprocates his interest in her. Even the nerdy science guy is interesting and likable to me. From my perspective, the cases these cops investigate each week are interesting enough, but not the reason I keep tuning in. I want to know what's going to happen to them; how they're going to learn from each other, grow as characters, and evolve into better people. I just don't feel that while watching Sleepy Hollow. Tom Mison is not an unappealing man, but for me, Karl is too hard an act to follow. For now, I'll keep watching both to see what happens. At the very least, I have two reasons not to dread Mondays so much anymore.