Book Review: “Save the Cat! Writes a Novel” by Jessica Brody

Jan 18

Håfa adai! Welcome to my review of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing You’ll Ever Need, by Jessica Brody.

This book review consists of two parts: a brief summary of content followed by my personal takeaways. I may go into detail about some parts of the book, but I will leave out the greater nuance. I want to share my opinions of the book and encourage you to purchase a copy of your own.

Click on the tags at the bottom of this post to see all reviews with the same tags in the On Writing & More bookshelf.

Summary of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel

In Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, Jessica Brody provides a highly detailed roadmap for the aspiring novelist by laying out why we care about stories, how to outline a story, and what key elements your story needs to fit into a certain broad genre. Below is a summary of the key takeaways from Save the Cat! Writes a Novel.

Why Do We Care?

The reasons anyone cares about stories and storytelling varies from person to person. Generally speaking, a novel speaks to you because of the specific lesson a protagonist learns in the process of completing a certain journey. To accomplish this, novel writing must stand on three legs. First, every protagonist must be flawed. The best way to create a flawed protagonist is to give them a problem (or a flaw), a want (or a goal), and a need (or a life lesson). Second, a novel’s exciting and meaningful story details the protagonist’s external journey and internal transformation. The external story—or the “A Story”—is the novel’s premise, or the actions that the protagonist and other characters take. The internal story—or the “B Story”—is the moral that the protagonist eventually learns. Third, the moral of every story typically reflects 1 of 10 universal lessons: forgiveness, love, acceptance, faith, fear, trust, survival, selflessness, responsibility, or redemption. The countless combinations of flawed protagonist(s), external journey, internal transformation, and variation of a given universal lesson mean that there are millions of meaningful stories for every kind of reader.

The Save the Cat! Beat Sheet

The dream of writing a novel can easily turn into a nightmare if you do not know where to start, where to go, and where to end. But don’t fear, the STC novel beat sheet is here! Jessica Brody takes the reader through each beat of the classic three-act story structure, explicitly stating where each beat fits into the novel and how long they should be, using examples from well-known stories along the way. Act I, the thesis, of the story takes up the first 20% of your novel and is broken down into the first 5 story beats in the beat sheet: (1) Opening Image, (2) Theme Stated, (3) Setup, (4) Catalyst, and (5) Debate. Act II, the antithesis, of the story goes from the 20% mark to the 80% mark of your novel and is broken down into the next 7 story beats in the beat sheet: (6) Break into Act II, (7) B Story, (8) Fun & Games, (9) Midpoint, (10) Bad Guys Close In, (11) All is Lost, and (12) Dark Night of the Soul. Act III, the synthesis, of the story is the final 20% of your novel and is broken down into the last 3 story beats in the beat sheet: (13) Break into Act III, (14) Finale (broken into 5 sub-beats to “storm the castle”), and (15) Final Image.

Ten Genres to Fit Any Story

A bookshelf in your local bookstore or library identifies a novel’s book genre. But the shelf a book is sorted into does not inherently identify its story genre. Nearly every novel can be sorted into one of ten distinct story genres, each distinguished from the other by three key elements. The Whydunit follows stories of mysteries, puzzles, deception, and dark secrets, entailing a detective, a secret, and a dark turn. Rites of Passage stories follow a protagonist’s journey through the difficult trials someone of any age group, culture, religion, society, or other community may experience. These stories entail a life problem, a wrong way to attack the problem, and a solution to the problem. Whether the protagonist is trying to join an elite team, leave a community that is no longer compatible with their morals, or take down a corrupt society, Institutionalized stories center the many, entailing a group, a choice, and a sacrifice. Superhero stories center how a chosen one is destined to change the world, entailing a hero with a special power, a nemesis to oppose the hero, and the hero’s curse. Unlike the Superhero, the Dude with a Problem is just a seemingly ordinary person thrown into a mess of (usually) someone else’s making. These stories entail an innocent hero, a sudden event, and a life-or-death battle. The Fool Triumphant is the story of an underdog beating the odds and entails a fool, an establishment the fool is pitted against, and a transmutation. Buddy Love stories follow the transformative power of love or friendship, entailing an incomplete hero, a counterpart, and a complication. From granting wishes, to bestowing curse, and contending with supernatural entities, Out of the Bottle stories entail a hero deserving of magic, a spell or touch of magic, and a lesson. Golden Fleece stories depict quests, road trips, and heists, and entail a road, a team, and a prize. Finally, the Monster in the House encompasses classic horror stories and more, following an isolated protagonist’s confrontation with an entity from outside the normal realms of nature and entail a monster, a house, and a sin.

My Thoughts on Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: 5 stars!

I made the decision to pursue my dream of becoming a published fiction author about a year before I started the Bookmarks & Armchairs blog. By that point, I had been a full-time university student for many years! This fact combined with my lifelong love of stories and storytelling lead me to think that I could easily create and complete a debut manuscript. So, I eagerly sat down at my computer, my mind and notebook filled with story ideas, and… I was immediately humbled. Years of training in writing research papers and theses as a social scientist did not actually mean I knew how to write a novel. But those years of undergraduate and graduate training meant I knew exactly where to find the resources to learn an entirely different (and much more fun) form of writing.

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel is an incredible resource for up-and-coming novel writers as well as those who simply want to learn more about the nuance of storytelling! Jessica Brody’s approachable yet succinct prose provides an enjoyable experience for the reader from cover to cover. I have read through the book multiple times before drafting this review. The first time to initially engage with the material. The second time to organize my personal notes, templates, and cheat sheets. And every time after that simply to enjoy it. It was especially fun to create Save the Cat! beat sheets for my favorite movies, which is a lot more entertaining and intriguing than it sounds.

My overall rating for Jessica Brody’s Save the Cat! Writes a Novel is 5 out of 5 stars! For me, the subtitle of this book absolutely rang true. I had spent almost two years teaching myself to format and outline a novel from YouTube videos, blog posts, and other free online resources. I learned so much from those hundreds of hours of studying, and the way Jessica Brody condenses and presents the process novel writing strengthened my still-budding skills as a fiction writer. Whether you are just now getting your toes wet in novel writing or already feel comfortable with composition, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel is a highly valuable resource that every aspiring novel writer (or anyone who just loves storytelling) should have on their bookshelf.

Dångkulo' na' saina ma'åse'! Thank you so much for reading my review of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody.

Rating Cheat Sheet

4.75 - 5.00 stars: Everyone should read this book! (If you’re into that sort of thing.)
4.00 - 4.50 stars: I appreciated many aspects of this book. I recommend it!
3.00 - 3.75 stars: I liked some aspects of this book. I won’t revisit it, but someone else might really like it.
2.00 - 2.75 stars: There were some things I appreciated about this book, but I do not recommend it.
0.25 - 1.75 stars: I do not recommend this book. I did not enjoy or appreciate the experience of it.

Post Date: 28 July 2025