Book cover of Save the Cat! Writes a Novel: The Last Book on Novel Writing You'll Ever Need

Book description

The first novel-writing guide from the best-selling Save the Cat! story-structure series, which reveals the 15 essential plot points needed to make any novel a success.

Novelist Jessica Brody presents a comprehensive story-structure guide for novelists that applies the famed Save the Cat! screenwriting methodology to the world of novel…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

3 authors picked Save the Cat! Writes a Novel as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

The original Save the Cat by Blake Snyder was written for screenplays but captured the imagination of all kinds of writers, myself included. But often it was difficult to translate to novel format. Jessica Brody’s book is an excellent adaptation of Snyder’s foundation for book people. 

The story structure methodology uses the same 15 beats (plot points) as the screenplay version. I love that Brody uses book examples as even most books about writing books tend to use movie examples. I think some authors worry about following story structure too closely, but I have always felt thinking analytically about story…

From Gwen's list on for next-level novelists.

The best book I read this year was non-fiction.

As a writer I’m always looking for the silver bullet - the craft book that will give me the secret to leveling up my fiction. But once you’ve read dozens of them, they all start to sound the same. Examples: Writing the Breakout Novel did not fulfill its titular promise. Steering the Craft steered itself to my DNF shelf.

Then. This year I discovered Save the Cat Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody. It’s easy to read and accessible to beginning writers. The author is funny and frank. The book is…

This book teaches the secrets of storytelling and story structure from a popular screenplay perspective. When I start a new novel, this is the first book I reach for every time. It teaches how to keep your story engaging to readers and how to best structure the overall plot so your story flows beautifully throughout and ends with satisfaction.

If you love Save the Cat! Writes a Novel...

Ad

Book cover of The Joy of Writing Sex

The Joy of Writing Sex by Elizabeth Benedict,

Do you freeze up when your characters drift into the bedroom? Are you puzzled about how much to say and how to say it? What to call the body parts that bring us so much pleasure and so much anguish?

If you’re writing a novel and there’s a sexual encounter…

Want books like Save the Cat! Writes a Novel?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Save the Cat! Writes a Novel.

Browse books like Save the Cat! Writes a Novel

Book cover of Structuring Your Novel
Book cover of Scene & Structure (Elements of Fiction Writing)
Book cover of The Emotion Thesaurus

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,210

readers submitted
so far, will you?