The Hulk and Save the Cat!

I didn't actually yell out, "Save the Cat!" in the dollar theater last night, but I did nudge my husband hard and whisper it. Truly, there was no other reason to have the scene in the movie than to "Save the Cat" as Blake Snyder would call it.

This Incredible Hulk, much better than the last one, was still transparent in its step from beat to beat. (Blake, I have to say, they didn't even try to disguise the seams!) And the Save the Cat! scene was entirely predictable: a girl in the pop bottling plant (where Bruce Banner is hiding out in Brazil) is getting razzed by some hard-looking workers. Banner doesn't want to get involved, but his better nature insists that he intervene. Ta da!! He does something nice, we the audience now like him (and want him to win the day), and the poor pop-bottling girl is, well, kicked to the curb. She has served her purpose, prop that she is, and fades out, no longer needed.

Just an aside: there really was "sex at sixty" like Blake talks about. Of course, for poor Bruce, the attempt was aborted due to his rather pressing need to keep his heartrate below 200...but the scene was still in place. Blake Snyder's book is as revealing as it is addicting: a must-have for any writer of any medium.

Must-have Book: Blake Snyder's Save the Cat!

Kudos to Blake Snyder who has written the definitive work on storytelling of this decade. Don't get me wrong, you still have to own Joseph Campbell's Hero With A Thousand Faces, and you should still have a dog-eared copy of Christopher Volger's The Writer's Journey. But Blake Snyder is where it's at today. And ignore the secondary title on his book that says, "The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need," because this is a book for anyone who wants to tell a story. Period.

Instead of rushing out to see The Dark Knight like everyone else, I spent the weekend at PNWA. On Sunday, Blake Snyder spoke -- and, frankly, he rocked my world. My first novel flipped open, pages fluttering, all there in my mind's eye. Parts I didn't even know I had floated together, spinning mid-air like some mystical puzzle piece. The scenes I didn't even know were missing snapped into place, perfect fits. I came home to buy the book. (I think every book store was sold out of his books in all of Seattle. I got the last copy available in Lewiston yesterday, and it looks like I'll have to buy Save the Cat! Goes to the Movies on-line.) Ceilyn's Calling will be a tighter, more solid first book because of this experience. And even though I have that exciting agent lure of "Send me the first three chapters and the synopsis" beckoning, I'm taking time out to make sure I've followed all fifteen beats of Blake Snyder's beat sheet. Becoming a master-beater takes time, don't you know.