Save the Cat! Writes for TV! - Enter To Win!

Have you ever considered writing for TV?

It’s a distinct skill set, and slightly different than writing a novel, or even a screenplay. A TV series is the long game—the series itself needs an arc, or course. But so does each season, each episode, and each character. Sound like a lot of work? It is. But there’s a tried and true method that can be applied to writing for television.

First, what is Save the Cat!®? 

Save the Cat! provides writers the resources they need to develop their screenplays and novels based on a series of best-selling books, primarily written by Blake Snyder (1957- 2009). Blake’s method is based on 10 distinctive genres and his 15 story beats (the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet). Our books, workshops, story structure software, apps, and story coaching teach you everything you need to unlock the fundamentals and mechanics of plot and character transformation. 

Find out more about Save the Cat! by visiting their webpage at https://savethecat.com/

About the Save the Cat! Writes for TV

Blake Snyder's Save the Cat!, the world's top-selling story method for filmmakers and novelists, introduces The Last Book on Creating Binge-Worthy Content You'll Ever Need. 

Screenwriter Jamie Nash takes up Snyder's torch to lay out a step-by-step approach using Blake's principles for both new and experienced writers, including:

  • How to write and structure a compelling TV pilot that can launch both your series and your TV writing career

  • All the nuances, tricks, and techniques of pilot-writing: the Opening Pitch, the Guided Tour, the Whiff of Change, and more

  • The 8 Save the Cat! TV Franchise Types that will improve your story and your pitch

  • The not-so-secret TV Pitch Template that turns your TV series into the necessary read-over-lunch industry document

  • a how-to in creating layered characters who are driven by complex internal struggles

  • Beat sheets of the pilots of Barry, Ozark, Grey's Anatomy, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, What We Do in the Shadows, Black-ish, The Mandalorian, This Is Us, Law and Order: SVU and more to help you crack your story.

Create your binge-worthy TV series with Save the Cat! Writes for TV.

Purchase a copy of this book on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Or save it to your GoodReads reading list.

The Saturday Slash

Don't be afraid to ask for help with the most critical first step of your writing journey - the query.

I’ve been blogging since 2011 and have critiqued over 200 queries here on the blog using my Hatchet of Death. This is how I edit myself, it is how I edit others. If you think you want to play with me and my hatchet, shoot me an email.

If the Saturday Slash has been helpful to you in the past, or if you’d like for me to take a look at your query please consider making a donation, if you are able.

If you’re ready to take the next step, I also offer editing services.

My thoughts are in blue, words to delete are in red, suggested rephrasing is in orange.

When her sister becomes possessed by the ghost of a powerful witch, Luna is forced to become the strong twin and find a way to save Aurora before she is consumed completely (to eliminate "witch" echo.) the witch consumes her completely. Overall, good hook!

Thirteen-year-old twins Luna and Aurora are as different as night and day, but have always shared a special bond. Now Luna fears they are growing apart, with different interests and friendship groups. When they travel with their mother to remote Orkney to bury their grandmother and clear out her little cottage overlooking Eynhallow Sound, Luna is sad, but relieved to have her sister all to herself again. Good setup, but clarify - why is Luna sad? The death of her grandmother? The growing divide between the sisters? Both? Clarity would be good. Also, you infer that Luna is the "weaker" of the two, so maybe illustrate that here. Do you mean she's less popular? Not as assertive? How is she the "weaker" of the two?

However, Luna soon becomes aware of something that threatens to take her sister away from her forever. Aurora, who has never feared anything, is haunted by owls and tormented by frightening dreams. She seems to have acquired some magical power, able to weave her fingers and call up a violent storm. Aurora is terrified and extremely unwell How? Mentally? Physically? Emotionally? and Luna realises their roles have become reversed, and she must be the one to comfort and protect her twin. She discovers their grandmother accidently disturbed an ancient stone, releasing the ghost of a powerful weather witch who is determined to take over her sister’s life-force so she can come back into the world.

Every day the witch grows stronger and Rory I would just stick to her full name. I had to wonder who Rory was for a second fades. With the guidance of the last few witches left in Orkney, who use their powers to protect and nurture the land and its heritage, Luna searches for the identity of the ancient witch, and the secrets of her binding, so she can try to replicate it. I don't know what this means, or why she would want to replicate something that sounds bad / dangerous But time is running out, the witch is wary and will not fall for the same trick twice. This infers that she's fallen for something before. From someone else? From Luna? She lashes out with power, anger and a thirst for revenge, creating ferocious storms and floods which injure the girls’ mother and put the whole community in danger. When every other possibility has been exhausted, Luna must find the courage to look in the mirror which was the object of binding, and connect with the witch’s memories, even though she may not be able to pull free again and the witch might come for her as well.

THE WITCH OF EYNHALLOW SOUND is a Middle Grade Paranormal Fantasy set in Orkney, complete at 30,000 words, which should appeal to readers who enjoyed the sinister darkness of The Night Gardener, the ghostly presences in The Forgotten Girl and the lyrical magical setting of The Storm Keeper’s Island.

I have published a number of literary travel articles, mainly in Good Reading Magazine (Australia), about visiting the places that inspired my favourite authors.

Good comp titles and bio. I feel like your word count might be a touch light for a fantastical MG that will need worldbuilding. Reference: http://literaticat.blogspot.com/2011/05/wordcount-dracula.html I don't know that it will kill you in the query process, but it made me question whether the story, setting, and characters are fully fleshed out.