I love stories and I’m sure you do too – you’re human after all! It’s wired into us to love them. They were how our ancestors learned and they’re still an awesome way to learn today. Stories also hold incredible power over us. They can influence us in empowering ways and in disempowering ways. Think about the reigning power of the garden fo Eden story and how it’s been used to justify making humans feel bad for committing “original sin”. Or think of a story that’s given you hope during struggles and dark times, helping you know that you can keep going.
EXPLORING STORY STRUCTURE
In 2021, quite by accident I started learning more about the language of storytelling through an Udemy course on novel writing. Now, I don’t see myself as a novelist but I’d been told by a good psychic that a novel I’d write would be the most successful book of mine. And I’d heard from renowned book publishing expert Kelly Notaris that if you write a memoir, it has to have the narrative structure of a novel. So I was curious about how on earth a writer keeps track of a whole novel. It seemed like a mind-boggling complex thing to do.
In this novel writing course, Jessica introduces you to the “Save the Cat Beatsheet”. “Beatsheet” doesn’t really make all that much sense as a word to use if you’re not familiar with it, but it’s basically key ideas and key plot points that need to be in a story for the audience to love it. Save the Cat was originally a book on screenwriting by Blake Snyder and Jessica’s adapted it for novelists.
I loved Disney and Marvel stories already but learning the language of storytelling through Save the Cat has made me fall in love with more films and with storytelling. Seeing how the plot points show up and how the deeper transformations play out to drive the story forward – it’s just so satisfying to watch unfold!
STORIES AS GUIDANCE TO TRANSFORMATION
But something struck me about Save The Cat that makes it far more helpful beyond simply entertaining us. The core part of a great story is the transformation that the main character goes through. In a great story, the hero or heroine is a better version of him or herself by the end of it.
- Elle in Legally Blonde as the ditzy sorority girl vs the empowered lawyer standing up for justice
- Neo in The Matrix as the quiet, shy and untrusting office worker vs the calm, trusting martial arts master who’s transcended death
- Harry Potter as the ill-treated, frustrated little orphan boy who has no idea who he really is vs the empowered teenager who took on the world’s darkest wizard – and won.
I started wondering whether I could use the transformation process in Save The Cat to guide clients through transformation. I’d noticed these plot points in my own life and it was remarkable how I could map parts of my life onto it. Perhaps most helpful for my own self-esteem was that it helped me make sense of my f*ck-ups, so I could ease off blaming myself and harshly judging others who contributed to making things much harder. The whole point of the story is that the protagonist has a lesson to learn that they can’t see until right at the end. And until they dig deep and REALLY learn it, they won’t solve their problems or become who they’re meant to be.
At the time of writing (12th January 2022), I’ve only just reached this phase of digging deep to REALLY learn my lesson. Of course it was one that was staring me in the face. It is right in my eyeline now as I type – a statue of The Kannon (as she’s known in Japan – but she’s Guan Yin in China – the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion). I’d done well with compassion for others – I just hadn’t extended that compassion to myself until now. That old chestnut of having to learn to love yourself before you can truly love others. (Part of me wishes it was more original than that, but hey ho – I’ll take it!)
Let’s see how the rest of my story unfolds.
Below is a quick outline of the main transformation points from Save The Cat. And I bet you’ve been curious about why it’s called “Save The Cat” – well, if you have a character who might be difficult to like and you make them save a cat, the audience will root for them. Recently I rewatched Pirates of the Carribean and spotted the save the cat moment – Scallywag pirate Captain Jack Sparrow dives in and saves Elizabeth. And I almost did a little satisfied happy dance at spotting it!
THE TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY OF THE STORY PROTAGONIST
ACT 1
- Start off with lots of problems and a core lesson, or theme that they need to grasp to solve those problems
- A catalyst that forces them to begin to make changes
ACT 2
- A firm decision to change things and solve the problems – but it’s the wrong way and doesn’t really solve the problem
- A false victory or false defeat halfway through where what they thought would solve the problem either comes to them or fails to come to them – either way, it wasn’t the right solution in the first place so things will get worse before they get better
- A gradually worsening situation where inner and outer bad guys get more intense
- A point where all is lost and there’s a whiff of death
- A soul searching time of reflection
ACT 3
- A glimmer of realisation about how to solve the problem the right way
- Efforts to begin solving the right way – but it’s not quite there
- A need to dig deep and remove the shard of glass inside causing the real problems – the lesson that the protagonist needed to learn all along
- A final victory in solving the problems based on learning the true lesson
