July 29, 2017
Cory Milles spoke at the Saturday Writer’s meeting on the topic of “The 10 Ways to Save A Cat.” Cory is the author of Paradox, Redemption, and New Miller’s Grove, to name a few, under the author name of C. David Milles.
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| Cory Milles, author and speaker |
There are 10 basic genres in movies as well as in writing. By defining your story into one of these, you can make sure you have all of your elements or figure out to you what you are missing. Usually if your story isn’t working, you are missing one of the three prime elements. Spend some time placing your story into it’s appropriate genre. Thiswill help you write better. This is based on the information he garnered from Save the Cat by Blake Snyder.
Save The Cat!: The 10 Genres
1. Monster in the House
a. Monster—person, creature, supernatural being, animal.
b. House—enclosed area where the action takes place. Can be a literal house, a theme park, a ship, town.
c. Sin—there has been a wrong and the wrong is what causes or triggers the monster. Man playing God, greed, unfaithful.
Examples: Godzilla, Independence Day, Cable Guy.
2. Golden Fleece: based on Greek myth, a journey in search of something big.
a. Road—symbolic or literal. Yellow brick road.
b. Team—hero rarely goes alone, usually takes a team of special talented people with him or her.
c. Prize—usually not what the character thinks is going to be the prize.
Examples: Indiana Jones, Lord of the Rings, Guardians of the Galaxy
3. Out of the Bottle—like the magic lamp
a. The wish—a desire
b. The spell
c. The lesson—usually opposite of the wish.
Examples: Freaky Friday, 13 Going on 30, Cocoon, Mary Poppins, Aladdin, Bruce Almighty, Field of Dreams, Ground Hog Day, It’s a Wonderful Life, most of the Hallmark Channel movies.
4. Dude with a Problem
a. Innocent hero—usually no special power
b. Sudden even—sucks the innocent hero into the action, whether he likes it or not
c. Life or death battle
Examples: Enemy of the State, Die Hard, North by Northwest, Towering Inferno, Misery, Armagedon, Apollo 13, Martian.
5. Rites of Passage
a. Life problem—death, mid-life crisis, puberty, divorce
b. Wrong way—cheat, leave family, etc
c. Acceptance—they finally get it.
Examples: Monster Calls, Lost in Translation, Up in the Air, My Best Friends Wedding, Kramer vs. Kramer, Stepmom, We bought a Zoo, Leaving Las Vegas, Good Will Hunting, Mean Girls, Napoleon Dynamite, Postcards from the Edge, Inside Out, How to Train Your Dragon II.
6. Buddy Love
a. Incomplete hero
b. Counterpart—love interest or friendship
c. Complication
Examples: Black Stallion, Lethal Weapon, Wayne’s World, Romantic comedies usually are this: When Harry Met Sally, Pretty Woman, Sleepless in Seattle, Titanic, Notebook, Romeo and Juliet (forbidden love), Last of the Mohicans, West Side Story, Guess Who’s Coming for Dinner, Beauty and the Beast, Star Trek the Reboot.
7. Whydunit—mystery stories, not who dunit, but more importantly, why did they do it.
a. Detective---doesn’t change, can be a kid.
b. Secret—murder, lost item, etc.
c. Dark turn—detective is so driven, his is willing to break the rules.
Examples: Sherlock Holmes, JFK, Insider, Manchurian Candidate, Blade Runner, Ghost, I Robot, Fargo, Captain America, the Winter Soldier, Zootopia, Silence of the Lambs, French Connection, Rear Window, Minority Report, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
8. Fool Triumphant
a. Fool—doesn’t fit in, black sheep.
b. Establishment—society, government, clique
c. Transmutation—new identity to effect change.
Examples: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Kings Speech, Mrs. Doubtfire, Tootsie, Miss Congeniality, Forrest Gump, Slingblade, I Am Sam, Legally Blonde, Stripes, Mr. Mom, Elf, Enchanted, 40-Year-Old Virgin, Bridget Jones’ Diary.
9. Institutionalized
a. Group—not usually a single character focus, usually has a group or part of a whole.
b. Choice—do it the way the group does it or do it a different way
c. Sacrifice—join group or burn it down, give up who you are.
Examples: Brave New World, 1984, We Were Soldiers, Godfather, Joy Luck Club, Meet the Parents, Divergent, Office Space, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Dead Poets Society, Crash, Traffic, The Help, Breakfast Club.
10. Superhero—usually in “act 3” there is a dark night of the soup prior to the finale.
a. Special power—main character with a literal power or desire to do what is right.
b. Nemesis—a person or force holding them back. Lex Luthor.
c. Curse—main character is different and has to deal with it.
Examples: Harry Potter, Passion of the Christ, Erin Brokovich, Schindler’s List, 42, Mulan, Abraham Lincoln, Gladiator, Ben Hur, Patriot, Empire Strikes Back.
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