Screenwriting insights from Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat

Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat [Amazon] has been one of Hollywood’s bestselling screenwriting books since its 2005 release. There’s good advice in this book for every kind of writer. And funny to boot.

Some Hollywood types complain that the book’s formulaic approach has hurt the screenwriting profession. More like: its revealed insider secrets, and most insiders don’t like that.

Here are some of my favorite highlights:

And yet, so the rules tell us and human nature dictates, we don’t want to see anyone, even the most underdog character, succeed for too long. And eventually, the hero must learn that magic isn’t everything, it’s better to be just like us — us members of the audience — because in the end we know this will never happen to us.

Look at Point Break starring Patrick Swayze, then look at Fast and Furious. Yes, it’s the same movie almost beat for beat. But one is about surfing, the other is about hot cars.

There’s the “good girl tempted” archetype – pure of heart, cute as a bug: Betty Grable, Doris Day, Meg Ryan (in her day), Reese Witherspoon. This is the female counterpart of the young man on the rise.

Tell me a story about a guy who…
> I can identify with.
> I can learn from.
> I have compelling reason to follow.
> I believe deserves to win and…
> Has stakes that are primal and ring true for me.

Not to get too self-protective, but a strong structure guarantees your writing credit. More than any other element, the bones of a screenplay, as constructed in the story beats of your script, will be proof to those who decide who gets credit at the Writers Guild of America (WGA) that the work is primarily yours.

The hero cannot be lured, tricked, or drift into Act Two. The hero must make the decision himself. That’s what makes him a hero anyway — being proactive.

a movie’s midpoint is either an “up” where the hero seemingly peaks (though it is a false peak) or a “down” when the world collapses all around the hero (though it is a false collapse), and it can only get better from here on out.

At the All Is Lost moment, stick in something, anything that involves a death. It works every time. Whether it’s integral to the story or just something symbolic, hint at something dead here. It could be anything. A flower in a flower pot. A goldfish. News that a beloved aunt has passed away.

You must take time to frame the hero’s situation in a way that makes us root for him, no matter who he is or what he does.

I propose to you that, for some reason, audiences will only accept one piece of magic per movie. It’s The Law. You cannot see aliens from outer space land in a UFO and then be bitten by a Vampire and now be both aliens and undead. That, my friends, is Double Mumbo Jumbo.

The Covenant of the Arc is the screenwriting law that says: Every single character in your movie must change in the course of your story. The only characters who don’t change are the bad guys. But the hero and his friends change a lot.

In many a well-told movie, the hero and the bad guy are very often two halves of the same person struggling for supremacy, and for that reason are almost equal in power and ability. How many movies can you name that have a hero and a bad guy who are two halves of the same persona? Think about Batman (Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson), Die Hard (Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman), and even Pretty Woman (Richard Gere and Jason Alexander).

Make sure every character has “A Limp and an Eyepatch.” Every character has to have a unique way of speaking, but also something memorable that will stick him in the reader’s mind.

Four Quadrant – Men Over 25, Men Under 25, Women Over 25, Women Under 25

What is religion? 3 useful and simple definitions


Don’t worry, this won’t be a long post. I have neither the knowledge nor ability to give a comprehensive definition. All I want to do today is share a couple interesting tools that you can use to broaden and deepen your understanding.

Trying to define religion is like trying to define “culture” or “love”. The answer is fluid and driven heavily by time & place. For example, many people argue that “religion” itself is a modern Western and largely Judeo-Christian concept. It’s contentious and complex enough that Wikipedia even has a dedicated entry for the “definition of religion”.

Modern science is based on the principle, give us one free miracle and we’ll explain all the rest – Terrence McKenna

I share the above quote because it so neatly expresses a central reason why religion exists, which is to explain and empathize that which we do not know. And when science has done its best, when its formulated multiverses and string theory and the Big Bang and maybe even explained what happened before the Big Bang, there will still be more mysteries we can’t explain, more questions math and science can’t answer. Religion begins there.

Or as Jonathan Sacks says, religion helps us answer these questions:

Who am I? Why am I here? How then shall I live?

Definition #1: The 4 B’s — Belonging, Believing, Bonding, and Behaving

We distinguish among four dimensions of religion: belonging to a religious denomination, believing certain religious propositions, bonding to religious practices, and behaving in a religious manner – Vassilis Saroglou

Sources: 1, 2

For example, in a broadly Christian context —

Belonging: I am a member of X denomination, Y church, and Z small group

Believing: I believe Jesus died for our sins and on the third day, was reincarnated before ascending to Heaven

Bonding: I identify as a Christian because of things I do, like prayer and Church attendance

Behaving: I don’t work on Sunday; I don’t say the Lord’s name in vain; etc

Definition #2: The 7 Dimensions of Religion

A framework developed by Scottish professor Ninian Smart. I like this one because it’s comprehensive.

1. Ritual: Forms and orders of ceremonies (private and/or public) (often regarded as revealed)

2. Narrative and Mythic: stories (often regarded as revealed) that work on several levels. Sometimes narratives fit together into a fairly complete and systematic interpretation of the universe and human’s place in it.

3. Experiential and emotional: dread, guilt, awe, mystery, devotion, liberation, ecstasy, inner peace, bliss (private)

4. Social and Institutional: belief system is shared and attitudes practiced by a group. Often rules for identifying community membership and participation (public)

5. Ethical and legal: Rules about human behavior (often regarded as revealed from supernatural realm)

6. Doctrinal and philosophical: systematic formulation of religious teachings in an intellectually coherent form

7. Material: ordinary objects or places that symbolize or manifest the sacred or supernatural

And in a Buddhist context —

1. Ritual: A meditation practice every morning at 5am

2. Narrative: Buddha began his life as a young noble man named Siddhartha Gautama who…

3. Experiential: The peace and clarity that come from meditative practice; The sense of belonging and discipline that come from following the Dharma

4. Social: The Sangha, the community, the monastic order

5. Ethical: The 5 Precepts (Don’t harm others, Don’t steal, Don’t lie, Don’t have improper sexual relations, Don’t intoxicate oneself eg, alcohol, coffee)

6. Doctrinal: The Tripitaka

7. Material: The orange robes that Theravada Buddhist monks wear

Definition #3: The 9 ways that people relate to God

This is from a book by Gary Thomas called Sacred Pathways [Amazon].

I like this one because it’s personal and intimate. Even more than the first two, this one is Judeo-Christian in its worldview, but I believe it can still be helpful for understanding other faiths.

…people worshiped that one God in many ways: Abraham had a religious bent, building altars everywhere he went. Moses and Elijah revealed an activist’s streak in their various confrontations with forces of evil and in their conversations with God. David celebrated God with an enthusiastic style of worship, while his son, Solomon, expressed his love for God by offering generous sacrifices. Ezekiel and John described loud and colorful images of God, stunning in sensuous brilliance. Mordecai demonstrated his love for God by caring for others, beginning with the orphaned Esther. Mary of Bethany is the classic contemplative, sitting at Jesus’ feet.

1. Naturalists are most inspired to love God out-of-doors, in natural settings

2. Sensates love God with their senses and appreciate beautiful worship services that involve their sight, taste, smell, and touch, not just their ears

3. Traditionalists draw closer to God through rituals, liturgies, symbols, and unchanging structures

4. Ascetics prefer to love God in solitude and simplicity

5. Activists love God through confronting evil, battling injustice, and working to make the world a better place

6. Caregivers love God by loving others and meeting their needs

7. Enthusiasts love God through celebration

8. Contemplatives love God through adoration

9. Intellectuals love God by studying with their minds

Which one are you? I would consider myself a combination of Ascetic, Activist, and Intellectual.

A few final quotes

“Every religion recognizes man as equally insignificant in relation to Infinity;—and therefore every religion always contains the idea of the equality of all men before that which it regards as God, whether that be lightning, the wind, a tree, an animal, a hero, a deceased or even a live king, as it was in Rome.” – Tolstoy

“A person’s ultimate concern” – Paul Tillich

“The feeling of absolute dependence. A sense and taste for the infinite.” – F. Schleiermacher

Thanks for reading! In previous posts, I explored whether Silicon Valley will disrupt religion, and used the Lindy Effect to explain why religious knowledge will always be valuable.

New wisdom for the Personal Bible

Every few months I like to add new things that I’ve learned to my Personal Bible. Here’s the latest document [in PDF].

Today there are two items: a NYT article about what it’s like to be in your 40s (it’s always good to be prepared :-), and some highlights from James Clear’s highlights of the sweeping book The Lessons of History.

How to Survive Your 40s by Pamela Druckerman

  • But the number 40 still has symbolic resonance. Jesus fasted for 40 days. Muhammad was 40 when the archangel Gabriel appeared to him. The Israelites wandered the desert for 40 years
  • The seminal journey of the 40s is from “everyone hates me” to “they don’t really care.”
  • At 40, we’re no longer preparing for an imagined future life. Our real lives are, indisputably, happening right now. We’ve arrived at what Immanuel Kant called the “Ding an sich” — the thing itself.

The Lessons of History by Ariel and Will Durant

  • People like to think they are a little special. Without this bit of vanity, we might find it harder to push forward. In a way, delusion is a motivator.
  • By and large, the poor have the same impulses as the rich, but with less opportunity or skill to implement them.
  • The hero is just the product of a situation. Not the other way around. If it were not for the situation, we never would have heard of the hero.
  • Morals are the way society exhorts behavior from its members.
  • You want to reign in your impulses and weaknesses to the point where they are useful, but not excessive.
  • There is no example in history of a society maintaining moral life among the masses without religion as a force for binding people together.
  • The most valuable talents and skills are confined to a few people, which means the most valuable wealth is confined to a few as well. This pattern shows up again and again.
  • All consuming toil is usually the price of genius.
  • Do not feel depressed that life may only have meaning insofar as man puts into it. It is remarkable that we can put any meaning into life at all.
  • Every religion should preach morality, not theology.
  • Cooperation is the ultimate form of competition.

The “Bible” has grown to 44 pages — it was just a couple pages when I started. At some point, I will probably filter and remove some content to keep it manageable and to reflect what I need most at that time.

You can download the latest here.

Thanks for reading! Here are prior updates [1, 2], and here’s a longer explanation for why I do this.

4 great life lessons from the movie The Gladiator

The Gladiator is one of my all-time favorite movies. Yes it’s a very violent, bloody film, and yes the special fx can’t match up to today’s latest and greatest. But the grandeur of the story, the solid acting, the brilliant Hans Zimmer score, and what I appreciate more and more with each re-watch: that the movie fits in quite a few powerful lessons about leadership, values, and friendship.

So here are 4 of those lessons, with accompanying screenshots. There are some spoilers, but it’s been 2 decades since the movie was released. There should be a statute of spoiler limitations :)

1. To inspire great behavior, we can appeal to even greater forces

In the movie’s beginning fight scene, Maximus says the following to his cavalry before their critical charge:

If you find yourself alone, riding in green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled…for you are in Elysium, and you are already dead!

Later, he adds:

Brothers…What we do in life echoes in eternity

It reminds me of a quote from Eric Hoffer’s seminal book on how leaders create mass movements:

In their battle orders army leaders invariably remind their soldiers that the eyes of the world are on them, that their ancestors are watching them and that posterity shall hear of them. The great general knows how to conjure an audience out of the sands of the desert and the waves of the ocean. – Eric Hoffer, Mass Movements

2. At the top, it’s all about gestures and symbols

At the end of that beginning battle, two critical things happen: the Emperor Marcus Aurelius refuses his son Commodus’s hand, but then he allows Maximus to support him onto his horse. The Emperor then leans in and whispers, “So much for the glory of Rome.” He recognizes what a poor picture he paints to the assembled soldiers, as his frail dying body can barely mount the horse without the aide of a ladder and Maximus’s help.

Later in the film, after Aurelius dies, Commodus offers his hand to Maximus, demanding his loyalty. Which Maximus rejects to his peril.

3. A leader (and a civilization) should have clear values, and they should be shared and repeated

“Strength and honor” are the first values. In the movie, it’s a phrase repeated often among the Roman army as a sort of call-and-response. I was reminded of how militaries and organized religions share this in common: short, simple, powerful phrases, repeated often, and usually in the call-and-response format.

The second moment is when Commodus says the following before he “hugs” his father Marcus:

You wrote to me once, listing the 4 chief virtues. Wisdom, Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance. As I read the list, I knew I had none of them. But I have other virtues, Father. Ambition. That can be a virtue which drives us to excel…

Hearing the word “ambition” used this way, I was immediately reminded of Silicon Valley, Wall Street, Ivy League schools, and the like. I do believe that for many people that run in those circles, ambition matters above all. Sure, lip service is given to other values like integrity and respect, but what seems to matter most is growth, or the size of your bonus, or the rank of your school.

Finally, Commodus, as the movie nears its end and the walls close in, comes to a painful realization when he discovers that Maximus is actually not dead, and his lieutenants had misled him:

If they lied to me, they don’t respect me. If they don’t respect me, how can they ever love me?

4. As the Garth Brooks song goes, “I’ve got friends in low places”

One of the film’s most consistently beautiful moments is the unexpectedly strong friendship between Maximus and Juba the Namibian. It is no accident that the movie’s final scene features Juba burying two small clay idols that represent Maximus’s wife and child.

Thanks for reading this rather long essay! I hope the pictures made it worthwhile :)

Ok, ok, just one last, relevant quote from the real, historical Marcus Aurelius:

The art of life is more like the wrestler’s art than the dancer’s, in respect of this, that it should stand ready and firm to meet onsets which are sudden and unexpected

If you want to see more essays like this, email or tweet me and let me know! My time lately has been spent studying and writing about religion, but at a deeper level I’m interested in life wisdom in all its wonderful formats.

100 years ago, Britain realized marijuana was harmless

In 1893, the British became concerned with what they felt to be excessive marijuana smoking in the eastern province of Bengal, India. So the House of Commons appointed a 7 member Commission to study the problem.

From Wikipedia:

The report the Commission produced was at least 3,281 pages long, with testimony from almost 1,200 “doctors, coolies, yogis, fakirs, heads of lunatic asylums, bhang peasants, tax gatherers, smugglers, army officers, hemp dealers, ganja palace operators and the clergy.

Their conclusion, in my words: There are no harmful physical, mental, or moral effects to smoking marijuana, with exceptions for excessive use, and for people who were already at risk due to previous physical or mental illness.

Some choice quotes:

It has been clearly established that the occasional use of hemp in moderate doses may be beneficial; but this use may be regarded as medicinal in character.

In regard to the physical effects, the Commission have come to the conclusion that the moderate use of hemp drugs is practically attended by no evil results at all. […] There is probably nothing the use of which may not possibly be injurious in cases of exceptional intolerance. […] As in the case of other intoxicants, excessive use tends to weaken the constitution and to render the consumer more susceptible to disease.

…the moderate use of these drugs produces no mental injury. It is otherwise with the excessive use. Excessive use indicates and intensifies mental instability

In regard to the moral effects of the drugs, the Commission are of opinion that their moderate use produces no moral injury whatever. […] Excessive consumption, on the other hand, both indicates and intensifies moral weakness or depravity

It has been the most striking feature in this inquiry to find how little the effects of hemp drugs have obtruded themselves on observation. The large number of witnesses of all classes who professed never to have seen these effects, the vague statements made by many who professed to have observed them, the very few witnesses who could so recall a case as to give any definite account of it, and the manner in which a large proportion of these cases broke down on the first attempt to examine them, are facts which combine to show most clearly how little injury society has hitherto sustained from hemp drugs

I came across this report as a result of my research into religion and drug use. The use of marijuana (known locally as “bhang”) within Indian culture and Hindu practice was at that time both common and longstanding. I can’t speak to the circumstances today. Relevant excerpts:

To the Hindu the hemp plant is holy. A guardian lives in the bhang leaf. As the wife of Vishnu, the preserver, lives in the hysteria-curing tulsi, or Holy Basil, and as Shiva dwells in the dysentery-scaring bel, AEglemarmelos, so the properties of the bhang plant, its power to suppress the appetites, its virtue as a febrifuge, and its thought-bracing qualities show that the bhang leaf is the home of the great Yogi or brooding ascetic Mahadev.

According to an old Hindu poem, on which I cannot now lay my hands, Civa himself brought down the bhang plant from the Himalayas and gave it to mankind. Jogis are well-known consumers of bhang and ganja, and they are worshippers of Civa.

In folk-songs, ganja or bhang (with or without opium) is the invariable drink of heroes before performing any great feat. At the village of Bauri in Gaya there is a huge hollow stone, which is said to be the bowl in which the famous hero Lorik mixed his ganja. Lorik was a very valiant general, and is the hero of numerous folk-songs.

Fascinating, no?

The Commission’s full report and some modern analysis can be found here.