Save The Cat! 2.0

Don't let your computer crash and lose your activation key because they won't give it back. There tech and customer service stinks. It's not worth the money because if you've read the book, all this information is in there and it doesn't take a lot of effort to just write out you premise on paper or on computer or make your own note cards. That's basically all this software does.Anyway the point is that if you bought the book you don't need the software. It doesn't do anything extra for your writing. You don't need the note cards esp if you use Final Draft. Because the tech service is weak you don't want to waste your money on a product that you cannot get service on.

Great idea, poor execution. The whole idea behind Save The Cat is to "see" your screenplay in the beat cards. Unfortunately the only way this program lets you see them is in partial views. The cards overlap like two Republicans on Fox News. So if you want to pull up, say Beat Card 16, good luck finding it. It won't have an individual number, it'll be so tightly interwoven between Cards 15 and 17 you won't be able to click on it the first try because you won't be able to see its edge. And if you write to their tech department, all you'll get is a fatuous, self-serving answer: The techie told me to get a 2nd monitor so I could see all of the cards. D'oh, really? He said screen real estate is a fixed amount. Okay. So, then, do it in smaller increments. As all real estate developers tell you: sub-divide! His idea still wouldn't allow you to see your movie with the scenes butted end to end. Very disappointing. I am putting it up for sale.

So i bought 3 Corkboards and a bunch of muti colored index cards thinking it will be cheaper than this software. The process was messy and months later I broke down, tossed the corkboards in storage and bought STC 2.0. I've used it on my PC and Macbook Pro. The programs does what its supposed to but moving the cards around the board seems choppy on my high end PC but it looks smooth on my macbook. One thing that bugs me is that the program wont let you see what category your card is in. You have to click on the card and lift it just so it can tell you that you are in the DEBATE category or ALL IS LOST category. I would suggest that the developer place these titles on the bottom of each ACT BREAK LINE in different color labels. Moving each card can also be easier by making the clickable bar bigger.I paid $70 for this software with a coupon code from STC iphone App. I can say that what ever you input into the iphone can be neatly sent to the software on your computer. Overall I like STC 2.0 and use it for all my stories but it needs some more work to stand out like quality $89 software.

Who needs organization? Everybody. I'm a script writer, un-produced but that doesn't count here, and my writing partner is a novelist. The problem any writer has is that they have to look at that first sheet of blank paper. How shall I or you sully that blank piece of paper. It didn't do you any harm.That problem, and what to do with the next 109 of it's cousins, is solved by Blake Snyder. His "Save the Cat" (STC) series is a great way to organize your thoughts. The STC gives you a way to organize your story whether it's a novel or screenplay. I know they sell the STC 2.0 for screenplays, but it does work for novels too.I know I've been talking about Snyder's three "how-to" books, but his system is based on the BOARD. The Board is a system by which you organize your scenes to fit within a 3 act story system. He finally breaks the Board down to 40 scenes, and he tells you how to arrange them with sticky notes.Save the Cat! 2.0 is an electronic "Board". Being a techno-geek, I didn't want to get the board, mark it up, then put sticky notes all over it. So STC 2.0 does that for you. The program is rather cranky in that it does want the title, log line and 15 beats before it lets you go play. But after you have those beats in place, you get THE BOARD. With THE BOARD you will get to add scenes, write dialogue, scene description and a whole lot more. You now have a way to organize, remember that organize, your story so it will say what you want and not staring a blank piece of paper.So, okay I'm finally finished, if you write and a computer, Save the Cat! 2.0 is make for you. You will become more effective and efficient. Although I've become long winded.The tech support there at Save the Cat are really top notched, helpful and efficient. Great job, now I'm done.

I have been exploring this software for about a week now and I find it to be very buggy, cumbersome and opaque. I usually make it for about 2 minutes, if I'm lucky, before it crashes (tried on several computers). The idea of multi-sided index cards is a great one, but having 40 of them overlapping on your screen makes things difficult to navigate. The advice is concise and helpful, but the software seems reluctant to cooperate with it. The sample script from spider man has things in the beat sheet labelled as "Set up" which show up on the board as "Catalyst" and other inconsistencies. To make matters more frustrating, in order to see what plot point each card corresponds to, or even get a legible view of a card, one has to move a card a little bit. The slightest brownian motion at this stage will shift that card into a different plot point or even a different scene. In short, a lot of helpful ideas here, but not ready for prime time. The 5 star reviews makes one wonder. Try out the demo first.