00:01 Use a quick and easy tip to improve your first scene. 00:31 Utilize 'hiding the ball' technique for impactful scene build-up 00:54 Creating an engaging opening chapter is crucial for a novel's success. 01:18 Avoid info dumping in the first scene. 01:46 Build tension and mystery in the first scene 02:12 Hiding the ball creates intrigue and engages readers 02:38 Create intrigue by withholding information from the reader. 03:01 Active readers are engaged and happy readers.

This is some fantastic advice. Definitely given me some confidence for revising

Very surprised you fail to credit Blake Snyder, inventor of the Save the Cat method.

Happy to find you. Girl your book rocks. I owe you a lot. My idea is taking real shape after reading your book. ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Love your writing style❤️❤️❤️❤️

Awesome!!! 👍👍👍

I'm looking for some help. I'm reading the Save the Cat! book right now and now I'm not entirely sure about the structure of my book. At the start of my book, my character and her friends have been planning an escape from the place they are being held at for quite some time now and the book begins on their escape day as they start to execute their plan. I'm not entirely sure where the catalyst is here or if there even is one. Nothing happens to her at the start of the book that makes her leave her status quo world but she's been suffering abuse for years now and has always wanted to escape. Do I need to put something in there that flips the switch for her? The catalyst should be that an opportunity has prevented itself for her escape. Is it possible to start a book with a character already knowing her plan or should I change that? If it is possible, what can the catalyst be?

Hello, I'm an aspiring writer with an odd question. I have a passion for creating stories, but I have no talent. I was born with a litany of mental disabilities and with a low IQ. Despite my attempts, I've been unable to improve my intelligence in a way that would yield any merit, both in writing and in a number of pursuits. I'm in my late 40s and I believe it's too late to build any career in writing.I've been wasting my time and energy in trying to write a number of books to no avail. This passion for story creation will not leave me. Any advice on how to eliminate this passion for writing? It's not going anywhere and there is no extrinsic value for me if I continue with this dream.

Very useful tips. Thank you 😊

So, we have to read the novel once to mark what part goes in each of the 3 levels, then read and revise more 3 times, one for each level?

This video is so underrated! It has been the most helpful to me!!

Another "save the cat" movie where the guy literally saved the cat is Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Is it bad if #7 is actually #6 in a story?

Wait a minute, I'm confused -- so the scene beats are for individual scenes/chapters as well as for the entire book as a whole? (Kind of like a fractal?)

This was so incredibly helpful. I’ve been feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed after receiving an R&R from an agent! Didn’t know where to start. I feel like the fog has been cleared and I know exactly what to do now! Thank you!

This gives me clear directions on how I organize my first NOVEL. Thanks a lot.

Usually I use the narrator. Before any chapters at the begging, the narrator speaks three paragraphs of info dump - aka, set the scenario - necessary to the characters start speaking. I use a lot of free indirect speech, so the thinking of the characters go seamless into the narrator

Is it okay if my character wants to feel forgiven for their mistake that they did years ago??Is it a weak want?

thank you. i found this very helpful.

the business casual outfits are sending me. Ah, the 2010s

Useful to know before I start revising. Thank you!❤

Thank you 🙏🏻

I’m grateful 🙏🏻 This channel is gold!

Thank you 🙏🏻 So clear!

Why are there more "authors" selling courses on how to write than actual authors writing new Novels? Hmmmm. Suspicious. Like the house-flipping online courses. Why would the guy sell his house-flipping secrets instead of just flipping more houses? Also weird (as others have said), Jessica didn't write Save The Cat, Blake Snyder did. Jessica's novels are exclusively for young adults. Nothing wrong with that, except that an adult novel is usually more complex. So keep that in mind. While this beat sheet could come in handy, it should probably only be used lightly as a guide. For example, the first mention of the antagonist on the beat sheet isn't until the MidPoint. Huh? No antagonist, no 1st half of the story! There are many elements not in the beat sheet that are typically found in great books, like plot twists and foreshadowing, just to name two. You are better off critically reading many books in your proposed genre to see the structure and other fundamentals. You can't color by numbers a novel. Get creative and fly by the seat of your pants using a little structure. Great painters or songwriters didn't have formulas. They became inspired and then created.

First, decide on the purpose of the title. Do you see it as a marketing tool that signals genre and tropes?

I find it useful to write chapter summaries.

Your Save the Cat! book greatly helped me progress to getting my first draft completed. I have been working on a lot of developmental edits and I created a reverse outline to make it easier to look at the big picture. I am looking forward to the scene editing but I know how important the macro edits are before I get there. I have been consuming craft resources like crazy to get me through this revision/editing process. Thank you for your video!

Fantastic hacks and great advice. I really like the idea of using the senses. Thanks, Jessica.

Thank you, Jessica, for the great tips and brilliantly explained.

What about this 1:14

I use Mario Puzo's The Godfather as a "go to" for writing. First page, the funeral director at court during the sentencing of the two men who raped and attacked his daughter. He is a tiny character that appear only once after Chapter 1. The paragraphs end with the men getting a suspended sentence and him being angry and saying, "For justice, I will go to (main character)."

Thank you Jess! ♥

thank you so much!! You made it really simple

How about The Big Lebowski?

Thanks, Jessica! Another great tidbit of writing advice delivered with professionalism and enthusiasm.

I really love this book. It’s become my YA writing bible. Thank you for this.

Naive, inaccurate NaNoWriMo sales pitch stops at 1:05. I'm watching this even though NaNoWriMo is a propaganda arm of the DNC pretending to be some writing thing. They could care less. Their whole goal is forcing lefty extremism down everyone's throats whether they like it or not (as Gavin Newsome would say.) PLEASE STOP SUPPORTING NANOWRIMO. THEY ARE 100% POLITICS. (Don't believe me? Look at the emails they send out to people enrolled in the writing program giving marching orders on how to vote. )

Oh mini catalyst is so helpful

As a teen author, I need this! 🫶

lovely video, nice tips, thanks

Thanks very much for the video! ❤ It is really helpful!

video quality, audio, information is so good i like this video

I just bought the book because I want to become an author and quit my current job

Unexpectedly practical and insightful. Great video

What if the characters' voice/way of speaking sounds the same (even though what they actually say is revealing and corresponds to their personality)? Any tips?

This is great! I thought about slang and short hand codes used between friends. That’s more superficial and this goes deeper than that. It not only shows the relationship between the two. It actually tells the reader more about the individual characters, themselves. It clicked when you were able to point out that one was the calm one and the other was the one that tended towards overreacting. Characterizing dialogue. Nice! And to think I saw nothing wrong with the first example 🙄 We see this principle all the time in movies and tv shows and content we read! However, I need to inhabit a slightly different brain space to transfer my reader experiences to something I think to implement as a new writer. I’m still learning to use that toggle switch, I guess. Thank you, Ma’am! Not just for this video but for everything you’ve done and continue to do for those of us with a dream to write something that matters - and to write it well!

Jessica, you have one of the very top writing websites. It is practical and a great learning experience. Thank God you are doing this. Don't ever go away. We need you - forever!

Very inspiring!!❤ TY!!

I love notion! ❤❤❤

Nice job.