Rescuing the Feline

I read Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat in 2005 when it first came out. I wanted to reach back and write again when I read it, but in 2004 I had determined to paint, again. But the feeling of correctness in the structure Blake Snyder was illuminating stayed with me.

The Nutshell Technique feels like a Cat’s Cradle – that string looped over hands and then passed through in patterns. I can see the tensions created by placing the pieces there, but I still don’t have a full picture of the structure that fills it in. I dropped back to Save the Cat, restarted with logline and found several revelations. I didn’t really know my story as yet. But I might if I step through and fill all of this in.

The logline.

*** In 1934 L.A., a bitter disillusioned detective uncovers a plot
by a mysterious Nazi agent to kill a list of leading figures in Hollywood
including his ex-starlet ex-wife. Pierce Freeman and The Hollywood Kill List.

or maybe

Independent ex-starlet studio head must team up with her disillusioned
bitter detective ex-husband and stop a mysterious Nazi agent from killing
a list of leading Jewish figures in 1934 Hollywood –
Hildie Hastings and the Hollywood Kill List.

Neither of these feel absolutely perfect and complete. But they are a LOT closer than earlier and they define a lot more of what’s needed in the story and where it would have to go.

Back to rescuing the feline…

— spence