【英語島讀書會】精選書評：先讓英雄救貓咪

The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need
作者：Blake Snyder
出版社：Michael Wiese Productions
中譯本：《先讓英雄救貓咪：你這輩子唯一需要的電影編劇指南》，雲夢千里出版

• 作者是好萊塢最成功的原創編劇之一，曾靠賣劇本賺入數百萬美元。
• 本書是北美大專院校、與好萊塢業界首推的入門編劇書。
• 作者英年早逝，夢工廠推出動畫片《馴龍高手》紀念他的貢獻。

預估閱讀時間：02:25
文章難度： ★★★☆☆

Like any other profession, to be a successful screenwriter your ideas must be remarkable and marketable. In this book, Blake Snyder explains the science behind the writing of Hollywood’s most financially successful scripts. This book won’t teach you about how to create artsy, independent, transgressive stories. The author makes it very clear that he is teaching you about commercial screenwriting. In fact, it is a textbook for marketing ideas and creating them.

和所有行業一樣，作為一名編劇，你的點子必須既出色又能賣錢。本書作者Blake Snyder將為你剖析好萊塢最賣座的幾部劇本，解釋其背後的科學。這本書並不會教你如何寫出獨特、具藝術性、又能突破框架的劇本，作者開門見山地說了，他要教你的是商業的劇本寫作方式。事實上，它可以說是一本關於行銷的教科書。

Save the Cat is a well-known book among writers. When you talk to other writers about it, they have a strong opinion, either positive or negative. Some writers don’t appreciate Snyder’s advice about creating stories because he has a very narrow view of story structure. He asserts that there are three acts in every story, the main character must be likeable and be seen doing something heroic like “saving a cat” at the beginning of the story. The motivation of the hero should also be about a primal emotion: power, family, survival or revenge. Although this may not be welcome advice for experienced writers, Snyder’s perspective is valuable regardless.