Someone Save Me From Save the Cat

are there epidurals for writers?

Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash

I remember back when I was pregnant with my first son, these little waves of panic would crest over me. I distinctly recall feeling convinced that everyone but me had a magic blueprint they were following for birthing and raising humans. There were the parents who swore by the Babywise method, the ones who pureed all their own baby food, the ‘attachment parenting’ devotees.

At the time, it truly seemed as if everyone around me had their THING—some specific, surefire plan to get them from point A to point B, collecting parenting gold stars at each checkpoint along the way.

It often feels that way for me with writing, too.

Thinking back to pregnant me, I was just kinda like….. I guess we’ll figure it out? OK, it was those words, but accompanied by cold sweats and sleepless nights and shrug emojis that didn’t yet exist, as I wondered how I had missed the memo on having a ‘method’ for this whole parenting thing. I knew I wanted an epidural, but as for everything that came after that, I did, in fact, figure it out as I went along. (Spoiler alert: still doing this with my 11- and 9-year-old. Without epidurals. NOT EASY.)

I’m much the same way with my writing. I observe my writer friends and scroll Instagram, and it seems like everyone else has their THING—their tidy, triumphant ‘thing’ that helps tame the writing and revising of their big, beastly books. Some method or 10-step program that guides each keystroke with comforting clarity. (Some people even PLOT these monstrous things from beginning to end! I KNOW. These people definitely had birth plans.)

It feels like I’m right back in those tight, clingy maternity clothes that were all the rage 12 years ago, once again the only one who hasn’t figured out what the hell I’m doing in some mindful, measurable way.

When it comes to writing fiction, Save the Cat Writes a Novel is an especially common drafting/plotting/organizing tool in the circles I run in. I’ve read the book (the meaty main parts of it, anyway), and it terrifies and inspires me in equal measure. I love a plan, but this particular one feels quite…extra.

For the uninitiated, STC suggests you hit 15 main ‘beats’ throughout your story, and tells you at approximately which percentage of the way into the manuscript you should be hitting them. It swears that all your favorite books and movies do this, too. I once tried to see if I had hit all these beats after drafting my first book, and reader…I had not. But that book I was writing still got me an agent and quite a bit of success in the query trenches, so I have been left feeling quite conflicted and confused. (Insert shrug emojis again...what did we ever do without them?)

Alas…that non-STC-approved manuscript has yet to sell on submission, so what do I know?

Other friends swear by craft books with titles like Seven Drafts or Refuse to be Done. But—elephant in the room—what about those of us who want to be done, in a specifically six-drafts-or-less fashion? This is my dirty little secret, friends. I actually do want to be DONE with a book and move entirely on to another, at some point in time. Preferably in my 40s (I’m 41).

Does anyone feel me on this, or am I screaming into a void here? I feel like I’m searching for the lowest common denominator of what makes a book work. Just some vague guardrails, if you will. Nothing fancy. Totally OK buying the baby food here.

If Babywise and Save the Cat were outfits we put on, they would include 15 pieces of technical gear for cycling the Tour de France.

These days, I’m in the market for more of a loose sundress to clothe me in my writerly pursuits. Something that allows for the flexibility and softness to be me, with the dignity of still wearing something, so as not to make an ass out of myself.

Photo by Madison Bersuch on Unsplash

As I find myself feeling frustrated and somewhat paralyzed—in the thick of messy, looming revisions for not one but two books—I’m looking for something, but I’m not sure what that something is. Maybe it’s a plan, or maybe it’s just permission to not be beholden to someone else’s blueprint for my own unique journey. So please—give me your loose sundress mantras for taking a novel from its brave beginnings to triumphant end.

Do you have a ‘thing’ that guides your plotting/writing/revising? A favorite book/method/process you swear by?

Do you use a beat sheet?

Are you as “pantser” (writing by the seat of your pants) as they come and have no idea what I’m even talking about?

I’m convinced good books get written in ALL THE WAYS, however hard the smoke and mirrors of social media may try to convince us otherwise.

Save the Cat, with all due respect, can’t be the only way.

Writerly epidurals welcome.

WHAT I’M READING:

My morning reading spot. Will I ever have a more aesthetically pleasing book + bookmark pairing? I predict not.

OK—this book.

I bought The Violin Conspiracy two or three summers ago at a little island bookstore while camping, and just finally got around to reading it.

It has heart and joy, high-stakes suspense and painful family trauma.

It has passages like this, describing the power of music in sweeping atmospheric analogies, that make me want to immediately buy a ticket to my local symphony:

“He decided to increase the tempo even more: the surf crept higher, past the beach, onto the dunes, roaring like a tsunami toward houses sleeping under the moon, unaware of what was pounding toward them. The wave built on itself, gathered like a giant feral cat, about to pounce: and then the final chord. He drew it out as long as possible. The water subsided. The village was safe.”

How stunning is that?

Recommendation: Find an author whose writing you admire and transcribe a passage, like I just did above. There’s something about feeling the words of beautiful, inspiring writing flow through my fingers, that makes me feel just a tiny bit closer to producing something like it myself. Muscle memory? I don’t know….I’m not a scientist. (If I was, I would definitely be patenting Epidurals for Writers to make this process less painful.) Just try it.

WHAT I’M LISTENING TO:

This episode (released Jan. 7th) of the Bad on Paper podcast by authors Olivia Muenter and Becca Freeman, was SO GOOD. It was just what I needed as I’m (still) catching my breath and trying to wrap my head around goals for this year and make sense of the year that just ended. Each of the hosts reflects candidly on the goals they had set last year (both personally and professionally) and the ones they’re cultivating for 2025. There were so many little gems of ideas, thoughts and feelings (regret! failure! ambition!) that I just found to be so so relatable. Highly recommend checking it out if you’re in need of some goal-setting motivation or just want to listen in on a deep-dive into the processes, wins and setbacks of two fellow creatives.

WHAT I’M WATCHING:

Mainly A LOT of Young Sheldon (Netflix) with my 11-year-old son. A spin-off prequel to The Big Bang Theory, it’s charmingly kitschy and full of the bone dry humor I love. Episodes are a bite-sized 18 minutes long, which means I can always squeeze one in with my kid, even if we don’t start it until nearly 10pm (oops…this may be the current trend we’re on!)

LET’S COMMENT! YOU MIGHT WIN A PRIZE!

Let me know your thoughts on anything in this post. Because dynamic comment sections are the most fun. As a prize for participating, I’ll choose a favorite comment and send that person a $20 gift card to Bookshop.org. (Note: this giveaway has closed. Congrats, Katie!)

Thank you so much for reading and keeping me company in this little corner of the internet!

Xoxo,

Beth

PS: A special thanks to my new paid subscribers. Your willingness to toss a few dollars my way each month makes me feel seen, and the hours and careful effort I put into these posts valued, and is helping to balance out my craft latte addiction. But mainly it just feels like a big virtual hug. THANK YOU!!