The Ten Types of Stories
Last updated: May 7, 2026
One of the most useful tools I’ve encountered for evaluating story ideas is Blake Snyder’s ten “genres” from Save the Cat!.
The book is best known for its 15-point story structure “beat sheet,” which I also find valuable. But for me, the genre framework is especially helpful in evaluating whether a story idea is fundamentally viable.
I refer to these categories often when working with writers on concepts, loglines, and synopses.
Over the years I’ve also written separate posts exploring several of these story types in more depth. A few examples:
I’ve also written a more in-depth post about working with the SAVE THE CAT genres as a storytelling tool.
The PDF chart below was originally created by JD Scruggs for the SAVE THE CAT website. I’ve expanded it with many additional film examples that I believe fit Blake’s ten primary genres and their various subgenres.
My additions appear in smaller text below or beside the original entries.