TheDapperWriter posted this in nano-prep:

TheDapperWriter wrote:

Hi folks! First-timer here, so apologies if I'm doing everything wrong, and please feel free to call me out on my bullshit.

I'm working on outlining my story, andI'm borrowing heavily from a screenplay book calledSave the Catby Blake Snyder. In it, he starts with what he calls a "Beat Sheet," 15 major beats that he tries to hit in every screenplay.

My completed Beat Sheet and logline are below. What do you think? Am I on the right track? Does anything here jump out at you as crazy or not working? Does anyone else have something similar they'd be willing to post?

Thanks!

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PROJECT TITLE:Things You Should Know
GENRE: Fantasy
DATE:2017/09/29
Logline:In a Seattle coffee shop, cursed immortal recounts her lives to a stranger who plans to kill her

Opening Image (0): Coffee shop - AMIE and SETH across from each other in a booth.

Theme Stated (5):"If you're going to kill me, there are a few things you should know."

Set-up (1-10):AMIE sets ground rules for SETH, then follows up with a stories of past lives.

Catalyst (12):First death (as IME*), first re-birth, creation of the Soulstones

Debate (12-25):IME's tenth or so lifetime, almost fugue-like; Is immortality worth it? Is her existence making the world better after all this time?

Break into Two (25):IME realizes she's tired of life, and figures out how to destroy the Soulstones.

B Story (30):Formation of THE CULT. Revelation that Soulstones grant supernatural powers to normal humans in proximity.

Fun and Games (30-55):IME's fifteenth life; Tracking down a Soulstone belonging to a well-protected CULT member; CULT and IME first square off;

Midpoint (55):IME destroys the Soulstone, killing the CULT member and dying in the process, but coming back more empowered and ready to seek out and destroy the rest.

Bad Guys Close In (55-75):CULT regroups, begins organizing and actively hunting IME

All Is Lost (75):IME is lured into a trap, captured, threatened, killed, regenerates, is recaptured a few years later, lather, rinse, repeat.

Dark Night of the Soul (75-85):IME considers giving up, wasting away, letting the CULT win. What's the point? Maybe itwouldbe better to just exist, forever.

Break into Three (85):IME realizes that destroying the Soulstones and defeating the CULT will be as much a service to the world as to her own goals; kills herself to escape.

Finale (85-100):IME regenerates, changes her name to AMIE, gets the drop on her kidnappers, kills them, destroys their Soulstones.

Final Image (100):AMIE now poses the question to SETH: Now he knows the truth about his CULT and her story, does he still want to kill her?

*pronounced EE-may

I usually go by the seven plot point structure, but this beat sheet looks quite intriguing. Here are some related resources:

• a blog article about Blake Snyder's beat sheet process.
• Noam Kroll: This Simple Beat Sheet Technique Will Help You Finish Your Feature Screenplay In Record Time
• a reddit post on using the beat sheet
• Jami Gold's beat sheet for writing romance novels
• spreadsheet with other structure summaries
• how to get a god's eye view of your novel using Excel

Of course, like anything else, the beat structureprobably has to be somewhat malleable depending on the story you want to tell.

I love the concept of beat sheets! It isn't something I have ever really been able to use in the planning process, though. I just don't know enough about my story yet. I think it can also be a really great tool to use during revisions to make sure your pacing is on point and that your "big moments" are big enough.

Jami Gold has lots of great beat sheet resources on her blog, and she lists many of them in this post.

She alsowrote a post on Writers Helping Writerswhere she discusses what each major beat / plot point would mean for romance, thriller, and mystery genres.

You should grab Bake Snyder's Save the Cat book (and Save the Cat Strikes back has some more in-depth info, and great examples). It's where the beat sheet originated.

The Save the Cat team does offer workshops around the country, both for script writers and novelists. I took the novelist workshop this past summer and it was incredible. I've FINALLY found a plotting method that works for my pantser brain.

If you like the idea of the beat sheets, and this kind of format, I highly recommend finding one of the workshops but the books are wonderfully helpful, too (just keep in mind the books are focused more on script writing than books).

Anna and Niassa--thanks for the tips!