What are story beats and beat sheets?
What are story beats?
Story beats are turning points in your novel. In other words, they're specific moments which change the course of your plot. Story beats are sometimes described as steps.
Some story beats will be obvious to your readers, such as your protagonist deciding to go on their big adventure, while others will be subtle and your reader won't recognise the event as important until later in your story, like your protagonist deciding to accept a new job offer.
Story beats help you understand where things should happen in your story's plotline. For example, you can use beats to identify why the middle of your story is slow and understand what should happen after your story's climax.
What's the difference between a beat, a scene and a chapter?
Chapters are markers used to split a novel into parts. Chapters can be arbitrary but are often used to indicate there will be a shift in perspective, point of view, mood or action.
They break up your novel into digestible chunks and give readers the option to take a break at points that are convenient to both them and the plot. Unless you end your chapter on a cliffhanger in which case your readers may abandon their plans and zoom through your novel instead!
Scenes are where your characters engage with their surroundings, whether that's an action such as playing golf or cleaning the house, or through dialogue. Sometimes scenes are referred to as the building blocks of your novel. Chapters can contain one scene or they can contain many scenes.
Beats, on the other hand, are the specific turning points in your plot, such as when your protagonist meets their love interest.
While every scene should move your story forward, a beat will be a pivotal moment or change in the direction of the story. For example, a scene in a romance novel where the two lovers have a fight would move the story forward as the lovers learn more about each other and their differences, including how they can overcome them. If they broke up because of this argument, then this scene could count as the climax beat.
What will count as a beat will depend on the beat sheet that you use!
What is a beat sheet?
Beat sheets are step-by-step guides that dictate the order the beats should occur and when they should occur across your novel.
You may have heard of the three act structure or the Hero's Journey. These are called story structures or beat sheets.
What's the difference between a beat and a beat sheet?
A beat sheet, or story structure, is the overarching framework, while the story beats will be the individual pivot points which occur underneath these frameworks.
For example, the first beat in Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey would be the call to adventure. This would be the first story beat of your beat sheet.
What are the different types of beat sheets?
There are countless types of beat sheets out there with different focal points and different methodologies.
This shows that there's no one right way to write your novel. You aren't obliged to use a specific beat sheet, or even a beat sheet at all.
There are beat sheets specifically for romance, fantasy and even specific tropes so take your pick!
Three Act Structure
Will it surprise you to hear that the three act structure has three acts? Probably not! The three act structure is probably the most well-known beat sheet out there. In its three acts, there are nine beats that sit amongst them.
It's applicable to almost all genres of fiction and if you compare your favourite book to the three act structure, I reckon you'll be able to identify which beat happens where!
I do find the three act structure beats are vaguer than the examples we'll look at below but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Being vague means it can apply to a wider range of genres than specific beat sheets can, such as Romancing the Beat.
Save the Cat! and Save the Cat! Writes a Novel
Save the Cat! started out as a beat sheet for screenwriters by Blake Snyder. It was later adapted into a novel-specific methodology by Jessica Brody when Brody recognised the 15 beats could apply to novels as well.
These beats are applicable to most genres and are more specific than the three act structure. You'll find the Save the Cat! model useful if you want a more detailed guide to laying out your novel.
Romancing the Beat
Romancing the Beat: Story Structure for Romance Novels by Gwen Hayes is very popular amongst romance writers. It is a four-phase structure which contains twenty beats to introduce your readers to your love interests through to the "meet cute" moment, the "third act breakup" and all the way to the epilogue.
Part of the reason for Romancing the Beat's popularity is while everyone is different, romance readers typically want the books they read to be predictable. They have expectations of what will happen and when, so they know the couple will end up together and there will be a happy ever after.
That's not a bad thing! I know I pick up a romance novel when I want something familiar and comforting.
The Hero's Journey
This is a common fantasy story structure or beat sheet, originally created by Joseph Campbell. It contains three acts and seventeen beats. The hero's journey starts by showing your protagonist in their everyday lives. We want to see them doing what they normally do, whether that's go to school, work or dream of better things. They then receive their call to adventure, which they ultimately refuse.
Which beat sheet should I use?
There's no wrong answer here. The three act structure is a good starting point but if there's a beat that better suits your genre or story, I would recommend using that instead.
There's nothing wrong with writing a book that follows a beat sheet or structure as there are countless ways you can interpret each of the beats.
Why should I use a beat sheet?
It's useful for all types of writers, including plotters, pansters and plantsers, to use a beat sheet because beat sheets help you write quicker and identify plot issues.
Beat sheets can also help you overcome feedback from beta readers and critique partners.
Especially if you're a new writer or are still mastering your craft, I highly recommend you track your novel against a beat sheet of your choosing to see how it compares. This may give you ideas on how to improve your novel and make it more engaging for your readers.
Remember, you don't have to follow what the beat sheet tells you to do. You can ignore as much as you like but understanding why certain beats work at each point of your novel is useful when you decide to deviate from it.
Using beat sheets as a plotter
Plotters can use a beat sheet as they are plotting, before they even write the first page of their novel. You can ask your critique partners or editor to review this beat sheet to help identify potential issues with your plot before you even begin.
Using beat sheets as a panster and plantser
Pantsers and plantsers can use a beat sheet during or after their first draft, or even in later drafts.
If you feel your novel isn't flowing the way you want it to, then that can be a good point to whip out a beat sheet and start comparing it to what you have now.
There's no wrong way to use a beat sheet so do what feels natural to you.
Should I use a beat sheet across an individual novel or a whole series?
A comment question I get as a developmental editor is how to use beat sheets when you're writing a series, especially if writers should use a beat sheet to cover just one novel or their whole series.
The answer is both! Each novel in your series should have an individual beat sheet, with a clear start, middle and end. Your protagonists should also have clear character arcs and growth across each of your novels.
In other words, each novel should be a contained story within your wider series.
You can then have an overarching beat sheet to cover the events of your wider trilogy of series.
Example of beat sheets used across a series
In the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring roughly covers act one of the hero's journey: Frodo receives the call to adventure, he refuses the call but eventually accepts it and crosses the first threshold, which is leaving the Shire.
The first half of act two of the hero's journey is shown in The Two Towers, with Frodo struggling with the temptation of the ring.
Finally, Return of the King covers the remainder of Act 2 and Act 3, including the final fight, destroying the ring and eventually Frodo returning home (and then leaving again).
Of course, a beat sheet for a series will never be as simple as a beat sheet for an individual novel, so don't be afraid to stray from the beat sheet if your plot calls for it.
Conclusion
Beats are a useful tool for writers because they show you where plot points typically occur in the course of a novel. However, they are merely guides.
You don't have to follow beats as directed and no one will come after you if your beat happens 5% or even 25% later than the beat sheet told you it should!