Screenwriting : Beat Sheets. Your take. by Cherie Grant

I don't use them when developing a story. I've noticed that when a script is close to being finished that some natural beats have occurred. But in laying out a new story, I notice that many inexperienced script scribes rely on prepositioned story beats. Their resulting stories trend toward being formulaic and predictable. I don't see it as a chicken or egg issue. A well developed story will/must be organic. (but I'm not out to sell you any books/classes.)

I use the Blake Snyder Beat sheet. A simple google search will yield some good results on this. I do agree with Dough and John however, it isn't necessary, but it does help me personally.

Beats the sheet outta me!

Kinda funny.,...I just typed in "beat sheet" in the search window here in the lounge, and there are at least nine pages of threads that showcase a whole bunch of arguments. Talk about "beats". Heh-heh.

I just watched Sicario 2. After the inciting incident in the 5th minute, a beat occurs nearly every 15 minutes, and spins the story (the goals of the U.S. government, and of Matt and Alejandro) each time. At exactly the midway point, Matt even says "new mission."

My goal is to write a story that moves, and that keeps the reader engaged and not exactly sure what to expect next. I reference Sicario 2 not only because I just watched it, but because it accomplishes that perfectly. The story keeps twisting with every beat, and you never really know what to expect at every point. Even the last beat, at the 2-hour mark, is a perfectly-placed teaser for Sicario 3. Smart writer!

I couldn't do that without a beat sheet on my big wall board, and an outline up there, too - and more power to those who can do it in a different way..

Whichever way you choose to go, best fortunes to you, Cherie!

Bill, I wasn't expecting much from Sicario 2 but I thought it was great. I didn't think it could work without Emily Blunt's character as she was the one truly plunged down the rabbit hole in the first film. Anyway, I'm digressing.

I'm not sure if what I use constitutes as a beat sheet. I start at a logline, then break that down into 3 simple acts, then 5 acts. then break those 5 acts into high, low and turning points. Essentially, I just keep breaking the story down more and more until I have a solid outline that I can use as my guide. Wait, that is a beat sheet, right? Haha!

Adam Harper, those 5 acts, are they for Tv or film?

Hi Cherie. Both.

I'm vaguely using a breakdown based on John Yorke's "Into The Woods" book. I'm going on an advanced structure course of his in February (so excited).

In a nutshell - ACT 1 - Normal world. ACT 2 - New world (into the woods). ACT 3 - Midpoint (point of no return). ACT 4 - Crisis. ACT 5 - Resolution.

He explains that one episode of TV should follow something like this. But, also when you look at a series arc, that too will follow something similar.

This is obviously subjective, I'm sure others will disagree or have a different approach but, it's really helped me to structure my work and get to the heart of my stories.

I use a beat sheet for pacing my story. The way I look at I is there are a kazillion different ways I could tell any story. The beats help me to avoid allowing the story to sag down with unnecessary scenes/details that have no conflict and do nothing to move the story along.

My thought process is I have so many pages until I have to reach a certain point in the story--how can I best use those pages to build the conflict and to build the audience's interest in the story. It's working for me.

I use the beat sheet in every script, yet every story in my franchise has its own personality, as do all of the characters.

I do an outline, create a plan, a map, a bird’s eye view of the story. I tend to reverse engineer in that I always know my ending first and build from there. Me, I prefer to think in 4 Acts and/or 10-15 page sections when writing a feature-length script. The only time I do a ‘beat sheet’ is when I’m struggling with a section or scene and I need to dissect it. Hope that helps some. ;)

i used to hate the extra stuff - beat sheet, outline, treatment, synopsis, tag lines, log lines - but then one day, a company paid me to write a screenplay and they wanted that stuff before I start the script. It was their way or no job and no $$$. So I did what they wanted and learned a valuable lesson: the movie business is a collaboration.

Adam: that sounds like a great way to detail out a story. You use a nicely-defined structure/process, and you break your story down into sequences, with an overall purpose where certain things happen in certain places. That's how many of the pro's do it, and that how a story keeps moving and twisting, with extra emphasis on "moving and twisting.".

Everyone else who made similar comments seems to do the same thing.

Although I didn't mention it above, the B-story in Sicario 2 runs parallel to the A-story in a nicely paced way, too, is crucial to the whole story, collides with the A-story in the climax, and ends up in the denouement as part of the teaser for Sicario 3. (At last what I think is the teaser for Sicario 3, but I'm sure that was the intent of Taylor Sheridan.)

Best fortunes to you Adam, and to everyone else!

I haven't used one before, and seeing one kind of freaked me out and made me overanalyze my screenplay I think. I guess it's one of those things where you have to look at a tool and decide if it's a good fit for you personally.

Over the years I've modified the various workshops and protocols I've encountered to create my own story template. I map out beats. Between ten and twenty pages. Cut and paste it into Movie Magic and the writing is super fast. Sure twists and turns occur while writing - but it always refers back to the original concept and more, the purpose for the existence of the screenplay. My axiom: Structure is the backbone of creativity.

To me writing is organic. I allow my characters to 'Come out and play'. That way I can listen to them and write what they say. I've always tried to give my characters different voices. It's like trying to explain how I resolved a very difficult math problem. I can't. I's a purely Gesalt Process. And as far as background I research that on Google. I LOVE Google.

yes I too outline.

Sometimes I use a beat sheet as a guide but just as a guide. Sometimes I just sit down and start writing. However I do think a beat sheet helps me stay focused but I am not sure if there is a big difference in the end result.

A beat sheet is absolutely pivotal in my opinion. Only a small minority of working Hollywood screenwriters do not actively utilize them, and most of those people are "auteur" types who direct their own work as well.

Then I must be an 'Auteur'. I've found that for me Creativity is something that a person has or doesn't have. You can't 'Manufacture' Creativity, You can't flip a switch. The most gifted Musician I've ever known feels the same. And if you're NOT Creative, All the Pre-planning in the World won't help. I prefer the just sometimes "Make it up as I go." approach. Although, It helps to have a High IQ.

Oh yes, To be able to think Multi-Dimensionally as well.

See Dashiell, I really disagree with your opinion there. Pivotal is a strong word. I have a friend who doesn't even outline let alone uses beat sheets. He has it all in his head and can see the beats as he writes/reads. I don't think beats should stop on exactly the same page in a script each time. There's enough work out there produced to prove that point. I also doubt the majority of Hollywood writers use them as much as you imply. If they're working they most likely 'get it' enough to feel their way along. I mean you should be able to SEE quite plainly where your beats are at a certain level and know where they should vaguely fall.

Cherie, that may be true as it particularly pertains to beat-sheets, but I can certainly say that the majority of produced writers are working off of some form of document (outline, treatment, etc) rather than coming up with it as they go along. I can't cite studies, but it's very difficult to write scripts that fit the "template"/pre-designated structure expected in mainstream movies extemporaneously. I would say that most writers who simply let the story flow out of them without pre-planning are working more in the art-house realm, wherein their writing doesn't need to cohere to specifically timed plot points (a la Tarantino, PTA, Woody Allen, etc). These writers are statistically outliers , perhaps not among the ranks of ALL screenwriters, but definitely among those who are actively working within The Hollywood System. Mind you, though, I am not making a value judgement either way, as a good script is a good script.

Dashiell, while I agree with you that "most" writers work from outline, treatment, etc, Cherie was asking about a beat sheet. There are alot of published writers who would disagree with you. There are so many amazing films that were made without beat sheets. As long as you know the PIVITAL points in the story. Beats are helpful, but not necessary. It's personal preference.

Thanks Beck. Yes outlines and treatments are not beat sheets. I definitely outline. I can't get a story straight in my head without one. Though a friend of mine doesn't cause he can.

Cherie. A beat sheet is a form of an outline so I can see how that came up here. Obviously a treatment is a different animal entirely. Like your friend I can sit down and write a screenplay without any of those things. I did try the Save the Cat beat sheet just to see if it would help me and I did find it helpful but just as a guide and nothing more. It is true what Dashiell said regarding 'The Hollywood System' but I don't write screenplays for 'The Hollywood System'.

Agreed, Dan. Cherie, a beat sheet is defined as "an outline made with the specific purpose of breaking plot points down into their simplest forms." But as I've said, everyone should write in the fashion that works for them. When I said beat-sheets were pivotal, I meant to my own process.