Screenwriting : Story beats and writing your pitch. by Steve Sherman

Story beats and writing your pitch.

I have been racking my brain trying to figure out why I can't get my pitch right for one of my screenplays and after reading and studying and re reading I finally figured it out. My story beats are wrong. Here's the website that straightened me out.

https://nofilmschool.com/beat-sheet-template

Ricki Linksman

So in a nutshell what was your main takeaway to fix the pitch?

Antonio Borroto

Outstanding and to the point, well said.

Brian Carlin

Thanks for posting Steve! I will check this out. Looks very useful.

Solange Plaza

Thanks for sharing this.

Steve Sherman

Hi Ricki, I didn't give enough of the protagonist backstory in the 1st act. I gave it through expose late in act 1 and it wasn't obvious enough to give strength to the B story. Once I put the info into action in the first scene/sequence it made the B story pop.

Steve Sherman

I think the website gives a clearer explanation of story beat than Save the Cat. Keeps you on track in story better.

Luke Fuller

Thanks this was a definite help!

A. S. Templeton

One can still buy paint-by-numbers kits at hobby & craft stores. Beat sheets are the equivalents for writers: arguably useful at first to gain insight into composition and palette, to be discarded as quickly as possible.

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