Screenwriting : Script Beats by Donnalyn Vojta

I take Super Beets and it's a great product! It helps with the BP.

Funny, Phillip!

I spend a huge amount of time thinking about the person I am writing about. Then I put them in a situation to examine what I have learned about them as a theme.

This means that some of my stories are not what most people call structured.

Do you find that following these defined beats shape your story rather than the characters decisions?

Craig, they help me determine where my characters' decisions will be revealed, but the story is still shaped by their decisions. If I lost the story because of the Save the Cats beats, I wouldn't write the script at all. Have you had good luck with your scripts? It would be nice to NOT be so stuck to a structure.

I'm a minimalist outliner: inciting incident, end of first act turn, sometimes I'll have a midpoint, end of second act turn, and that's it. I like to surprise myself as to how I get from one outlined point to the next (and half the time the structure changes anyway).

I have had some success. I have sold a few. Funding has been an issue for producers.

I can see good and bad. I can get halfway through a story and realise it will not be a good film. I think a beat sheet may get me to the end, but the story may still be bad.

I am also a fan of European film. That doesn’t have the same feel. I think growing up on that has wired my stories in a particular way.

My heroes always lose. People die. And they are always their own worse enemy.

Blake's beat sheet is a GIDELINE - it's certainly the not the end-all-be-all and those who follow it religiously tend to write flat, predictable stories. Develop your own style as you go. Read McKee's STORY, read Truby's The Antimony of Story, Trottier's The Screenwriter's Bible, Syd Fields Screenplay, Snyder's Save the Cat Strikes Back (not written by Blake Snyder). Mix & blend 'em all to find what works best for you. Just keep writing and and it will all come together - I promise.

I have used Save The Cat beat sheet as a guide, but most of the time I just sit down and start writing my screenplays.

My so far experience taught me that usually my works I'm not too keen about, gain outside interest...

Someone famous said about screenplay structure, “Make Act 1 drama, Act 2 thriller, Act 3 action”. In theory, I think that’s great advice.

A while back, I started writing scripts by chapters, kind of like how DVDs break down movies by chapters. Writing sequences with beginning, middle, endings.

Or I make sure every 10 pages something dramatic happens- explosion, death, twists- anything to make Readers keep reading. Whatever theories ppl use to write, just make the pages entertaining.

Well, I must say that I feel a bit liberated from my strict outline process. With so many of you using styles of your own and doing well with them, I have to start branching out myself! Thanks, everyone!!

Loosely, Paul Joseph Gulino's The Sequence Approach. Not only a structuring tool, but rife with tips for dialogue, plot elements and more.

Interview/Explained:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqK4jb1l5vQ&ab_channel=FilmCourage

PDF of the book:

https://archive.org/details/screenwritingthesequenceapproachpauljosephgu...

Example Templates:

https://thescriptlab.com/category/screenplay/sequence-breakdowns/

Thanks, Elaine! This is great.

I figure out the major plot points, then add where the B Story and Subplot(s) start and end.

Welcome, Donnalyn.

I don't have a rigid beat sheet formula, it all depends on individual story. EG Genre, linear or non linear tandem narrative and how many subplots. The beats must serve story in best possible way, all building up to final act which must deliver audience satisfaction.

Grouping your beats into the 8 parts of the Dan Harmon Story Circle is a good way to see how your story is balanced.

I really like the 8 sequences story structure as well:

Four Acts, Eight Sequences

● Act 1

○ Sequence 1: Status Quo & Inciting Incident (Pages 1-15)

○ Sequence 2: Predicament and Lock-In (Pages 16-30)

● Act 2: Part 1

○ Sequence 3: First Obstacles & Raising Stakes

○ Sequence 4: First Culmination/Midpoint

● Act 2: Part 2

○ Sequence 5: Subplot & Rising Action

○ Sequence 6: Main Culmination/End of Act 2

● Act 3

○ Sequence 7: New Tension & Twist

○ Sequence 8: Resolution

Jason - I do much the same; breaking acts into sequences that generally fall out at about 14 - 18 pages each (my attention span is only about that long). Basically, each sequence becomes a separate free standing short with a beginning, middle and end that terminates with an irrevocable conclusion - up or down. Then I go on to the next sequence. All under the over arching beat story structure.