How to write a beat sheet to tame unruly work
The Hollywood cheat that can save your writing (and your mind)
Happy hump day, friends!
A while ago, a subscriber mentioned that she’d like to read my Paywalled article on Medium about creating “beat sheets” and I realized that I’d never migrated that piece onto here. I firmly believe that creating beat sheets is one of the best ways to tame unwieldy material—regardless of the genre, tone, or length that you are working in—so without further ado, I’d like to reshare that piece on beat sheets, here.
Or actually, just a bit of ado first: this article was initially published in April of 2021. Remember 2021? We were all locked inside our homes and developing the beginnings of what the kids now call “Menty B’s.” That’s the context that I wrote that piece in, from a place of empathy and compassion with creative people who were wondering how in the world they were ever going to get their dreams and their careers back on track.
It’s not that different of a context from the one we’re living in today. Zoom is apparently going to use our meetings to train computers in AI? Writers are discovering that strangers are publishing books under their names? Actors and writers across the country are on strike, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is a philanthropic hero. What a time to be alive. I hope you like this article and that beat sheets provide a little comfort to your (potentially) frazzled minds.
Vaccinated or not vaccinated, employed or underemployed, it is really hard to write right now. And it’s no picnic to revise. Your mind wanders, the very act of writing feels futile, maybe irrelevant. But you must create — you must! When we write or revise well, it takes us out of our heads and away from the current moment to a safe, exciting place called ART. Today, I want to share a terrific revision tool with you that will help keep your creative writing (and mind) on track.
What’s a beat sheet, anyway? A “beat sheet” is a Hollywood tool that allows a screenwriter or outside reader to experience the most important plot points of a film project without reading an entire script. Do not open another web page and Google “beat sheet” because you will be presented with something far more complicated than you need to see. The beat sheet that I have in mind for your exhausted writing brain is elemental, simple. It’s pasta with good butter. It’s a way to defend the decisions you have made paragraph by paragraph throughout your project. It works for short stories, essays, and book length projects of any genre. My favorite way to do a beat sheet is to print out the entire document in question and write the “beats” in the margins, but if you have moved into a cave somewhere (can’t blame you) and don’t have access to a printer right now, you can use Track Changes.
Step 1: Break down each of your paragraphs into “beats”
A “beat” advances the plot and/or a character’s development. It’s a summary of what is happening in each paragraph. Remember, the beat sheet is a document that can be scanned quickly by an outside reader. It needs to be SHORT. Let’s consider the opening of ROMEO & JULIET. If I were writing a beat sheet for this play, I’d break down the opening this way:
Two CAPULET servants gossip while walking through the village streets. CLASS DIVISION and SEXUAL CONQUESTS are discussed.
Now let’s consider the opening of one of the saddest stories ever given to children, THE GIVING TREE. I’d beat it out like this:
We meet a boy who has a favorite tree he gathers leaves from each day to play make believe alone. Mood of SOLITUDE established.
As you can tell from the above, I like my beats to tell me what is happening plot-wise and emotionally, too. That way I can track both action and character development at the same time. If there is a POV change, a dream sequence or another shift that deviates from the norm you have established, make that clear in the beat sheet.
Step 2: Why’d you choose that title? When you’re done breaking down each paragraph into its most essential elements, interrogate your title. Why did you choose this title for your work? How does it support the main themes and plot points that you’ve broken down into beats? Have you isolated any reoccuring themes that you can use to come up with something better than what you currently have now? (One of my latest Medium posts was about titling, if you need some help with this!)
Step 3: Review your beats If you have an outside reader, now’s the time to hand the beat sheet over to them. Otherwise, you’re perfectly equipped to tackle the beat sheet yourself: you just need to check all attachment to and knowledge of your project at the door. You must pretend that you have never encountered this material. You don’t know your character’s motivations, you don’t know their fates, you don’t know anything but the simple information given to you in the beat sheet. Some things that you should look for:
How are the paragraph transitions? Will an outside reader understand why we are moving from one paragraph to the next?
Where does the project drag? (If the CAPULET servants spend 19 paragraphs walking through town, for example, you need to shorten that walk.)
Do we understand why the characters do the things they do? (Remember: you being able to defend their decisions in your head does nothing for your reader. We need to understand their motivation on the page.)
Are we getting emotional payoff from our big scenes?
Or are the big scenes not written? (Have you pivoted away from writing difficult scenes? Why?)
Step 4: Revise The beat sheet should indicate where your manuscript is baggy and where it needs development. It should help you see the characters who need more flesh on their bones. It will be hard to stomach, but the beat sheet will let you know whether your middle has no plot.
The results of the beat sheet can be hard to stomach, but I promise you, there is no better tool to shine light — once and for all — on the problems you have been too close to your manuscript to see.
Give it a try and let me know if the beat sheet puts clarity back into your writing routine. I’ve had good luck with it, and I hope it works for you. Write on!
Have you ever used a beat sheet? If so, what was your experience? If not, do you think a beat sheet will help you solve any particular problems in your work? Share with us in the comments!
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Great advice! I'm struggling with repeated dialogue, scenes, continuity on my first Novel and trying to clean it up. Chapter summaries aren't helping me. This is just what I need.
This was so helpful as I try to tame 50+ chapters in my draft 4 into a clear cause-and-effect narrative. Thank you!