The 'Save the Cat' beatsheet
My experience of using a beatsheet to write my latest novel.
What, you may ask, is a beat sheet? Think of it like the bones of a house or the checkpoints breaking up a long road trip.
The one I used is called Save the Cat, but there are others such as the Hero’s Journey, Foolscap Method, Story Grid and more. Some are more complex than others. The basic 3-act structure is the simplest and has been around for millenia.
Save the Cat has fifteen ‘beats.’ Here’s exactly how I used them to write my latest novel. It’s the first time I’ve ever used such a rigid structure — and also the first time I’ve written a coherent draft inside 4 months and in one unbroken period.
1: Opening Image – A single scene beat of the protagonist (mine is called Floyd) in his normal world. A good opening scene has minimal backstory, some foreshadowing, and way more show than tell. Ideally, the protag wants something (that want may or may not be relevant to the overall arc), and there’s an initial ‘surface problem’ to deal with.
In my intro, Floyd discovers the pharmaceutical company run by his own brother is embroiled in a plan to decimate the world's population with a deadly modified virus, while Floyd simply wants to ‘drink himself into a state of permanent amnesia’ and ignore everything.
2: Theme stated – A single scene beat where a character other than your protag states your protag’s ‘story-worthy’ problems (i.e. inner faults). In mine, the girl whom Floyd’s in a casual relationship with states Floyd’s total sense of entitlement, and how, by not doing anything to help save the world, he’s complicit in its destruction.
3: Set up – A multi-scene beat (mine is 2 scenes) where we start learning more about the protag’s backstory while moving the narrative forward towards the real meaty stuff. We follow Floyd while he makes his way back to the USA, ready to go into hiding with the rest of the elites and wait out the apocalypse. We learn more about his difficult family relationships and other backstory while foreshadowing more elements from later on.
4: Catalyst – 1 scene. Otherwise known as the inciting incident. Floyd learns he is the father of twins – 2 boys he formerly thought were his ex Madeline’s partner’s kids.
5: Debate – Multi-scene beat where the protag debates whether to leave his ‘old world’ and take the action he needs to take to redeem his ‘story worthy’ (ie inner) problems. Mine is 4 scenes. Floyd has to decide whether to act after learning about the twins, or go into hiding with the rest of the elite.
6: Break into Act 2 – A 1-scene beat where the protag takes irreversible action meaning a return to his old life is no longer possible (I am becoming MUCH vaguer now so as I don’t spoiler you for a novel which is a long way from being released).
7: B-Story – We meet another character who is part of the Act 2 world. In my case, it’s Jonathan Mauer – the ruthless trouble-shooter who will provide the figurehead for the forces of antagonism. In my story, the entire corporate and political system is the antagonist, so it was important to distill that into more manageable elements. I also introduce a second B-story character (love interest) during the next beat.
8: Fun and Games – This is the real meat of the story and will take 20-25% of the novel, all the way to the midpoint. It’s often called the promise of the premise. Mine’s SEVENTEEN scenes, including some from Mauer’s POV. This beat is supposed to travel one of two paths – if the protag is succeeding in the new world, it lays the path to a FALSE VICTORY at the midpoint. If he’s floundering, then it will be the opposite, ending in a false defeat. Of course, this won’t be all one direction. There will be many ups and downs along the way.
9: The midpoint – 1 or 2 scene beat marking the middle of the story and, in my case, Floyd’s false victory. I.e., he has won the battle but not the war.
10: Bad Guys Close in – another long beat (mine is 10 scenes) where things steadily get worse for Floyd as ‘the bad guys close in’. Bad guys can be literal bad guys, or personal demons, or in my case BOTH! If I’d written a narrative where Floyd had floundered in the Fun & Games beat, then this beat would see an upwards trajectory instead.
11: All is Lost – no matter the trajectory, here’s a single scene beat where the protag suffers their darkest moment yet. In my story, Floyd discovers a key player in his plan has been murdered by the elite.
12: Dark Night of the Soul – a 1-3 scene beat (mine is 2) where the protag hits rock bottom and contemplates surrender and general darkness. This is one element which you’ll find in almost every traditional story structure.
13: Break into act 3 – A single scene where something happens to change the trajectory, reinstalling belief in victory. Usually, something that happens TO the protag, rather than done BY them, but not always.
14: Act 3 – The finale - Save the Cat breaks the finale into a 5-point structure of mini beats. My own finale is approximately 15 scenes, but does closely follow this recipe (more by chance than design).
Gathering the team – The protag pulls together the team and tools to do the job
Executing the plan – self explanatory
High Tower Surprise – the forces of antagonism have a surprise in store (would they be proper bad guys if they didn’t?)
Dig Deep – The team have to dig in and use every ounce of their inner and outer strength to come up with a new plan
The new plan – It’ll be the hardest challenge yet, but it’s time to execute the new plan and finally save the day!
I actually got a bit stuck with my finale. My main issue was how to distill such an epic and nebulous conflict (Floyd against the entire damn system) down to a satisfying climax. Obviously, I had to put our good guy up against our bad guy, but I won’t go into any deeper detail…
15: Final Image - The fifteenth and final beat is a single scene showing the protag in their new world. Hopefully, they will have addressed his ‘story worthy’ (inner) problems, becoming a better human being and completing a satisfying character arc. This scene is often close to being a mirror image of the opening scene.
So, there you have it. Would I recommend Save the Cat? 100% yes. It has the flexibility to work with all but the most offbeat narratives, and using this level of structure gave me the perfect blend of road markers and freedom to write a novel in record time. It was extremely helpful to know exactly where I was within the overall narrative at any given moment.
Good luck with your own stories!