If I ask the average person what a beat sheet is, they probably don’t have a clue. Even when I ask writers, they may or may not have heard of it, but many don’t know how it applies to them. If I ask what “Do, Ra, Me” means, most people associate it with musical notes. But as Julie Andrews pointed out, this is just the beginning. Next, you say… “Doe, a stag, a doe, make a drop of golden sun…” Think of a Beat Sheet as a starting point.
Even if you don’t like outlines, a pace sheet can be an effective tool to keep a writer on track. A story beat is a type of plot point that you include to propel your story forward. A beat sheet lists the different beats (or plot points) that you want to include in your story. Some writers create mystery, fantasy, tragedy, a quest, or rags to riches. Obviously, they can’t all have the same plot points, right? Yes and no. ALL stories have a beginning, middle, and end. This could also be described as A) introducing a character, B) has a problem, and C) needs to be resolved. In most cases, there is a fourth point between items B and C known as discouragement. After all, it’s hard to go back if everything was perfect to begin with.
To show how this can be helpful, I’ll create a new pace sheet and walk you through the process. Note: I made mine in WORD only because I don’t use EXCEL. You can make your own on paper if you want. Start with three sections. Some people call them Acts (like a three-act play). Each of those Acts will also have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Do this one more time and you will have a table with 27 blank lines.
There are different Beats templates available online if you write in Standard Genres, but I don’t. I write time travel/romance, so some of the things I’m going to share will vary depending on your project. Like the song “Do, Re, Me,” we all need a starting point. I took mine from a basic Beat Sheet I found online. For Act One I wrote: Introduce the protagonist, engage the reader, and state the conflict. So far, we only have a few notes. Remember that each Law has three sections, that’s why we have three objectives for each Law.
Keywords for the second act include the protagonist’s reaction, one step forward and two steps back. If you’re looking at these sentences and think they’re a bit vague, you’re right. Remember, we haven’t started writing the song yet. The third act consists of the hero gaining courage, overcoming adversity and conquering the adversary. So far, this could apply to any story. This is where we start customizing the sheet to work for you. With nine blank spaces under each law, you now have an outline for a 27-chapter book. Some ideas can take more than one chapter to figure out, I usually aim for 30 chapters.
In the first act, the opening section, I wrote: original action hero, boy meets girl, and bigger than both. What does that mean? When I wrote those words, it was a mental note to myself. To hook the reader, I wanted to start with an action scene and I wanted them to see what he or she originally looked like. All we have entered so far is just a few words in the first column. You will notice that column two is empty. This is where you take a few words and turn them into a complete sentence. My goal is not to create a twenty-seven page document, but to generate ideas in one easy-to-read page.
This process won’t write the entire novel for you, but… it will give you a roadmap to follow. Once you have 27 sentences, expand it to 27 paragraphs. If you can create 27 paragraphs, you can create 27 chapters. At this point you have 90% of the first draft done. In the Beat Sheet I created, I planned out three different side stories (mini time travel adventures) and two plot twists. Do I know what they are? No, but I plan to make history a page turner. That’s like highlighting your roadmap, so you can see where to head next.
Many traditional writers refuse to use outlines because they say it deprives them of creative options. If it makes you feel better, you didn’t create an outline, you created a rhythm sheet. You don’t have to admit you’re a conspirator if you don’t want to. I will not tell anyone. Even if you don’t expand to paragraphs yet, at least you have a roadmap of where you’re going. This is a tool to be used as your computer or thesaurus. You can see examples of a blank rhythm sheet and my full time travel/romance rhythm sheet on my website.