Screenwriting Neil Workshops Beat sheet example The A strand - Josh tries to move on 1 Give your beats headlines This makes it easier to read them. You want to be able to look at a whole strand beats and at a glance see how the story plays out. 2 Josh on tenterhooks Josh waits anxiously in the bar for his blind date to show up. The girl that walks in is nothing like he was led to expect from his friend's description. Each time he plucks up the courage to approach her, she begins doing something - chatting to the barman, talking on the phone, etc. - and he backs off and sits down, increasingly nervous and frustrated. 3 Josh discovers all is not what it seems Studying Joy as she pours out about her day, Josh notices blah blah blah... Every beat should contain (at least) one shift of emotional/psychological state and (at least) one dramatic action if you want it to become a satisfying scene. Keep in mind how you will make that shift apparent. 4 And so on Write your strand with clear succinct beats that will allow you to see the story clearly. No detail. No description. No dialogue. Unless absolutely necessary. 5 Just a moment If a beat is just a moment in the story that is necessary for plot reasons, but doesn't have the ingredients to turn it into a scene then consider if it can be incorporated into another beat that will become a scene. Sometimes such beats just end up as shots. You don't want too many of them.

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