Write Well Series 05: Using Story Beats

Welcome back to the Write Well Series.

This is where you get equipped with the skills you need to minister through writing. This time we are looking into Story Beats for your screenplay or novel.

• • Do you need a way to link your story ideas?

• • Have you got a story but need to fill in the gaps?

• • Would you like a way to hit the lows and highs in your script?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, ‘Story Beats’ will interest you!

Warning: long article but worth it.

ROOT BEFORE FRUIT

We want to write well. We are ministers and stewards, and although we have the privilege of using creativity, we are not entertainers. This is why before we serve in any capacity we must pay attention to our roots.

The fruit we are looking for is the building of the body of Christ through sharing the gospel of salvation and edifying the saints towards Christlikeness. For this we must have our roots deep in Christ: abiding in Him and His Word abiding in us. Root before fruit. Always.

USING STORY BEATS

Story beats will help you tie those brilliant ideas together and outline your story sequence intentionally.

So, what is a story beat?

Well, it’s nothing to do with music! A story beat is a change in the direction or tempo of your story. It is used to mark an intentional shift in tone. Story beats are blocks that help you structure your narratives and control the emotional arcs of your characters.

4 types of beats you might find in a screenplay include:

1. Events: E.g. parties, battles, sports matches, large social gatherings, etc.

2. Realizations: These are often small, subtle, and quiet moments that occur after some buildup. Realization beats help characters make decisions based on the information they have.

3. Resolutions: Resolution beats tend to come early in the story, and stem from a character’s desire to change the status quo.

4. Interactions: These occur when a character meets both allies and antagonists, who provide additional conflict and dimension to the story.

FIFTEEN (15) STORY BEATS*

1. Opening Image: The opening sets the tone, mood, type, and scope of the project.

2. Theme Stated: This is about what your character believes at the beginning, and what you want that character to believe at the end; values, virtues, vices.

3. Set-up: Introduction of your hero and key characters in your story. This shows character flaws that need fixing. You might also set up the stakes and goal.

4. Catalyst: A life-changing event, often bad news or the first moment something happens.

5. Debate: The hero reacts to the change that occurred and makes a choice.

6. Break into Act 2: The hero leaves the old world behind and chooses something new. A strong, definite change as the story proper begins.

7. B-Story: Often the ‘love’ story or introducing new characters. This beat gives us a break from the tension of the main story; it is a subplot to carry the theme of the novel.

8. Fun & Games: The heart of the story. The stakes are not too high yet, the hero is exploring the new world of Act 2.

9. Midpoint: The stakes are raised; the fun and games are over. It’s sometimes a false success, or more often something goes badly wrong.

10. Bad Guys Close In: The hero is really tested. Now a different challenge must be overcome.

11. All is Lost: The hero’s life is in a shambles, often there is a death in this section, either physically or symbolically. The hero may give up or run away, there seems to be no hope.

12. Dark Night of the Soul: The hero will pull out the last, best idea that will save himself and everyone around him/her. The hero figures out the answer. This is the darkness before the dawn.

13. Break into Act 3: The hero has dug deep and found the solution. The stories carried by the theme and sub plot intertwine with the main plot. The hero has an idea to solve the problem and the end is in sight.

14. Finale: The final act is where the hero triumphs and a new world system is revealed. The bad guys are dispatched, the problem is fixed

15. Final Image: The closing scene should be the opposite of opening scene; it is the proof that change has occurred and is real.

CALL TO ACTION

• • Google search ‘Story Beats’ and read articles or watch YouTube videos about it.

• • Try matching a story or film you know well with the 15 story beats.

• • Experiment with your own stories to draw up the important beats that shape the plot.

• • Root before fruit: intentionally study the Bible. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing (John 15:5).

Be sure to join us next time for another tool in the Write Well Series. Let’s write for our King and His kingdom.