Beat Sheets

I have begun to plot out movies that I watch. Kind of ruins them? Maybe a little. Luckily, I can enjoy a movie/book the first time I read it in ignorance. Afterwards, though, I am constantly thinking about it.

While I struggled with putting my scenes in order, there were so many things thrown at me by other writers that it became very overwhelming. So, I just winged it. Once I put it in an order that seemed natural, I brought it back to my critique book.

They told me about Beat Sheets/Save the Cat/etc.  Again, overwhelming. BUT, I found that my story fell right in line with the beat sheets they provided. Now, as I go through my chapters, I look at the beat sheets's points to make sure things are contained in that section to keep my story flowing well.

(Remember when I walked through Whipple's 'Transparent''s chapters to follow its flow? Same thing.)

I'm still learning about Saving the Cat.

Any time you watch a movie, plot it out. Even Disney shorts from Pixar, like 'Lava'.

One of my biggest challenges of writing has been to see the whole picture/story. I get caught up in single chapters all the time. This helps.