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Welcome back to the discussion articles in The Pen and The Sword! I am one of the new Knights of the Realm, Erincasey09, and I'm here to serve you. I plan to post a new discussion article every month on the 21st. If you have topics you'd like to know more about, don't hesitate to post them down below!
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Today we're going to be talking about the beats in a story. Now, I'm sure I'm getting a little side eye. What exactly do I mean by beats? And how can this help if your story is already written?
Well, let's start off with something we're probably all more familiar with: Freytag's Pyramid, ie, the typical outline of a dramatic book: Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution/Denouement.
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Exposition focuses on the introduction of the plot and the world building. You introduce the characters, their world, and help pull the readers into the story. Within that period, an inciting incident happens that drives the characters into an adventure.
Rising Action is the journey the character takes to get from point A to point Z. The quest to find an ancient artifact. The goal to rescue a princess. This is the build up to the epic battle, or the main event of the story, ie. the Climax. Here's your epic battle between good and evil. Think of the final battle in Lord of the Rings or the last battle between Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, and the Emperor in Star Wars. This is what turns the tide of the entire story.
Falling Action is the aftermath of the climax. Characters mourn the dead, the kingdom tries to recover, and the dust settles.
Resolution/Denouement wraps up the story and ties up loose ends in a nice little bow.
Pretty simple, right? Each piece of the pyramid is a beat in the story. They're the major plot points that keep the story going.
Well, there's another way you can outline your plot that helps you hit on beats that you might not think about. Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet from Save the Cat is a fantastic example. Though it was initially used for script writing, it definitely applies to book writers. It breaks down the three-act structure of a story into 16 pieces.
