The KISS Beat Sheet

Structuring your novel—and how you go about doing it—is a controversial topic. Some famous authors suggest creating a detailed outline for your story, while others say, “wing it and see what happens.” While both of these are valid options, I prefer a third, alternate route.

For those of you who know me or have read the “about” page on my website, you know that I’m an actress. It’s my primary profession and where most of the money comes in, which means I have a keen understanding of screenplays and their structure. It’s where I got my idea for the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) beat sheet.

Outlining and winging it? I’m breaking up with you. Look, it’s not that I’m angry with you…I’m just disappointed. You could have been so much better.

I believe that in every novel (science fiction, fantasy, romance, contemporary, or historical fiction) there is an “essential flow.” This flow ensures that your readers are engaged and that they clearly understand what’s happening. Now, this flow doesn’t need to be hindered by a convoluted outline, but it also needs to be structured enough that you’re not doing rewrite after rewrite because you just “winged it” and shocker, nothing came of it. I believe that there is a fine line between too much structure and too little structure and in this post, I’m going to paint that fine line you need to walk.

Every novel’s essential flow, narrated by the protagonist:

-- Hello, world.

-- What do I need to learn? Or what is my theme?

-- Oh no, something very bad has happened.

-- How are we going to fix it?

-- Okay, I’ve got an idea.

-- Hey, you’re cute. I think…maybe I like you.

-- My idea is working.

-- Oh, hell no, it’s not working. [Alternatively, something about the problem has changed]

-- Wait, I have a better idea.

-- I can see it—we’re going to make it!

-- Death and despair; the world has ended and the worst thing that could possibly happened…has happened.

-- How are we going to pick ourselves back up after this?

-- No, we have to do this. For everyone we’ve lost.

-- We’ve won! I can’t believe it, but we’ve won.

-- Now we have to clean up the mess and live with what’s become of the world.

Phew. It’s exhausting writing an entire novel in 15 bullet points.

Do you see the flow here? It’s simple. You introduce the character and the world, then you introduce the theme of your story. What essential lesson must your character learn? What essential truth must the reader take from your novel? What is the goal underneath the goal? Then, you have what’s often referred to as “the catalyst.” It’s where the “big bad” has happened and the character is left going, “Oh no. What am I going to do?" From there, it’s a rollercoaster of highs and lows, epic battles, a romance (or other side story) to give a little reprieve from the danger/action, and a catastrophic turn of events near the 75% mark: your death and despair moment. After your character has picked him or herself up off the ground, it’s time for the grand finale, and finally, the resolution. The clean up.

Now, obviously the story can’t be too all over the place. For instance, your “Oh, hell no, it’s not working” point can’t be as low as your “Death and despair” point. Death and despair must be the lowest point of your novel. It is your “all is lost, my family is dead, I am sick with the plague, and the Roman army is currently banging on my door.”

So what are the most important components or beats in the flow?

Well, before I get into that, I do want to make note that this flow isn’t foolproof. It won’t work for every novel out there. However, it’s pretty dang close to what you’re going to need.

As I’m going through the most important components, remember that you can tweak their names and meanings. The gist of the components is the emotional/goal progress factor. Where are your characters at any given time emotionally? And where are they on their journey to accomplish their mission or achieve their goal? It’s not a linear journey, which means there have to be some moments of backsliding and doubling back, which is why you have your low points.

With that being said, let’s get into the most important components of the KISS beat sheet that every fiction novel should have.

Hello, world.

This is your opening image. How you’re starting your story matters. It needs to be a “middle” point, essentially. It can’t be too devastating of a place—because things have to get worse in a second. While it can be a high point in the story, I wouldn’t recommend it. Unless you’re writing a redemption story where the character has everything up front, everything is taken away, and the protagonist has to earn/win it all back, it’s just not captivating to start a character off with everything they could ever imagine. There has to be something they’re lacking.

Oh no, something very bad has happened.

This should be obvious. It’s your catalyst. Everything is going one way then…sharp change of scenery. We’ve gone from one path to another.

This beat needs to be abrupt and devastating because it will have to launch your character into the rest of the novel/series. Here are a few examples:

The Hunger Games: Prim is selected as tribute and Katniss volunteers in her stead.

Clockwork Angel: Tessa is told that she’s been groomed for a man that’s coming to marry her, and she has to get out.

These Broken Stars: The Icarus crash lands on a half terraformed planet with only two survivors.

You get the gist. The catalyst or the problem kickstarts the entire novel. It’s essential that you choose a worthy problem. What is going to be so devastating/life altering to your character that it will force them to leave behind their entire world in search of a solution or answer to their problem?

Okay, I’ve got an idea.

At this point, you should be about 20% of the way through your novel, maybe a little more or a little less. It’s not scientific by any means.

This beat is when your character comes up with a potential solution. They’ve thought about it, brainstormed with friends, gathered the necessary materials, and they are on their way to accomplishing their mission. When this beat strikes, the protagonist should be worlds away from where they began. I don’t necessarily mean physically, but a massive change of location/scenery wouldn’t hurt. You want the audience to realize, “We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.”

The Hunger Games: Katniss arrives in the Capitol.

Clockwork Angel: Tessa arrives in the Institute.

These Broken Stars: Tarver pushes Lilac to begin walking.

Oh, hell no, it’s not working.

Here’s one of those high-to-low points I was talking about. There has to be a setback. It’s a moment of doubt where your protagonist thinks, “Can I really do this?” Alternatively, it really is a moment where the plan is just not working.

For instance, if you’re writing a heist novel and the characters are in the middle of breaking into the safe at this point, now’s the time to reveal that the skeleton key they’d been expecting to work this whole time…it’s not working. That, or someone has discovered them. It has to be a major setback in the progress of achieving the goal.

I can see it—we’re going to make it! and Death and Despair.

These go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. The most optimistic it seems in the “I can see it” moment, the more devastating it’s going to be when your character falls into that abysmal pit.

If your protagonist is an avenging angel trying to rescue his human love, here is how that beat would go:

The angel had her, and he was never letting her go. He’d finally done it; he’d rescued her. All he had to do now was get her back to the Garden. They’d be safe if he could just—

She was suddenly ripped out of his hands! He could do nothing but watch as his love fell into the sea.

Behind him, the demon grabbed him by the shoulders and tore his wings off. The angel, heartbroken and wingless, was powerless to stop the demon from throwing him into Hell.

Wow. Heartbreaking. The end.

Okay, that was really terrible and really short, but you understand what I’m saying. If not this moment of near fulfillment, then the crash to Hell wouldn’t be quite so devastating.

These are two of your most important elements to the story. They are what make readers go, “Oh my gosh, what a read.” Because you hooked them! You did backflips and tricks with their emotions, took them on a wild ride, and…

We’ve won! I can’t believe it, but we’ve won.

…you haven’t left them hanging.

Obviously, this is another huge part in the novel. It’s your grand finale, where the angel claws his way out of Hell with his bare hands, resurrects his love, and defeats the demon that’s been plaguing them.

The reason we love this beat so much is because we see it reflected in our own lives. We see our heartbreaking struggle, and our determined path back to victory. We eat this up! Don’t leave your audience hanging—unless you’re writing a series, of course.

If your “death and despair” is particularly low, you’ve got to make sure your “we’ve won” is particularly high.

Okay, so how do we go about this?

Before you put pen to paper, break out your beat sheet and decide what these points are going to be in your unique storyline. Where are the rough highs and lows? How does your character feel during these times? Once you have your rough estimate of where your beats are going to be, when they’re going to hit, and what they are, you can begin to craft your story.

I like this approach so much better than outlining. Trust me, I know the pain of sitting down and trying to crank out an outline. It steals all the joy out of actually writing the scenes.

That’s why I love this beat sheet. It’s mean to just be a rough glance at what your novel is going to look like. You have the freedom to move, shift and change elements, all while keeping your novel concise, readable, and engaging.

Happy writing!

[Disclaimer: These beats were imagined and transformed into novel format after reading the screenwriting book, "Save the Cat" by Blake Snyder]