What You'll Learn and Accomplish

In the self-paced Beat2Board course, you'll discover a story-breaking strategy to go beyond the beat sheet and develop the scene cards that will become the backbone of your screenplay or novel.

You’ll achieve a working understanding of Save the Cat! and an inside look at how professional writers break story, giving each scene meaning by serving a well-paced plot on a writer’s board.

The board is a way for you to "see" your story before you start writing. It is a means to easily test different scenes, story arcs, ideas, bits of dialogue, and story rhythms to work out the kinks of your story.

Once you’ve wrestled your board into shape, you can dive into writing your screenplay or novel with the confidence that your story works.

You'll learn how to...

  • use the tool that professionals use
  • visually brainstorm your story 
  • create scenes that work
  • plot your hero’s “transformation”
  • get over blocks and find new inspiration
  • troubleshoot your story idea for viability


Requirements

  • A computer, tablet, or smartphone
  • An idea that you want to turn into a story

Is This Course for You?

This course is for those who...
 

  • Want to take the next step after developing the 15 beats of your story 
  • Want to expand your story scene-by-scene on a board like the professionals do
  • Want to test your story to see if it flows or has lapses you need to eliminate
  • Want to troubleshoot an existing story
  • Are determined to finish a half-written story

This Course Includes

  • 51 minutes of original video production
  • 11 downloadable PDFs

Course Curriculum

  • 1

    Preview

  • 2

    Welcome

    • Introduction
  • 3

    Lesson 1: Before You Board

    • Before You Board

    • Worksheet: The Blake Snyder Beat Sheet
  • 4

    Lesson 2: The Cards

    • The Cards

    • Worksheet: Anatomy of a Scene

    • Worksheet: The Story Card
  • 5

    Lesson 3A: Building the Board - Part 1

    • Building the Board - Part 1

    • Worksheet: The 3 Passes

    • Worksheet: The Single-Scene and Multi-Scene Beats
  • 6

    Lesson 3B: Building the Board - Part 2

    • Building the Board - Part 2

    • Worksheet: The 4 Rows of the Board
  • 7

    Lesson 4: Checking Your Scenes

    • Checking Your Scenes

    • Worksheet: Elements of a Scene

    • Worksheet: Types of Conflict
  • 8

    Lesson 5: The Board for Novels and TV

    • The Board for Novels and TV

    • Worksheet: The Board for Novels

    • Worksheet: The Board for TV Hourlongs

    • Worksheet: The Board for TV Half-Hours
  • 9

    Tell Us What You Think

    • Exit Survey

Your Instructor

Jamie Nash

Jamie Nash is the author of the best-selling Save the Cat!® Writes for TV and the Save the Cat!® Beat Sheet Workbook. He has written and sold almost every type of story under the sun, including the horror films Exists, V/H/S/2, The Night Watchmen, Altered, and Lovely Molly, and the family films Santa Hunters and Tiny Christmas. He has written the Middle Grade novels Bunk! and The 44 Rules of Amateur Sleuthing and the sci-fi novel Nomad. Jamie knows what it's like to make a living as a writer. When he’s not writing and selling work, he teaches screenwriting at Johns Hopkins University and MICA and co-hosts the podcast Writers/Blockbusters.

Turn Your Ideas into Meaningful Scenes.

Let's board your story!

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