Free template
Beat Sheet Template (Save the Cat PDF, Word)
A beat sheet template lists the 15 Save the Cat beats, the page each one should land on, and a space to write what happens there. Download this free blank beat sheet as Word or PDF, with page targets set for a 110 page script, plus a filled example built on a made up story.
Written and reviewed by ScriptLix Editorial
Download the beat sheet template
One page, US Letter: the 15 Save the Cat beats with page targets for a 110 page script, a column to write each beat, and a notes box.
New to the beats? Read the Save the Cat beat sheet explained, or scale every beat to your own page count with the beat sheet calculator.
What does a filled in beat sheet look like?
A made up story, Low Tide Bakery, planned as a 110 page feature. A burned out city pastry chef inherits her late aunt’s failing bakery on a tiny island and has one winter to save it before the ferry stops running and the bank takes the building.
1. Opening Image
Page 1Mara Quill plates a perfect dessert in a loud city kitchen, alone, and throws it away when the head chef sends it back.
2. Theme Stated
Page 5Her aunt’s old letter, read at the funeral: “Bread is just patience you can eat.”
3. Set-Up
Page 1 to 10Mara is gifted, lonely and then fired. Her aunt’s will leaves her a bakery on Gull Island and a pile of debt.
4. Catalyst
Page 12The bank gives her until the last ferry of the season to pay, or the bakery is sold.
5. Debate
Page 12 to 25She plans to sell up and leave. Then she finds her aunt’s recipe book, half the pages missing.
6. Break into Two
Page 25She cancels the sale, unpacks her knives and opens the shop for one morning to see what happens.
7. B Story
Page 30Tom Varga, the grumpy ferry captain, is the only customer who comes back. He hated her aunt’s rivals more than her bread.
8. Fun and Games
Page 30 to 55Burnt loaves, a stolen sourdough starter and a village that will not buy from an outsider. She bakes through it, and slowly they start to come.
9. Midpoint
Page 55A food writer stuck on the island praises the bakery in print. Orders pour in, and Mara stops listening to anyone.
10. Bad Guys Close In
Page 55 to 75She hires no one, works all night, and pushes Tom away. The rival bakery copies her and undercuts her prices.
11. All Is Lost
Page 75The oven fails on the day of the island festival order. She loses the order, the money and Tom.
12. Dark Night of the Soul
Page 75 to 85Alone in the dark shop, she finds the missing recipe pages tucked in Tom’s old ferry log. Her aunt never baked alone.
13. Break into Three
Page 85Mara asks the village for help, the thing her aunt always did.
14. Finale
Page 85 to 110The whole island bakes in borrowed kitchens for the last ferry crowd. She pays the bank with an hour to spare.
15. Final Image
Page 110Mara plates a simple loaf for a full room, and Tom sends nothing back.
How to use it
- 1
Download the Word file to type into, or the PDF to print and fill in by hand.
- 2
Write one or two sentences per beat: what happens, and who makes it happen.
- 3
Writing a different length? Put your page count into the beat sheet calculator for scaled targets.
What page does each Save the Cat beat land on in a 110 page script?
| Beat | Pages | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Opening Image | 1 | A snapshot of the hero before anything changes. |
| Theme Stated | 5 | Someone says what the story is really about. |
| Set-Up | 1 to 10 | The hero’s world, flaws and stakes. |
| Catalyst | 12 | The event that knocks life off course. |
| Debate | 12 to 25 | Should I go? The hero hesitates. |
| Break into Two | 25 | The hero chooses and enters a new world. |
| B Story | 30 | A new relationship that carries the theme. |
| Fun and Games | 30 to 55 | The promise of the premise. |
| Midpoint | 55 | A false win or false loss. Stakes go up. |
| Bad Guys Close In | 55 to 75 | Pressure from outside and inside. |
| All Is Lost | 75 | The lowest point. Something dies. |
| Dark Night of the Soul | 75 to 85 | The hero sits with the loss. |
| Break into Three | 85 | The answer, often from the B story. |
| Finale | 85 to 110 | The hero applies the lesson and wins or loses. |
| Final Image | 110 | The mirror of the opening image. |
What is in this beat sheet template?
One page with all 15 beats in story order, the page target for each, and an empty column to write your version of the beat. A notes box at the bottom holds the logline, the theme and anything you are still unsure of.
The filled example uses Low Tide Bakery, a story invented for this page, so you can see how much to write in each box. Short is fine. A beat sheet is a map, not a draft.
Why are the page targets set for 110 pages?
Blake Snyder gave his page numbers for a 110 page script in Save the Cat! (2005), so the template keeps them as he wrote them: the Catalyst on page 12, Break into Two on 25, the Midpoint on 55, All Is Lost on 75, Break into Three on 85.
For any other length the beats scale by the same share of the script. The beat sheet calculator does that for you and can also place the beats on the scenes of a script you drop in.
How do you fill in a beat sheet?
Start with the beats you already know, usually the Catalyst, the Midpoint and the Finale, then work out what has to be true for the others. Write each as an event, not a mood: something happens and something changes.
Check that the Opening Image and the Final Image mirror each other, and that the B Story carries the theme you wrote next to Theme Stated. If a beat stays empty, that is the part of the story to think about next.
Is a beat sheet the same as an outline?
No. A beat sheet holds the 15 turning points of the story. An outline goes scene by scene and fills the space between them. Most writers do the beat sheet first, then build the outline on top of it.
Questions writers ask
Is there a Save the Cat beat sheet PDF?
Yes. Download the blank beat sheet as a printable PDF or as a Word file, both with the 15 beats and page targets for a 110 page script, plus a filled example PDF.
Can I use this beat sheet template in Google Docs?
Yes. Upload the Word file to Google Drive and open it with Google Docs. The table and page targets carry over.
How many beats are in Save the Cat?
Fifteen, from the Opening Image to the Final Image. Six of them, like Set-Up and Fun and Games, are stretches of pages rather than single moments.
What if my script is not 110 pages?
Use the beat sheet calculator. Type your page count and every beat moves to the same share of your script.
Is the beat sheet template free?
Yes. Download it with no signup and use it for as many scripts as you like.
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