A Guide to Plot Beat Mapping + Announcing My Workshops and Speaker Panels
Today is a MASSIVE load of information (as well as a freebie!) brought to you by many years as an editor and writer, so get your notebooks ready. I also announce my upcoming online events!
Telling a pantsing (writing by the seat of their pants) writer they need to outline can result similarly to telling a child to put on winter gear before playing in the snow.
For many creatives, the concept of an outline, of plot beats, of knowing anything before they get there can be unbearable. “How will I explore if I know what the landscape is already? What fun is there in the journey if we plan it out ahead of time?”
As someone who regularly committed the egregious sin of reading the last page of a book first, I can tell you with great certainty that there is still plenty of fun to be had if you know the end result. In fact, Hitchcock’s “bomb under the table” strategy of thriller writing explains exactly how beneficial knowing the ending before you arrive can be. This is also why the biggest hooks and best cuts of a movie are what get put in the trailer or synopsis. It excites cold readers enough to become hot ones.
Knowing where you’re going (as well as where you’re starting) is how you build tension. Your relationship with your book becomes a working one because you give it the respect and planning it deserves. There can never be forward movement without tension, without combustion, without a catalyst.
And that’s exactly what we’re going over today. What gives your story tension, what catalyzes your characters into change, and how to map out a few steps of the path (however large or small) to make the daily writing commitment that much easier.
Always returning to pirate’s code, a plot beat story map is more like a guideline than a rule. The idea is to keep exploring throughout the writing process. If the map needs to change, great! Make the changes to the map and not the pages you’ve already written, and then keep going.
Now let’s pull up our map.
What makes a story?
There are many cases made for the idea of only a few specific “stories” existing. The hero’s journey, popularized by Joseph Campbell’s hero myth and pattern studies via Hero with a Thousand Faces, details the concept of a monomyth. Campbell, deeply influenced by analytical psychologist Carl Jung, compared and analyze religions and patterns among the universal human experience in how we tell stories. While the theories are certainly limited1, in terms of analyzing how we tell stories, Campbell was onto something.
Over the years, this universal narrative has been translated into various structures and plot ideas, but it all comes down to a singular idea: in a satisfying story that touches its readers,2 a character needs to go through a change. There are various common steps in this journey of change, as noted in Campbell’s work as well as in the plot structures we’ll discuss below. But it takes utilizing a few more tools to make the structure work for you, whether you’re a planner, a pantser, or some glorious cocktail of them both.
And now, for a controversial statement:
Writing without a plan is one of the biggest contributions to the myth known as “writer’s block.”
The great unknown can be just as frightening as the horrors in front of us, and blank-page syndrome is a hell of a staller. But trying to get someone who thrives without an outline to use one, as I mentioned, is like pulling teeth. The work that comes out the other end without a plan is also often rushed and shallow, as they felt the need to barrel their way through story craft as opposed to letting the inspiration flow in a controlled way.
For athletes, the real skill is not only the ability to exude massive amounts of physical strength and dexterity. It’s being able to balance when to run, when to hold, handling multiple things at once. Intentionality with how that energy flows to keep from burning it out.
When we talk plot beats all we’re making is a map, carving out the path to the needs of the writer. Plot beats become important when you want to look at things like structure, pacing, revision, and characterization because those are pillars of what makes a good story. The beats are the Rhythm through which your characters move about the space and story, accentuating the tension and relief when you need it.
But what’s a plot beat, and how many of them are there? Are they all crucial? How can a single story structure be translated across multiple genres and plots?
All will be answered in time, smutty writer. Let’s dive in.
Plot/Story Beats 101
There are a variety of specific story beats to reference, many of which are pulled from resources like Save the Cat Writes a Novel and Romancing the Beat. Those are the resources I personally pulled from to craft this article, though I like to shift things around and expound on specific ideas. But I’ll give credit where credit’s due.
I will repeat from the high heavens: these are simply guidelines. Your story can be whatever you need, but if you are looking to build a map for yourself, if you want to learn from the paths of writers before you, if you want to sell, this is for you.
Here’s a basic map to plot structure, as specified by story beats:
Act 1: The Thesis
1. The Opening Image
This is your snapshot “before” moment, setting the mood and tone for the reader. Character flaws are being shown to the reader through the problems they create for their life. This also works as a mirror beat to the final image. This is the moment where a hero needs to visually show the reader a piece of their Archive and bring it to the table in a way that makes the protagonist’s flaws evident.
2. The Setup
This is a multi-scene beat that sets the full status quo (and can overlap with the Theme and Opening Image, depending on your story’s structure). This is where the protagonist is after something they want (spoiler alert, it’s not what they need). Their flaws need to be very clear, and the old world they’re in needs to have something that needs fixing. This is the beat where you create a statement of stakes: stasis equals death. If the character were to stay in the spot they are now, it would “end them.” They don’t know how to change, but they know this is just not working. Staying here would mean they’d die, they’d never learn who they are, they’d be settling, they’d never forgive themselves, they’d live with too much regret, etc. Something is waiting to light a fire under their ass, and they are itching for the heat.
3. Theme Stated
This beat can be a subtle one, and it often features another character making a statement or posing a question to the protagonist related to what they have to learn (the thing they need versus what they want; this is the theme). The protagonist will most likely ignore this warning or question, leading them down the path of your story to learn it in full. It’s a balancing act—it needs to be stated delicately, and the protagonist needs to be able to disregard/dismiss it. If they heed the message now, they’ve learned the lesson and there’s no story. However, they can think they learn the lesson and be sorely corrected later on. Lots to play with here in terms of versatility.
4. Catalyst
This is the moment that smacks your main character upside the head with plot development. Something needs to happen to them, an action strong enough to break up the status quo of their Opening Image. If the Setup is Stasis=Death, this single-scene action beat is where the protagonist meets what the stakes of that stasis, of death, would look like if they remain inactive. They can no longer stay in the place/headspace they once were, and the next beat is watching them squirm as they digest that.
5. Debate
This multi-beat scene shows the protagonist resisting the change induced by the catalyst. Whatever happened to them, they take every opportunity to run from it, ignore it, fight it, and manipulate their way out of facing the change. It does not work. The hero needs to face their Opening Image (take them back home, to work, their “before” world, etc.) with the new lens of their conflict knocking at everything they see, every decision they try to make. They’re at war with themselves in this beat, and it shows in their hesitation to fully act until they do. Making those moves brings us to the next Act and beat.
Act 2: The Antithesis (of Act 1).
Everything is the opposite as it once was.
6. Break into 2
This single-act beat brings the protagonist fully from the old world to the new world. Dorothy has been picked up by the tornado and dumped onto the Wicked Witch of the East.3 This can be a new physical location or just a new thing they’re trying. Here, they’re making proactive moves and are still motivated by what they wanted in Act 1—the external goal (the want) that won’t fix them. Decisions they make here are only a temporary solution, and they are being reminded they need to fail before they succeed. And this will most likely be a failure, as it’s the “wrong” way to change in that it addresses the want over the need. The “right” way (the need, the internal goal) will be addressed in Act III.
7. B-Story
This is where your main character is joined by another supporting character (B-Character). Sometimes this is a love interest, but it can also be some kind of guide or support system they rely on through to the end. This B-Character is a representative of that new world we mentioned, in a way, a guide for the main character in the transition between these two spaces to begin their journey. The person your main character was in the first act would never have been open to or ready to meet the B-Character—they needed the Catalyst and Debate to get there, and they’d stick out like a sore thumb if they’d been in Act 1. This B-Character is also often a physical representation of the theme of your story.
8. Fun and Games
This is, by definition, one of the most varying and playful (structure-wise) parts of a story. This section is the second-longest in the book, and it delivers on the promise of your premise used in marketing or your synopses. Your main character is either floundering or having fun, much like a “bouncing ball” narrative: are they up or are they down? This is the montage space of a movie, where we see the characters trying and failing or stumbling and succeeding in the new world together. Take careful note, as whichever place they end up in will be how the rest of your book carries on. It should also visibly demonstrate how opposite it is from the world of Act 1.
9. Midpoint
Now you’re smack-dab in the middle of the book, where shit has officially gotten real. Your main character experiences either a false victory or false defeat, depending on how that ball bounce landed in the last beat. If they’re victorious, it’s hollow—they have yet to learn the real theme, the need over the want. Maybe they got what they wanted at first, and they think they’re done. (Not with that many pages to go, friend!) If they fail, they think it’s over and they’ve lost, but only on the surface. This is the point that they can no longer go back to the world they came from as the same person. Stakes shift from the want to the need, love stories escalate with a kiss or consummation, time clocks like ransom notes and resource scarcity appear, and major plot twists land that leave the reader itching for the second half. Sometimes there’s a big party or outing, where the hero can step into the Act 2 world and fully declare themselves part of it. Either way, things have changed.
10. Bad Guys Close In
Following either the false defeat or false victory in the Midpoint, this is the beat where we see the cascading spiral or upward climb. Whichever way your main character landed, this beat is the mirror opposite to the Fun and Games beat. It’s also where the internal bad guys (the character’s flaws) start closing in. If that multi-beat scene was a stumble and fall to false failure, this one reflects them staggering to their feet and finding hope again in an effort to grow from their flaws. If Fun and Games led your main character to a false victory, the bad guys closing in will bring them to their knees and remind them just what it is they need, because those flaws become debilitating. And that’s what we’re gearing up to: the rock bottom.
11. All Is Lost
This is your main character’s darkest moment. The worst-case scenario from the start of the catalyst has occurred. The last bit of hope has been chewed up and spit out, and they are lying naked on the floor, metaphorically speaking. They’ve lost everything important to them and can no longer see the path. The whiff of death, as mentioned in Save the Cat Writes a Novel, reflects the thematic element of an end. Whether a person in your story dies, an animal dies, someone is cut off from communication or resources, this chapter leaves the character feeling hopeless. There should be a serious risk of them turning back on everything, because they once again cannot stay the same after what they’ve experienced. This is another catalyst, and it’s pushing them right into the next beat. And that one is one of my personal favorites.
12. Dark Night of the Soul
This beat represents the crucial reaction of this Act, a mirror to Act 1’s Debate. Your character is reacting to the rock bottom they just experienced, and they’re realizing that they can’t stay down forever. So what’s the next best step? They may return to the familiar or the old world, regressing into who they once were. But this time, it feels wrong, hollow. It’s not the sanctuary it used to be, and it shines a light on how they’ve grown since beginning the journey. Now they’re somehow worse off than they were before! Up until the Epiphany moment of this beat (when a final clue falls into place, a hero sees something or someone in a new light, the truth they’d failed to see becomes clear, etc.), your main character will most likely spend a good amount of time wallowing. It’s cool, babe, we all have to do it. But once they’re ready? They’re done with the pity party, they stomped their feet, and they say, “Enough is enough! Let’s do this!” Then it’s go-time.
Act 3: The Synthesis (of Acts 1 and 2)
Who they were in Act 1 + What they learned in Act 2 = Who they will become in Act 3.
13. Break Into 3
Now your main character is entering the synthesis world of Act 3, and they’re on track to fix things the right way. Now they’re addressing the need without being distracted by the want. They got the want, and it didn’t hit the spot. So, they’ve pushed through to what they need to fix all their problems. The theme of this section is, “It was never them who had to change. It was me.” This single-scene beat is where they learn the theme or lesson of the story, and they make an active decision to fix something. The next beat is the big lump of development that will get them on track to solving that problem and getting what they truly always needed.
14. Finale
This is the pudding in which we see the proof of your main character’s growth and learning of the theme. This is a multi-scene beat that takes up most of Act 3, and there’s another helpful structure you can use to hit all the best plot beats your story needs. This is also when the A and B stories intertwine in some way.
1. Gathering the Team/the Tools
They’re assembling the troops, gathering intel, making a plan, swallowing their medicine with their spoonful of sugar. This is where they make amends with those they’ve wronged by following their want over their need. It depends on the kind of story you tell on how they’re going to mend those fences.
2. Executing the plan
It’s time to storm the castle! The risk seems astronomical, but progress can be made enough feign a working plan. This is also the point in the Finale where another character or team member may sacrifice themselves or fall back as a way to push your main character further over the coals. They’re going to have to walk them alone, but that’s how they get the real change they’re after.
3. The High Tower Surprise
This is another Catalyst moment where the hero is led into a trap, a twist, or a surprise. They were a fool for thinking the plan could ever work, it was always stacked against them. There was no potential for success, and they’re reminded of the darkness they found in All is Lost.
4. Dig Down Deep
Following the pattern, this is another Debate beat. This time, the main character sees the flaw they’ve overcome, and they’re holding the proof in that damn pudding the right way. They metaphorically, spiritually (or hell, physically) pull out a shard of glass and are touched by the divine. This doesn’t need to mean religion specifically, but it does need to touch your character and reader on a soul-level. The character takes a leap of faith, of belief in themselves or whatever it is they’re holding onto, and as we’ll find out next, it works.
5. Execution of the New Plan
They’ve dug down to their core at this point, so now they can really triumph. The main character takes their bold, new plan into action, and they emerge victorious. If the plan fails, there’s a point to the failure—that the failure was the lesson the whole time.
15. Final Image
The main character has learned the lesson, they’ve handled the conflict, and they’re in the “after” snapshot. This is often a single scene or chapter mirroring the Opening Image that shows just how far they’ve come and how much they’ve learned. The story has changed your main character for the better, and it shows, even if they haven’t come out unscathed.
And that’s a full breakdown of some generic story beats to get you started! It’s a lot to digest, but to make it easier to reference, I build a Template copy of the Canva Plot Beat Map I made for clients and uploaded it to my Freebie Resource Library. There’s also the option to print it out, but I find the digital version helps to squeeze in all that detail in the zoom. That Template link is available to all my free subscribers in your initial Welcome email. If you need that link again, feel free to send over a message.
Upcoming Classes and Panels
I am so thrilled to finally announce on Substack that I’ll be teaching my workshop, “Storytelling and Smut for Neurodivergent Healing and Catharsis,”4 through Pragmatic Kink on May 3, 2026 at 1pm CDT. This class, which is online and donation-based, will go over how smut can be used as a tool to explore your sexuality and personal life experiences. Neurodivergent writers who can tap into their own internal experience and Archive can use storytelling as a grounded way to express and explore desires, needs, and fears. We’ll go over direct tools, exercises, and examples of using smut storytelling to understand desire in addition to discussing limitations and boundaries on how to best share or publish your work.
Pragmatic Kink also runs THRIVE BDSM and Mental Health Conference in May, where I’ll be a speaking on the Neurodivergence and Power Exchange (May 31, 2026 at 7pm CDT) and s(ubmissive)-Type panels May 30, 2026 at 8:30pm CDT). Both are Q&A/AMA style and are also donation-based. I’m honored to be sharing the space with so many other talented and experienced educators and speakers, so definitely check it out if you have the opportunity.
Other than that, I hope all readers can stay warm, safe, and informed as we move into the rest of this year. It’s on track to be a heavy one. Find your lighthouses, find your support systems, and tend those gardens. I’ll see you on the other side.
This article goes into some good detail on how to take Campbell’s work with a grain of salt, especially regarding individualism, antisemitism, and misogyny. Like I’m always saying, find the nugget, leave what doesn’t work.
For authors, this means books that sell and are contracted by publishers, too.
Nessarose, if you’re a Wicked slut like I am.
This link leads to FetLife, which is the spicy social media network. If you don’t have an account there, not to fear. I’ll be sharing direct links and information with my followers on all my socials.
Just registered for the thrive conference! Thanks for sharing that and looking forward to it.