BYTETOOLS

Story Beat Sheet Calculator

Turn a target word count or page count into the exact position of all 15 Save the Cat beats, plus three-act and four-part structure, as a copyable checklist.

80,000
Total words
320
Manuscript pages
40,000
Midpoint
5.6 h
Reading time (238 wpm)

Save the Cat — the 15 beats

BeatPositionWordsWhat happens
Opening Image0%–0.9%0–720A snapshot of the world — and the flaw — before anything changes.
Theme Stated4.5%3,600Someone says, usually in passing, what the story is really about.
Set-Up0.9%–9.1%720–7,280Introduce the hero, the stakes and everything that must change.
Catalyst10.9%8,720The knock at the door. The event that makes the old life impossible.
Debate10.9%–22.7%8,720–18,160Should I go? The hero resists the call and the cost becomes clear.
Break into Two22.7%18,160The hero chooses. Act Two begins in the upside-down world.
B Story27.3%21,840The relationship or subplot that carries the theme.
Fun and Games27.3%–50%21,840–40,000The promise of the premise — the scenes the audience came for.
Midpoint50%40,000A false victory or false defeat. The stakes are raised for real.
Bad Guys Close In50%–68.2%40,000–54,560Pressure builds from outside and the team fractures from inside.
All Is Lost68.2%54,560The lowest point, often with a whiff of death.
Dark Night of the Soul68.2%–77.3%54,560–61,840The hero sits in the wreckage and finally understands.
Break into Three77.3%61,840A and B stories meet and the solution arrives. Act Three begins.
Finale77.3%–100%61,840–80,000The hero storms the castle and proves the change is real.
Final Image100%80,000The mirror of the opening image, showing how far the world moved.

Three-act structure

Act 1
Act 2
Act 3
Act One — Setup0% – 22.7%0 – 18,160 words
Act Two — Confrontation22.7% – 77.3%18,160 – 61,840 words
Act Three — Resolution77.3% – 100%61,840 – 80,000 words

Four-part structure (Act Two split at the midpoint)

Part 1 — Setup0% – 22.7%0 – 18,160 words
Part 2 — Response22.7% – 50%18,160 – 40,000 words
Part 3 — Attack50% – 77.3%40,000 – 61,840 words
Part 4 — Resolution77.3% – 100%61,840 – 80,000 words

Percentages come from Blake Snyder’s page numbers for a 110-page feature — Catalyst on page 12, Break into Two on 25, Midpoint on 55, All Is Lost on 75, Break into Three on 85 — rescaled to whatever length you enter. It is a planning grid, not a rule: plenty of good books and films land their beats several percent either side.

What is the Story Beat Sheet Calculator?

Blake Snyder wrote his beat sheet in pages for a 110-page screenplay, which is not much help when you are planning a 95,000-word novel.

  • All 15 Save the Cat beats with their published percentage positions
  • Word ranges for novels or page ranges for screenplays
  • Three-act and four-part structure breakdowns with a visual act bar
  • A one-line reminder of what each beat is for
  • Markdown checklist copy and download for your outlining app
  • Calculated in your browser with nothing uploaded or stored

How to use the Story Beat Sheet Calculator

  1. 1

    Choose whether you are planning a novel by word count or a screenplay by page count.

  2. 2

    Enter your target — 80,000 words or 110 pages are typical starting points.

  3. 3

    Adjust words per page or minutes per page if your format differs.

  4. 4

    Read the beat table to see the exact word or page number for every beat.

  5. 5

    Copy or download the Markdown checklist and paste it into your outline.

About the Story Beat Sheet Calculator

Blake Snyder wrote his beat sheet in pages for a 110-page screenplay, which is not much help when you are planning a 95,000-word novel. This calculator converts every beat to a percentage of the whole story and then back into your units, so you get the exact word number or page number where each beat should land.

All fifteen beats are listed with their position, their range where they span a stretch of story, and a one-line reminder of what the beat does. Underneath, the same percentages are shown as the classic three-act structure and as the four-part version that splits Act Two at the midpoint. The whole thing exports as a Markdown checklist you can paste into Scrivener, Obsidian or a document.

The calculation runs entirely in your browser — no account, no upload, nothing stored. It keeps working offline once the page has loaded, so you can plan on a plane.

Frequently asked questions

What are the 15 beats of Save the Cat?

Opening Image, Theme Stated, Set-Up, Catalyst, Debate, Break into Two, B Story, Fun and Games, Midpoint, Bad Guys Close In, All Is Lost, Dark Night of the Soul, Break into Three, Finale and Final Image — in that order.

Where does the midpoint go in a novel?

Exactly halfway, at 50% of the total word count. In an 80,000-word novel that is word 40,000; the calculator gives you the precise number along with every other beat once you enter your target.

How were the percentages worked out?

From Snyder's own page numbers for a 110-page feature — Catalyst on page 12, Break into Two on 25, Midpoint on 55, All Is Lost on 75, Break into Three on 85 — each divided by 110 and rescaled to whatever length you enter.

Do I have to hit every beat exactly?

No. It is a planning grid, not a rule. Plenty of successful books and films land their beats several percent either side of these positions. Use the numbers as a sanity check when a draft feels baggy in the middle, not as a target to force.

Does this work for a series or a short story?

Yes — enter the length of the individual book or story rather than the series total. The percentages are scale-free, so they work just as well on a 5,000-word short story as on a 120,000-word epic.

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