Beats, scenes, sequences, acts = Story
On finishing the All Systems Red's analysis, wondering how to go about the next one, and simmering on a dangerous idea.
Hey there!
Every once in a while I’ll update you on my progress: it’ll help me keep myself accountable and reflect on how my projects are going, while also being a (hopefully) interesting behind-the-scenes-peek for you.
🗓️ Weekly rotation
I dedicate every week to a different project, following this order:
Week 1: ✍🏼 Rewrite
Week 2: 📫 Newsletter
Week 3: ✍🏼 Rewrite
Week 4: 🗒️ Short fiction
[You can find more details about this schedule in the entry How to schedule time as a part-time writer.]
The rotation keeps on going strong, especially since July: I’ve had no major event or disruption so far, and, if things stay the way they are, I should be able to focus well on my projects for at least the next couple of months.
✍🏼 The “rewrite”
I (finally) finished the analysis of All Systems Red by Martha Wells! It was a laborious, but extremely interesting work, that I did loosely following the instructions of The Story Grid by Shawn Coyne. I don’t think I’ve ever really explained what my analysis entailed, so here’s a breakdown:
I divided the story into beats and gave each of them a one/two-sentence summary;
Coyne defines “beat” as “the smallest unit of a Story”1. Beats come together to create scenes, which come together to create sequences, which come together to create acts—and, together, they create the story.I grouped the beats that belong to the same scene and gave each scene a one/two sentence summary;
Let’s say for example that I have the following beats (not taken from the book):
1. The protagonist is watching TV;
2. They are interrupted as a burglar crashes into the room through the window;
3. A fight ensues;
4. The protagonist knocks out the intruder;
5. The protagonist takes off the mask of the intruder and discovers it’s their best friend.
These beats together make a scene, which I could summarize as “The protagonist is attacked in their home by a mysterious person who turns out to be their best friend”.I recognized two different plot lines in the story, so I wrote down how each scene progresses each plot line;
In the example before, the scene complicates two different possible plot lines: the protagonist’s survival and their relationship with their best friend.I wrote down how each scene shifts in value;
For example, the character is “safe” at the beginning of the scene and “unsafe” at the end of it; or “trusting” of their best friend at the beginning and “suspicious” at the end.I identified if each scene is an inciting incident, a progressive complication, a crisis, a climax, or a resolution;
More jargon from “The Story Grid”. Read this if you want to learn more about them.I categorized scenes into action, conversation, description, or narration scenes.
The example from before is an action scene.
It’s… a lot. But I had fun doing it. Well, now I have a huge spreadsheet with all this information and I went through it, made a couple of graphs, and came to the point where, embarrassingly enough, I don’t quite know what more to do with it. My spreadsheet skills are too limited to extrapolate and manipulate this data in a more interesting way.
The process of putting this together was teaching in of itself, though, so, for how weird it may sound, I’m actually very happy I did it. At some point, I will write some posts on All Systems Red.
The thing is, I could go into such granular detail with this analysis because All Systems Red is a novella—and still it took me months to go through it. I plan to analyze Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries next, but I can’t go about it the same way if I want to be done by the end of the year. I’ll need to slim down the process.
Also, I’m thinking of doing the next analysis not through a spreadsheet, but through Scrivener2: I can use some of its features to recreate the structure of the book: this will allow me to tinker with Scrivener and learn more about it—two birds with one stone.
I can’t be analyzing books forever, though: I need to get back to my book. Therefore, I’m putting a deadline to Emily Wilde: no matter at what point I am with the analysis, I’ll stop latest by the end of October. From at least November on I should be focusing on restructuring my novel and finally planning out the second draft.
Will I be able to start the rewrite before 2025? Ooofff…
📫 Newsletter and short fiction 🗒️
The newsletter is proceeding well. I’m so happy I started with this project: on one side it helps me to keep on writing, but also, it forces me to reflect on my writing process and schedule.
From the short fiction side, I’ve been editing the short story I finished—I realized there was a major problem that needed fixing 🫠 I had to rewrite and adjust a couple of scenes. I’ll smooth it out a bit more and then try submitting it to a writing contest! I’m still researching which one (my short story is around 6.000 words, which is a tad too long for most contests I found). We’ll see what comes out of it. I’ll keep you posted.
📚 Reading project—the Sanderthon
On a side note, a crazy idea has been simmering in my head.
Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors and people in the world (if you want one of his pearls of wisdom, check out my post What makes you a writer). He is also one of the most prolific fantasy writers around (a common joke in his fandom is that he writes faster than you can read3).
I’ve read a bunch of his books and loved them. And now I was wondering… what if I read all of his books? From the first he published to the last?
Out of curiosity, I looked up how many books he wrote and realized:
There are so many that I had trouble finding a complete and well-organized list (I started my own spreadsheet);
…around 70? That’s the number I’m getting, including not only novels, but also novellas, short stories, audiobooks, graphic novels(?!)4, and so on. Still, that’s a lot of stuff to read.
If I ever get started… If I do this marathon, this Sanderthon… it’ll keep me busy for YEARS.
I think it’s inevitable. At some point, I’ll need to do it.
Would you do it?
If you have any thoughts on what I shared, let me know by simply replying to this email, writing me at ryeyoubs@gmail.com, or leaving a comment!
Take care,
Rye Youbs
See also
Everything on Rye & Writing is currently free—nothing is behind a paywall. But if you like what I’m doing and you’d like to support me, feel free to drop a little donation. You’ll have my eternal gratitude!
Quote reference — Shawn Coyne. The Story Grid What Good Editors Know - Shawn Coyne (Kindle-Position2888). Kindle-Version.
Scrivener — is a writing software that I got a couple of months ago. I tried out LivingWriter earlier this year, which initially seemed promising, but revealed itself to be kinda limited. But Scrivener… it may be difficult to get the hang of it at first, but when you do, you can do so many things with it (and it’s so much cheaper than LivingWriter!). I love it.
Brando Sando writes faster than you can read — another fun video: Brandon has a writing problem…
Graphic Novels by Brandon Sanderson — how did I not know that Brando has worked on graphic novels too?! I’m a terrible fan…
Wow, whenever I read your posts I'm always so blown away by the sheer power of your analytical mind! While I have vague outlines and schedules for my writing and publishing planning, I definitely could never manage the discipline to detail your planning shows in your posts. Best of luck with your writing as always! Also, I love the visual graphs you often feature in your posts!
I'm here for the Sanderthon!