The 3 elements of a RITES OF PASSAGE story are:
1) A life problem: from puberty to midlife to death—these are the universal passages we all understand.
2) A wrong way to attack the mysterious problem, usually a diversion from confronting the pain.
3) A solution that involves acceptance of a hard truth the hero has been fighting, and the knowledge it’s the hero that must change, not the world around him.
CODA Beat Sheet Analysis
See the 15 Blake Snyder story beats of the award-winning movie, CODA, in this Save the Cat! beat sheet.
Things You Save in a Fire Beat Sheet
See the Blake Snyder, Save the Cat! story beats of the best-selling novel by Katherine Center.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Beat Sheet
See the 15 story beats of the classic A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.
Mike Birbiglia’s The New One Beat Sheet
See how Mike Birbiglia’s wonderful one-man show, recently released on Netflix, hits Blake Snyder’s story beats.
Float Beat Sheet
See how this Disney+ Pixar short hits Blake Snyder’s story beats.
Anne of Green Gables Novel Beat Sheet
A classic for the young and the young at heart
The Catcher in the Rye Novel Beat Sheet
See the story beats of this elegy to teenage alienation.
Someone You Loved Music Video and Beat Sheet
See a transformative story.
Pather Panchali Beat Sheet
Blake’s beats are found in a foreign classic.
Poetry As Storytelling – An STC! Analysis of Billy Collins’ Forgetfulness
See how a poem hits the beats.
