# Beat sheet as a diagnostic — for a draft that already exists

This is not a recipe for writing a book. It's a checklist for reading one you've already written, to see where the pressure is. Five moments, borrowed and simplified from the usual suspects (McKee, Truby, Vogler — they disagree on names, not on the shapes). Fill in what your draft *does*, not what it should.

| Moment | Where it is in my draft (chapter / page) | What changes there | If it's missing, do I mind? |
|---|---|---|---|
| The ordinary life, and what's already wrong with it | | | |
| The thing that makes staying impossible | | | |
| The middle: the plan works until it doesn't | | | |
| The worst moment — what they thought they wanted is gone | | | |
| The last choice, and the price | | | |

A blank cell is information, not a failure. Some books skip a beat on purpose; the question is whether yours does.