Hitting the Beats of Romance – Class Notes

What is a beat?

A beat is an individual unit of story. It’s a piece of the plot. It’s a THING that happens in your story. Think of it as a building block. A story beat pushes the plot forward. It’s not a paragraph of internal monologue. It’s what is actually happening in the story.

An example of a story beat is when Aladdin gets trapped in the cave. This is something that has to happen to him in order for him to have the lamp and find the genie. Without this story beat, the rest of the story would fall apart. So, your beats are essential to move the story forward. And if you miss certain story beats you could actually change your genre completely. (Example, if you don’t hit the happy ever after beat in the romance, you haven’t written a romance.)

If you put all the story beats together, you have a completed story. And hopefully your story foundation will support all you’re building.

If you outline, you can plan your story using beats. If you’re a panster like me, you can make sure you’re hitting those beats as you go along. So, understanding the beats will help you no matter which kind of a writer you are.

So, what are the beats? Your beats will determine what your book will be about. I can’t list specific story beats for you, because these will change depending on your individual story. (For example, I can’t say your characters have to have an argument for story beat 5. That would be silly. There are plenty of romance novels out there where the couple doesn’t argue. Or I can’t say the ex-girlfriend walks in on story beat 30. Not every story is the same.) How do you know what the beats are then, and what you need to be writing?

I’m going to pause talking about beats for just a moment, because remember I said your story beats will determine what your story is about. And here’s where I tell you: News Flash: Your story is not about two people falling in love. You may think romance books are about two people falling in love, but that’s not it. If that were it, your book would be SUPER BORING. Because falling in love all by itself is boring. Two people going on dates is boring.

Your romance novel is actually about two people overcoming whatever it is that is stopping them from having a relationship. That’s the thing that gets exciting. That’s the thing that brings in the tension, the conflict, and the sweet emotional moments. They STRUGGLE to overcome this thing. This hole in their heart that can’t allow anyone else in. The struggle is what the romance novel is about. Not the falling in love part.

Whatever is keeping your characters apart is so important, it has to add motivation to everything your characters do. What they say, the way they act, the way they respond to one another. All of this is colored by whatever is keeping them apart. All of your plot points and all of your beats, or what HAPPENS will be colored by this thing that is keeping them apart.

Let’s look at some examples. Never Been Kissed. All of the interactions between the Hero and Heroine of the story are colored by the fact that he thinks he is her teacher and can’t ever think about falling for her. Does he like her? Yes. Can you see that in the movie? Yes. Does he DO anything about it? Ask her on dates? Give her flowers? Nope. He can’t do this. His job is on the line, plus that’s creepy. This is what is keeping them apart. If he ignored this reason and asked her out anyway, the entire movie would fall apart.

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton. The two main characters are friends, but he likes her and is too afraid of messing up the friendship to tell her. If we had him acting a different way, this would totally ruin the movie. He can’t ask her out or confess his love until the end of the movie because it would dispel the tension.

Kate and Leopold. He is from another time, and she thinks he’s crazy. This is what is keeping them apart. They actually do go on a date in this movie, but there’s always something holding her back, and something holding him back. You can see this in some scenes. I’ll go through it in detail in a minute. But that tension is always there, even though they are having a nice weekend together.

So, as you plan your beats, or what happens, think about what is keeping your characters apart and plan accordingly. Make that tension happen.

Think about his goals and her goals. Can their goals be opposite of each other to keep them apart?

I always try to layer my reasons why the characters can’t be together. Otherwise, I find that they start to overcome some of the reasons and then I have nothing holding them back.

Now remember the reasons why they can’t be together as you come up with your story beats. Every decision your character makes should take these things into account. You should see the mounting internal conflict as they struggle with falling in love even though they don’t want to. The key is that they can’t WANT to fall in love. They have to remember all of the things keeping them apart. But they fall in love despite all the reasons why they can’t or shouldn’t.

Now, if you do your job and push the characters apart, then you need something forcing them together. Usually that’s something external, but it can be one of the characters is in love with the other one and can’t help but spend time with them.

In Never Been Kissed, the thing that forces them together is the fact that she’s pretending to be a high schooler, and he’s a teacher. They are at school together, in class together, and at school functions together.

In Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, he is in love with her, so this is one of the things pushing them together. He’s also good friends with her and they work at the same place. All great reasons why they see each other and interact.

In Kate and Leopold, they are forced together because of Stewart. And we’ll go over this movie beat by beat.

As you plan your beats, remember that romance is always two steps forward and one step back.

Now let’s take a look at the three-act structure. (Spoiler alert, it’s actually four acts.) I’m going to use this graphic as I go through the movie Kate and Leopold to show you what beats you should be putting in your story and where they need to be.

The introduction is how you start your novel. This is in act 1. This is where you introduce your character(s), their goals, and their problems. Your opening scenes should set up the problem your character has. It should show the misconceptions your character has. This is the lie they believe. Your opening should show what your character is lacking because of this lie they believe. You should also make the reader feel sympathy for your characters, and hook the reader.

In the beginning of Kate and Leopold, we see Stewart back in time, and he’s obviously from the future. We are being introduced to how Leopold will get from his time to the future. Even though we start with Stewart, we get to see Leopold soon after, which is important because Leopold is the main character. If I were writing this as a book, I would write this beginning scene in Leopold’s point of view, noticing this man who seems odd.

In the next scene we get introduced to Leopold’s goal and his problem. He is a man of science and invention. We see that right away with his cage that he’s got set up to resemble an elevator. He doesn’t want to marry and settle down, especially with some girl he doesn’t like. But he is being pressured. This is his problem. He must announce his marriage tonight.

In the first act you also need to have your inciting incident. The inciting incident is the thing that changes everything for your character. It’s what sets off the events of the entire book.

When Leopold finds Stewart taking photos of his notes, he is intrigued and wants to know who this man is and what he’s doing. He’s odd. Leopold is naturally curious and must know what is up with him.

So Leopold follows Stewart to the time portal and falls through with him. This is the inciting incident. Without this happening, the rest of the movie couldn’t happen.

The rest of act one is simply setting up everything else for the story. You’re going to: Set up the conflict between the main characters, set up the thing binding them together, set up any side plots you’ll have in the book, hint at the attraction the two main characters will have for each other, but keep the volume of attraction low.

As a recap, in the first act you want to: Introduce characters, introduce problem, have the inciting incident, set up side plots, set up character flaw, set up adhesive, set up conflict/repelling, and introduce attraction.

Back to Kate and Leopold, we are introduced to Kate as she hears Stewart upstairs struggling with Leopold. We are introduced to the fact that she lives downstairs from her ex. We see him and his disorganized apartment, and we are introduced to the dog which plays a key part in the plot.

Leopold wakes up and is confused, in a place he’s never seen. He is introduced to Kate who comes in through the window, another brilliant way for the writer to showcase their strange relationship and Kate’s gumption. The broken elevator plays a key role in how the writer gets rid of Stewart, which is an important part of the plot. Without Stewart there, Leopold has to rely on Kate or others to help him. The entire reason Steward is in the movie is to force Kate and Leopold together, and him falling down the elevator and getting hurt so he’s then out of the picture is key to forcing the two main characters together.

Kate finds the dog in the hallway and that forces Leopold out of the apartment so he can see firsthand that he is in the future. The last thing that happens in the first act is that we see Kate at work and are introduced to her goal: To get a promotion at work.

The second act starts after all the foundation scenes have been laid out. This is normally about 1/4^th of the way into your book. Since I always shoot for 50,000 words, I know I need to start my second act around 12,500 words. This is not a hard science. Just remember that your beats need to fall around that place.

The second act turns up the tension. So, something needs to happen around 1/4^th of the way into your book to turn up the tension. Whatever you have happen needs to: Move the plot forward. Force your characters together. Force interaction and conversation. Increase attraction. Start that dance where your characters start to like each other, but then pull away. Build on the side plots that push the story forward. Slowly increase the volume of attraction through physical and emotional intimacy.

So, back to Kate and Leopold. The second act starts with Stewart going to the hospital. Stewart’s ONLY role in this film is to push Kate and Leopold together. He’s the one who brings Leopold back in time. Then he brings him to the apartment building. Then, he gets injured and is taken out of the picture so Leopold has to look for others to help him.

The next scene is the boss and we get to see that he’s not really a great guy. This is important because he’s another character that makes us want Kate to be with Leopold.

Then the brother enters the picture. (Sorry, I forget his name.) His whole purpose is to bring Kate and Leopold together as well. He’s the actor who thinks Leopold is an actor as well. He takes a liking to Leopold right away and is the reason Leopold and Kate spend time together in the next scene when he invites Leopold to dinner.

During the dinner, Kate renews her opinion of Leopold that he’s crazy. This is important because this is one of the main things keeping them apart. That, and her goal, which is to advance in her job. Her goal is directly in opposition to being with Leopold because he’s from the past, and going back there, and in order to be with him she has to leave her job behind. But right now it’s her thinking he’s crazy. They do have some good banter in this scene, and some beginnings of attraction.

Stewart is still in the hospital and we see him struggle to communicate, so we know Leopold is going to be left alone.

The next scene is important because we have Kate coming to see what’s up with the smoke alarm, and they get to have the conversation that makes Kate think Leopold would be a great spokesperson for the low-fat butter product she’s trying to create an ad for. This means they spend more time together, and sets up what eventually will push them apart for the dark moment. And this also is what introduces the boss to Leopold, which allows us to see the two men kind of getting jealous of each other. Remember, jealousy can be a good way to show your characters starting to fall for the other one. Another thing that happens in the scene where he does the ad is that Kate starts to show her attraction for him. He’s got a sexy voice, is good looking, and has a smooth manner about him. And she admits to this.

After the photo shoot comes the scene where Kate’s purse gets stolen and Leopold comes in and saves the day. This is a great way for Leopold to showcase his capabilities, and his chivalry. And everyone loves a guy who can save the say. This increases the attraction between them and increases Leopold’s likability.

The last thing that happens before the midpoint is that we see Kate going off to her date with her boss. Leopold gets to do one more chivalrous thing, helping Kate with her coat. At this point, we see her smile and we know she’s starting to like Leopold. But of course, this is a romance and we need the push/pull, so those happy feelings are going to change with the midpoint.

Now, we get to the midpoint of the show. The midpoint should change the relationship of your characters in some way. You can do this by adding in a major plot point that shifts the way they see each other, or the way they communicate. You can: Have your characters open up more. Have your characters show more of their true self. Have your characters make a commitment of some kind. (This commitment isn’t going to work, because this is not the end.) You can have your character show jealousy. Or you can have your characters realize a growing attraction, but be too flawed to go after what they want.

The midpoint in the movie Kate and Leopold happens when Leopold arrives at the restaurant where Kate is eating with her boss. We love it, because he shows up the boss, but Kate gets super embarrassed by it, and gets upset. This shifts their relationship. She now doesn’t even want to talk to Leopold.

This starts off the second half of act 2, the part of the story where everything increases. In this third quarter of your book you need to: Increase tension and conflict, increase the volume of attraction until it hits maximum, increase your physical intimacy, increase your emotional intimacy, give your characters fear of relationship, and increase your character’s agony over not being able to have the relationship they can’t have.

The thing that kicks off the second half of act 2 in the movie is the letter that Leopold writes. Kate reads the letter at work, and we get to see the stark difference between her boss, who is leering at other women, and Leopold who is courteous and a true gentleman. Even though Kate doesn’t want to, because she still thinks he’s nuts, she accepts his apology and decides to go on this date with him, with a little push from someone at work.

We see a short snippet of Stewart, still stuck away from everyone, now in a mental hospital. This is only there so we don’t forget all about him because he will be integral at the end to help get Kate and Leopold back together.

Next we get to see Kate and Leopold on a date, and this is where some major forward movement happens between them. They have a good conversation, starting to open up about things, but still not full emotional trust yet. Pay particular attention to the underlying tension that is brought in here. The whole, “You can’t live a fairytale” thing that Kate talks about, and that love is a myth like Santa Clause. She’s still thinking that she can’t find love. She’s holding back, even while enjoying the evening with him. This is really good to ponder as you’re having your characters go on romantic dates. Keep that tension there.

Then they dance, which provides some physical intimacy. And then the kiss, but I took a screenshot specifically on the pull-back moment that Kate has right before they kiss. That’s super important for us to remember. Sometimes we think about movies like this and we forget there was any pull-back. Don’t forget it. Put it in. Capitalize on it. That’s the tension that you want in your stories.

The next day, Leopold is all ready to have a relationship with Kate, and still, she’s holding back. Look at her face in that screenshot of Leopold kissing her cheek.

But they do have a day together. Leopold takes her to his old home. Then they have more emotional intimacy as Kate opens up more to him and they talk. And more physical intimacy. But we still have this sense that things aren’t all happy ever after yet. He’s still leaving. She still doesn’t totally believe him about where he’s from. And after they snuggle in bed and fall asleep together we start act 3, the part where things start to fall apart. Where the dark moment begins and where the characters have to face the things that are keeping them apart.

This dark moment happens when Leopold tastes the fat free butter and its gross, and he refuses to finish the shoot. The butter isn’t really what the problem is, though. Listen to the dialogue. They’re not arguing about diet butter. They are talking about how they each live their lives. Their morals and goals. And Kate’s goals are centered on work and getting ahead, and if she has to peddle a little pond scum to get ahead, she’s going to do it. Leopold is trying to tell her that she can leave this life, that it is okay to take the leap and take a chance. But she’s not ready yet. So the scene ends with Leopold agreeing to finish the shoot, and then we cut to the next scene with them in the car. And this is where the “parting of ways” happens. Where Kate says that the weekend was fun but now it’s over.

And we get to see each of them in their separate place of sadness. We get to see Stuart set free from the mental hospital. We see Kate unhappy at work. She even gets her promotion, but who does she think of first to tell? Leopold. We know she is fully in love with him now, but she can’t have him and that is breaking her heart.

Then Stuart and her brother find the pictures with Kate in them, and go racing to show her she needs to go back in time. This starts the clock ticking, that last race to get Kate to her destiny. But she has to come to the realization herself that the job doesn’t matter. The rat race and getting ahead is all for nothing if she gives up on the love of her life. She has to make that decision to give everything up in order to take a chance on a fairytale.

And she does, races to the time portal and takes a leap of faith, literally. Haha. The ending is not what I would suggest for a romance novel, because we don’t get to see the epilogue with Kate and Leopold happy in their new life. Romance readers really want this, so add one in to your book. But overall, Kate and Leopold do a good job of showing the beats and how to keep your romance readers happy.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email protected].

Thank you!