Free Save the Cat! Writes a Novel Beat Sheet Outlining Template for Google Docs
I recently shared a Scrivener template for outlining using the Save the Cat! Writes a Novel beat sheet and you all really, really loved it. Which makes my heart so happy! But hey, I know that Scrivener isn’t for everyone, and while Google Docs isn’t nearly as feature-rich as Scrivener, it has plenty of good things going for it, not the least of which is the fact that it’s a free writing program, and I believe wholeheartedly with starting where you are and in the importance of accessibility.
So I made you, the Google Docs writers, a novel planning template, too.
It’s got pretty much all of the sections and info my free Save the Cat! Writes a Novel Scrivener template does, but formatted to work within Google Docs. And, I mean, I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I think it looks pretty dang good and functions pretty dang well, especially given the limitations of Google Docs.
So, if you’re interested in outlining, planning, and/or drafting your next novel in Google Docs using the Save the Cat! Writes a Novel beat sheet, let’s dive in.
What is the Save the Cat! beat sheet & why should you use it?
Okay, before I get too far ahead of myself, let’s make sure we all know what Save the Cat! Writes a Novel is. If you’re familiar with the book, skip ahead. STC is a writing craft book that lays out 15 essential beats for novel writing. It walks you through what the beats are, examples from popular novels in various genres, and includes exercises to help you figure out where and how they fit with your own story.
Save the Cat! is great for:
Outliners and other types of plotters who want a roadmap to help them pin their story down.
Writers who tend to get lost in the murky middle or off on tangents in their story and forget where the heck they were supposed to be going.
Beginning fiction writers who haven’t gotten comfortable with plot, story rhythm, or genre tropes yet.
Plantsers or in-betweeners who like touchstones to help keep them on course as they feel their way through a first draft (this is me!).
Writers in the revision stages who are so familiar with their story at this point that they aren’t sure if it will feel “complete” or well-paced to new readers.
A beat sheet is just one type of plot guidance, but this is a pretty popular one and an easy way to get started with novel writing. As you’ll see shortly, this outline template is made to go hand-in-hand with the book, so you’ll want to pick up a copy if you don’t have one already if you want to fully utilize this template. If you don’t already have a copy of the book, Jessica Brody (the author of the book) has an overview of the beat sheet here and you can get a nice PDF starter kit if you sign up for her email list.
This template has been updated & included in The Complete Novel Writing Template for Google Docs, a template bundle that comes with everything you need for planning and drafting your next novel! Continue on for the free version still available below.
Google Docs beat sheet outlining template features
At the very beginning of the novel planning template, there is a whole page of instructions and tips for how to use the document included, so there’s no need to come back and reference this post once you get started. On the left side of the screen, you’ll see that headers have been utilized in order to have a document outline with a hierarchy, so it’s easy to see what section of the document you’re in and can easily scroll and jump to different sections.
I’ve followed the same color-coding as the Scrivener template, with each novel act a different color to help visually see the progression of this story (visual cues are helpful to me), and each beat has the percentage mark and page number to reference the description in the Save the Cat! book. You can plug in your own notes from there (a comment may be a good place to move these once you start filling in ideas/scene sketches for your work-in-progress).
I also threw in some fun extras like a visual storyboard that links to the outline beats and some prompts for the hero profile to help you flesh out your main characters with their internal and external problems, flaws/problems, goals/wants, and needs along with other superficial information like the character’s age, background, occupation, and personality traits.
If you want to take this free template for a whirl, put your info in the form below and you’ll get immediate access to the link.
