Beat types
Chris Klimas’ summarization of beat types found in Robin Laws’ Hamlet’s Hit Points from Narrative Design ‘22.
Procedural
A procedural beat brings a character closer or further from their external goals.
Examples:
- Astronauts trapped on a space station discover that their equipment was broken, and they only have an hour of air left instead of four. (down)
- A detective finds a clue revealing the location of a lost item. (up)
Dramatic
A dramatic beat brings a character closer or further from their internal goals.
Examples:
- A character reveals their crush on another one, but they’re turned down. (down)
- A character with a lifelong fear of flying buys a ticket for a transatlantic flight. (up)
Question
A question beat raises a question.
- A strange light appears in the woods.
Reveal
A reveal beat answers it.
- The light is in fact a door to another world.
Anticipation
An anticipation beat builds up to a second one.
- Characters walk in the woods towards the mysterious light.
Pipe
A pipe beat is an anticipation beat in disguise.
- A character passes a note to another one, but the audience doesn’t see what it says.
Gratification
A gratification beat is a free-floating moment of fun.
- A superhero who saved the city gets a parade in their honor.
Bringdown
A bringdown beat is a free-floating moment of sadness.
- A character stares out the window in a rainy night, wondering where it all went wrong.
A commentary beat pauses the action to discuss it.
- The author talks about the contradictions of the city in which the story takes place: tall skyscrapers nextdoor to slums.