Well, let me back up first.
What’s a beat in fiction?
It’s a unit of a story (not necessarily a chapter. Could be a single scene or could extend over several scenes).
A Beat Sheet, then, is a way to organize the units of your story.
Normally, you wouldn’t include dialogue on a beat sheet. This shouldn’t be too detailed.
Each point on your beat sheet should raise a question that will be answered at some point in your story.
For each point, include the characters and the setting.
List what each character wants from the scene. Include the twists, the conflicts and where the scene ends.
Now, I am what is known as a pantster – as in, my natural inclination is to fly by the seat of my pants when I start writing.
BUT – I am developing my planning tendencies. And, using a beat sheet is a big part of that development.
For some examples of beat sheets, see Larry Brooks – Storyfix.com – where he has an example of a beat sheet for Hunger Games.
What’s your planning strategy?