# Beat board > A card view of a story, one beat or scene per card, arranged so the shape of the whole is visible at once and cards can be moved to test a different order. Also known as corkboard, index cards ## In practice A beat board puts the whole story in view. Cards make it easy to spot a slow stretch, an overloaded act, or three scenes doing the same job before you spend time rewriting pages. The point is speed: move the idea before rebuilding the sequence. A beat sheet shows the same thinking as a list; a beat board makes it spatial. Use beats when you are still finding the story, or scenes when you are testing the order of a draft that already exists. A board lets you compare those choices without hiding them in paragraphs. Boards are most useful before pages, when cards let you test several shapes quickly, and during revision, when you need to see why the middle drags. Keep each card concrete enough to move — a decision, reversal, reveal, or scene — rather than a theme so broad it could sit anywhere. Plot's Beat Board is coming. It will connect cards to the screenplay, so writers can shape the story visually and move into pages with each structural change preserved in the draft's save history at every step. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between a beat board and a beat sheet? Same material, different orientation. A beat sheet is a list, which is good for checking whether the turns escalate. A board is spatial, which is better for spotting an overloaded act or a thin midsection. ### Should one card be a beat or a scene? Pick one and hold it for the whole board. Mixed granularity is what makes a board stop being readable — if some cards are single beats and others are whole sequences, the shape you are looking at is not the shape of the story. ### How do I stop the board and the script disagreeing? Name which one is authoritative for this pass. Either rewrite pages to match a reordered board, or rebuild the board from the draft you actually have. Two live structures means the room is discussing two different stories. ### Do I need a separate app for a beat board? Not forever. Plot's Beat Board is planned; until it ships, use the board that helps you see the story and update it when the draft's order changes. ## Related terms - [Beat](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/beat): A unit of change in a scene or story — a shift in tactics, information, or emotion. On the page, BEAT can also mark a short pause before the next line or action. - [Beat sheet](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/beat-sheet): A short outline of a story’s key moments — the beats — used to plan structure before or during drafting without writing every scene yet. - [Step outline](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/step-outline): A scene-by-scene (or beat-by-beat) outline that lists what happens in order — more granular than a beat sheet, leaner than a treatment's prose narrative. - [Sequence](https://www.inkwell.software/glossary/sequence): A chain of scenes (or shots) that pursue one dramatic movement — a heist approach, a reunion night, a chase — larger than a single scene and smaller than an act. --- Canonical page: