Beats vs Beat

We will discuss two versions of beats in screenwriting:

1. Story Beat: A unit of action, either in a scene or story, that represents an event, plot point, or step that moves your character towards their outcome.
   
   Example: In a romantic comedy, the protagonist asking their love interest out for the first time would be a story beat.
2. Pause Beat: A momentary pause indicated with a parenthetical written into a script. This form can be considered a form of directing and may be ignored by directors and actors. You may want to consider not using it.

Throughout this resource, we'll primarily focus on Story Beats, as they are essential to crafting compelling narratives and are less likely to be disregarded in the production process.