Hec, I’ll try to write more about this, but people joke about many of these terms being used by professionals interchangeably – so the best thing to do is just to ask someone, very specifically, what they want you to deliver.

In very general terms:

A beat sheet is a scene-by-scene outline of the screenplay. Usually to include scene headings and then a very short paragraph (or few sentences) explaining the critical story and character beats of the scenes. It is an outlining tool for the writer.

A synopsis is generally a prose paragraph, one page, three page, five page (or other) shorthand of your story. It should include the major story markers (major story beats), identify in prose what happens in each part of your story (act 1, 2, 3), and capture the spirit of your protagonist (and other major characters) and his/her character arc. A synopsis is generally read by someone who is unfamiliar with your story so they can get a grasp on what story you’re telling.

A treatment is a very detailed synopsis, the length of which will depend on who has requested it and how much detail they need. Treatments can be ten pages or thirty, depending. They are also prose and are sort of a mini-novella of the script. They should contain a lot more information about your story, plot, characters, location, etc., than would be in the synopsis, but probably wouldn’t include every single beat.

An outline is a general term that may include components of a synopsis or treatment.

I’m not sure every producer uses all of these terms to indicate something specific. Producer “A” might ask for a “treatment,” and Producer “B” might ask for an “outline,” but they both might want essentially the same thing. In any case, I would ask that producer very specifically what they want and how many pages they’re expecting.

However, in each one, your character arc should be clear and your basic story should also be very clear. Your protag’s motivation and character arc should be just as obvious in a synopsis as it would be in a treatment or beat sheet.

Explain the following differences and at time they would be used:

Outline

Beat sheet

Synopsis

Treatment

Which ones of the above would contain nuances that explain or hint at motovation, and which ones would not? Can I assume that they are industry standard practice so that when producer “A” or producer “B” asks for a beat sheet or a synopsis they all expect the same thing?

Thanks,

Hec

Melissa, I’m posting an article next week on scenes in a screenplay and will write a follow-up article on the basics of outlining.

Of course, I would say it’s all genre dependent, however when I write a treatment (prose outline of the story), I try to make it no shorter than 12 pages, with 15 to 20 pages being ideal. I have found that if I have less than 12 pages in my treatment, I will be short on material in the script.

If I take that treatment and break it into a beat sheet (a scene-by-scene outline of the script, generally written in Final Draft or the screenwriting software of your preference), which for me includes scene headings, I usually then go to the page with at least 20-25 pages of material. So, that way, in a first draft, when I actually start writing out the scenes, I actually have a ton of material already there that I’m working from.