Oh yes, a mismatch between what story you're writing and what the editor thinks it is (or should be) will make things difficult! Much harder than the writing part.
I have not read the original Save the Cat, which I understand was screenplay-focused, but I did recently read Save the Cat Writes a Novel. And I'm pretty sure it said somewhere that there is some flexibility about exactly where beats should hit and sometimes even in what order. So anyone trying to adhere to the formula that rigidly is ignoring part of the instructions. I also understood the book to be saying that the story ought to fall more or less into those patterns because you have designed the character conflicts to organically produce those beats and then used them during revisions to, for example, see whether a section is paced much slower or faster than others and will feel like it's dragging or racing by, comparatively. I'm pretty sure it did not say to always have Beat X at exactly n% of the way through, not "n plus or minus 2%, because n is a magic number which must never be deviated from on pain of eternal non-publication." But I only read it once, so maybe it does come across that dogmatically at some points? Or maybe the original does?
I also recently read Story Genius by Lisa Cron, which had a really interesting take. I don't particularly like the marketing surrounding the book (anything too strident about how it's new! and different! and will revolutionize your worldview! makes me uneasy). And I haven't fully digested it yet and will probably have to re-read. But it definitely had a lot of food for thought. Cron is pro-planning but not pro-traditional-outlining, in that she doesn't think plotting from the outside in by focusing on the plot events and where exactly they hit gets at the heart of the story and can lead to beautifully-designed but ineffective novels. I don't remember exactly the analogy she used, but it was something like comparing it to cargo cults: looking at a successful story, trying to replicate all the external trappings, and expecting that will make it work. So if you have to make an argument from authority, at least there's one book saying "don't write to a beat sheet," I guess?
I'd be happy to take a look! If it is middle grade or YA, I should declare up front that I'm by no means an expert in those formats. But I do read a lot of SF/F. I'll message you about a way to send it if you like.
Re: Pages, etc--
I have not read the original Save the Cat, which I understand was screenplay-focused, but I did recently read Save the Cat Writes a Novel. And I'm pretty sure it said somewhere that there is some flexibility about exactly where beats should hit and sometimes even in what order. So anyone trying to adhere to the formula that rigidly is ignoring part of the instructions. I also understood the book to be saying that the story ought to fall more or less into those patterns because you have designed the character conflicts to organically produce those beats and then used them during revisions to, for example, see whether a section is paced much slower or faster than others and will feel like it's dragging or racing by, comparatively. I'm pretty sure it did not say to always have Beat X at exactly n% of the way through, not "n plus or minus 2%, because n is a magic number which must never be deviated from on pain of eternal non-publication." But I only read it once, so maybe it does come across that dogmatically at some points? Or maybe the original does?
I also recently read Story Genius by Lisa Cron, which had a really interesting take. I don't particularly like the marketing surrounding the book (anything too strident about how it's new! and different! and will revolutionize your worldview! makes me uneasy). And I haven't fully digested it yet and will probably have to re-read. But it definitely had a lot of food for thought. Cron is pro-planning but not pro-traditional-outlining, in that she doesn't think plotting from the outside in by focusing on the plot events and where exactly they hit gets at the heart of the story and can lead to beautifully-designed but ineffective novels. I don't remember exactly the analogy she used, but it was something like comparing it to cargo cults: looking at a successful story, trying to replicate all the external trappings, and expecting that will make it work. So if you have to make an argument from authority, at least there's one book saying "don't write to a beat sheet," I guess?
I'd be happy to take a look! If it is middle grade or YA, I should declare up front that I'm by no means an expert in those formats. But I do read a lot of SF/F. I'll message you about a way to send it if you like.