I am probably not the best at teaching you how to map out your novel. While I do keep an outline of the story idea, a lot of things change for me or a lot of fluff happens to my stories because I really am a terrible panster. Someone said I am a Plotster....I plot and then panster my way through it. Mayne? But I see my hero and heroine in my head and I know their stories and I know they will have a happily ever after but I don't always know how they are gonna get there. I also write scenes that I know will happen and I do not write them in order. So my delimma has been a pile of scenes but now it's time to add them to the manuscript where needed. My pile of paper printed scenes stays in a pile until I pull out the one that needs to go next in my story. I then find it in my saved files and copy and paste it in. At that time I do edit through it in case some part of the scene doesn't work with the current story before it. Or I make notes on my outline to change something. I am not sure how I started writing like that and sometimes it is a pain to get things in order but when the characters play in my head I start writing. Or I play with thise ideas and if good write that scene to hold for later. Sure there are scenes I have redo or toss. Depending on the story some scene don't fit once I am rolling through putting the story together. But again I am likely not the best to teach about story beats and how and when certain things should happen. Honestly I have never followed a plan or outline on how to plot out a novel. I have a story in my head and I write and put it all together. I fluff scene to bring them into the story. I write scenes to connect scene to fit later on as I am working through the novel. So I did a search on various ideas of how to story. There are grafts and charts and things to guide you all over the internet. Some people write by beats. Some write by acts. Here is an example below. I do not own this and I do not know who wrote it but it's one example of what is out there if you need a guide. How to ACT; • Act 1 (the first 25%): Introduction of the character and situation. • The Inciting Incident/Catalyst (in the opening pages): Something that introduces a problem or goal for the main character. • Plot Point One/Act 1 Break (about 25% of the way in): The point of no return, when the character embarks on the journey (physical, mental, or emotional). • Act 2 (the middle, from the 25% point to the 75% mark): The character tries to solve the problem but faces escalating obstacles and rising stakes. • Midpoint (in the middle of Act 2, at about the 50% mark): A moment of seeming success, but it may twist the story in a new direction or raise the stakes. • Plot Point Two/Act 2 Break (at the 75% mark): The moment when failure seems inevitable. • Act 3 (the final 25%): Wrapping up the story. Things may continue going downhill, and/or the hero(es) may develop a new plan, leading to the ... • Climax/Resolution: The big final scene where the character ultimately succeeds or fails. I took these all from sights online, but there are many various ways to to this. I cannot take credit for the ones here but I urge you to look further online to review several to see what fits you and what might work for your story.
