How do you map out your storyline?

Question

There are various ways for mapping out the storyline that you will use for a story. One of them is to create a bullet-point outline, which would theoretically be useful because of the hierarchy system that you can make, but as it goes along you can't really visualise how the story goes along. Another system would be to use mindmaps to map out the storyline, because subsets of one idea could be branched off. What ways do you use to map out your storyline/content?

Answer 1

One popular way to plan an outline of a story follows this structure:

Somebody-Wanted-But-So-Then.

Somebody...(Who? Example: Cinderella)

Wanted...(What did your character want more than anything? Example: to go to the ball.)

But...(What is the obstacle? Example: Cinderella's cruel stepmother and stepsisters did not let her go and wanted her to remain hidden at home to clean and serve all their needs.)

So...(The solution arrives! Example: A fairy godmother came and gave Cinderella what she needed to go to the ball.)

Then...(How did it all turn out? Example: The prince fell in love with Cinderella, and they were engaged and married, and lived happily ever after. (It's up to you what to do with the stepmom and sisters! ;) )

That is one simple way to first map out a storyline before you expand/elaborate.Happy writing!