Once you have the basic idea that tells you what your story is going to be about, it’s time to map out your plot. This is when you plan out, step by step, what is going to happen in your book.  First, check out some resources that will help you figure out what to include in your story and how to plan it out. 

• http://www.coreygreen.com/storytips.htm 
  • This website has some excellent instructions for planning out your story.  
•  http://www.hearwritenow.com/articles/writing/plot_structure.htm 
  • This website talks about the basic parts of a story. This is a great place to start deciding the events of your book.
• http://www.iwanttowrite.co.uk/page5.html 
• http://www.iwanttowrite.co.uk/page9.html
  • This website provides in-depth discussion about how to plot your story. The first link is a general discussion of plotting. The second tells you about the parts of a story and what to include in each of them. 
• http://alex.state.al.us/uploads/6991/Elements%20of%20a%20Plot%20Diagram%5D.ppt#263 
  • This is a PowerPoint presentation that teaches you about Plot Diagrams, the different parts of these diagrams, and how to use them.
• http://www.sff.net/people/Alicia/10prob.htm
  • This website discusses the top ten problems in plotting a story. You have to know what the possible missteps are so that you can take measures to avoid them.
• http://www.jennymeyerhoff.com/PlottingWorksheet.pdf
  • This is a worksheet that you can use as a starting place for your plot planning. Don’t be afraid to manipulate it to add more events or to get more specific and detailed than the worksheet demands.
• http://www.readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson374/plot-tree.pdf
  • This is a “plot tree” that you can fill in and get the most basic information about your plot on paper. It’s a good starting place, but it isn’t complete enough to fulfill the “plot diagram” portion of the task. Try combining this worksheet with other resources to create the map of your plot.
•  http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/plot-diagram/
  • This is an interactive website that allows you to type in the events of your story and place them in the appropriate places on the basic plot diagram.
• http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointlessonplans/qt/storymap_lesson.htm
  • This page gives detailed instructions about how to map out your plot using Microsoft PowerPoint.  Using this tool, you can also add colors, fonts, and backgrounds to your slides to remind you of moods and tones you have in mind for certain scenes.
• Story Master Pro is a great software package that you can use to plan out your plot.  It allows you to create chapters, then detailed descriptions of scenes that occur in those chapters.  It also has a character builder, which could also be an excellent tool.  You can try a free trial of this software from Download.com
  •  Here's a sample that you can take a look at of one chapter of a story, planned out: StoryMapSample.doc

When you've finished planning out your plot, move on to Step 3 - Create Your Characters!