Premise|Five Key Scenes|Online Story Map|Blank Story Map to Print

ToonaCat's story map is a list of eight questions that help you to "map out" the structure of great stories before you start writing! On this page ToonaCat will explain the different parts of the story map and develop four different story ideas as he goes along. When you're ready to try a story map yourself, you can go to either:

1. an online story map where you can try out your answers,

   or

2. a blank story map where you can print it out and fill in your answers by hand.

Ready? Let's get started!

A Complete Story Idea (Premise)

Any good story begins with a complete story idea, sometimes called the premise. It's really short and easy. A premise is one sentence which contains three things:

1. Who the story is about (protagonist)
2. What the protagonist wants (objective)
3. Why it's hard for the protagonist to get it! (obstacle)

Question 1. Who is my story about?

Whom your story is most about is called your protagonist. A protagonist can be a boy, or a girl, a spaceman, a monster, a cat, a ghost,--anybody you want to write about. But it helps if you are a little more specific by adding an adjective or two. A shy boy, an athletic girl, a lost spaceman, a lonely monster, a sad cat, a mean ghost.

Here are four protagonists ToonaCat thought up for four different stories:

1. A clumsy bear
2. A tiny fish
3. A magical girl
4. An artistic boy

Now it's time to figure out what the protagonist wants in the story. This is called his or her objective. Protagonists have to want SOME objective, or there's nothing to write about! It can be a magical jewel, to make a friend, to pass a test, to hit the ball, to make Mom laugh--anything you can think of! Here are what ToonaCat's four protagonists want (their objectives):

1. A clumsy bear wants to win the love of his Sweetheart Bear.
2. A tiny fish wants to tag along with the bigger fish
3. A magical girl wants to become an apprentice to a famous wizard by winning his magic contest
4. An artistic boy wants to sell his cartoons to his local paper.

We have to make things hard for the protagonist now. This is called the obstacle. If the obstacle isn't hard, and our hero wins right away, why would we read? What if Indiana Jones just got the Arc and went home? Not too exciting. We have to give our protagonist an obstacle to overcome so the reader can wonder how it all turns out.

Here are the obstacles ToonaCat's four protagonists must overcome:

1. A clumsy bear wants to win the love of his Sweetheart Bear, but he has a rival bear who isn't as clumsy as he!
2. A tiny fish wants to tag along with the bigger fish, but his fins are so small it's hard to keep up!
3. A magical girl wants to become an apprentice to a famous wizard by winning his magic contest, but she sneezes when nervous and this makes her spells go all wrong!
4. An artistic boy wants to sell his cartoons to his local paper, but the editor won't take a kid seriously as a cartoonist.

Making premise sentences is a good way to test out your story ideas to see if you really want to write them or not. Once you have a premise you like, you can further help your story by figuring out the Five Key scenes that help make a story exciting.

Five Key Scenes (Plot)

In good stories, just as in real life, nothing should go all bad, or all good for the protagonist. But a difference between stories and real life is that in stories, when one thing happens, it should cause the next thing to happen. In stories this is called the plot. In a basic plot there are Five Key Scenes which need to happen, for the story to work and feel exciting.

1. What happens to get the protagonist's attention and start him or her towards what he or she wants? (Point of Attack)

2. What happens to show the obstacle the protagonist must overcome? (Conflict)

3. What happens good for the protagonist to show progress towards the objective? (Progress)

4. What happens near the end of the story that is SO bad, the reader believes the protagonist can't win? (Climax)

5. What happens to show whether or not the protagonist achieved the goal (Conclusion)

Question 4. What happens to get the protagonist's attention and head him or her towards what he or she wants? (Point of Attack)

The point of attack happens very near the beginning of a story. Sometimes it is even the very first scene! It is an event that makes your hero sit up and take notice. It explains the objective that the protagonist wants, and makes the protagonist start moving! It's not enough to just say "Johnny dreams of playing ball with his baseball hero", instead you have a newscaster announce an upcoming intensive pitching camp coming to town run by this player--and only kids who can pitch through a tire at 400 feet can get in. This POA makes Johnny take action. To get to camp and work with his hero, he must go sign up, and also start perfecting his pitch!

Here are the possible POAs for ToonaCat's 4 story ideas:

1. Story 1: Sweetheart Bear tells Clumsy Bear and his rival that she will marry whomever brings her the sweetest gift.

   This makes Clumsy Bear take action to find a sweet gift.

2. Story 2: A tiny fish is swimming alone and feeling lonely when he sees some bigger fish swimming in a tag game nearby.

   This makes Tiny fish take action to swim towards the bigger fish.

3. Story 3: A magical girl hears the town crier announce a magic contest where the prize is to become a famous wizard's apprentice.

   This makes the magical girl take action by entering the contest and practicing her magic skills to win.

4. Story 4: An artistic boy sees an ad in his local paper saying the editor is looking to buy some cartoons.

   This makes the artistic boy take action to contact the editor about buying his cartoons

OK, now that we've got the protagonist moving towards the goal, we've got to show why it won't be easy. This is the obstacle you made up in your premise. For Johnny, maybe he's right handed and breaks his right arm because he was in such a hurry to go sign up for the baseball camp tryout, he didn't put on his protective gear before speeding out on his bike. How can he pitch far enough and accurately enough to get into camp and work with his hero now?

Here are the possible first scenes of conflict for ToonaCat's 4 story ideas:

1. Story 1: Clumsy bear is good at finding honey, but he is so clumsy he falls off the branch and his rival, who's followed him, steals the honey.

   This shows Clumsy Bear is up against the sneaky rival and his own clumsiness.

2. Story 2: The bigger fish laugh at Tiny and say the only way Tiny can join them in their tag game, is if he can prove he's big enough by catching one of them. They swim away and his fins are too little to catch up.

   This shows Tiny Fish is up against his own size and the attitude of the bigger fish.

3. Story 3: The magical girl practices her magic in front of her friends. She gets so nervous she starts sneezing. At every achoo one of her spells goes wrong,

   This shows the Magical Girl is up against her nervousness and her sneezing.

4. Story 4: The artistic boy calls up the editor who tells him "I don't buy from kids!" and hangs up the phone.

   This shows the artistic boy is up against the editor's prejudice against kids.

All right, now the protagonist needs to make some progress towards the goal, or we as readers would figure, "So what, the hero must fail, ho hum". The idea is to keep us guessing, " He will make it!... Oh no, he won't.. .Yes, I think he will... oh no!" and so on until the ending. In Johnny's case, maybe he can try pitching left handed, and it's not too bad! We figure maybe Johnny can win because he's not out of the game completely.

Also you should know that while there's only one POA and only one Climax and only one Conclusion, scenes of conflict and progress can continue back and forth and back and forth for as long as you need!

Here are the possible first scenes of progress for ToonaCat's 4 story ideas:

1. Story 1: Clumsy bear is so good at finding honey, he finds two more trees and now has twice as much honey as the rival!

   This shows Clumsy Bear might win because twice as much honey is a sweeter gift.

2. Story 2: Tiny Fish follows the bigger fishes' bubbles and figures out they are hiding in a dark cave. He follows them in.

   This shows Tiny Fish might win because he has caught up with the bigger fish.

3. Story 3: The Magical girl drinks a "non-sneeze" potion given her by one of her magical friends.

   This shows the Magical Girl might win because her sneezing will be controlled.

4. Story 4: The artistic boy talks his 18 year old brother into making an appointment to show the comics to the editor for him.

   This shows the artistic boy might win, because he has found a way to get the editor to look at his cartoons.

The climax is the biggest scene in your story. It's something where the reader's heart drops because the hero can't possibly win now. The "badder" the better! Really give it to the protagonist, make him or her squirm, a real challenge. Johhny's left shoulder is very sore from practicing, as his muscles on the left side are not used to the work. At the tryout he completely throws wild, and hits his baseball hero right in the head with the ball! Ouch, Looks bad for Johnny's chances now!

Here are the possible climaxes for ToonaCat's 4 story ideas:

1. Story 1: Clumsy bear hurrying to give SweetHeart Bear his gift, trips in the meadow and spills it all!

   This shows Clumsy Bear will probably lose his lady, because now he has no gift at all!

2. Story 2: The big fish, surprised that Tiny fish found them, rush to the cave entrance and knock some rocks causing an underwater cave-in! They blame Tiny Fish for their trouble.

   This shows Tiny Fish will probably lose getting to play with the bigger fish, because not only are they trapped in the cave, the bigger fish blame him!

3. Story 3: The "non-sneeze" potion was really just water, because the so called "friend" had also entered the contest. Not only that, this friend-rival sprinkled pepper all around the stage and Magical girl sneezes during the contest and all of her magic goes wrong!

   This shows the Magical Girl will probably lose because her magic spells went wrong at the worst possible time!

4. Story 4: When the brother finds out how much money the editor will pay for the cartoons, he pretends they are HIS!

   This shows the artistic boy will probably lose, because the editor thinks these are his brother's cartoons and not his.

The conclusion is the very end. Did the hero win? Usually yes, the protagonist somehow overcomes the odds to achieve the goal, but sometimes no. Sometimes the protagonist learns a lesson instead. Johnny's baseball hero was wearing a protective helmet, and so he wasn't injured. Johnny doesn't make it into the intensive baseball camp, (loses the objective) but he does manage to meet his hero, and through the experience he learns the importance of wearing protective gear!(learns a lesson).

Here are the possible conclusions for ToonaCat's 4 story ideas:

1. Story 1: Clumsy bear tells Sweetheart Bear he only has his heart to give. She says that is the sweetest gift of all and marries him! (wins)

2. Story 2: The big fish can't get through the cracks of the cave, but Tiny Fish can. He goes for help. The big fish are now grateful and want to play. But Tiny Fish decides to go look for fish to play with who are nicer to fish who aren't just like themselves. (lesson)

3. Story 3: One of Magical girl's crazy spells turns the sneaky friend into a toad. The Wizard thinks Magical Girl is so creative with her crazy magic, she wins the contest!(wins)

4. Story 4: The artistic boy bursts into the office and challenges his brother to a "draw off" in front of the editor. The brother admits what he did, and the editor wants to buy cartoons from the artistic boy. (wins)

That's it! We've developed the premise and basic plot for ToonaCat's 4 story ideas. Now he just has to go write them! Why not give one of ToonaCat's Story Maps a try and then send your story to ToonaCat to put up in the Kids Club! Happy Writing!