I'm writing a new story and need a bit of help

Well, I'm writing another new story. This one I plan to finish though, and get published sooner or later. I'm not playing it by ear this time, but instead writing down a somewhat story line and then beginning to write the actual story.
What I need help with?
How to do it.
What is the skeleton of a book?
What I mean by skeleton, where do I put things?
What I know:
Start (Blond moment, I forget what the beginning is called)
Conflict
Resolution

And:
Setting
Characters
and a couple more I can't remember....

I would love, love, love advice and possibly, maybe a site I could go to for help? Thank you!!

The most important things to get are the story's start and ending. If you have an idea of what happens in-between, write a summary of that, too. (Or you can write down a summary of each scene, too. xD That's what I tend to do.) I try and be rather vague about it, so there's still room for more plot points if I wanna add them in, but it's important to have at least enough to build off of to where you can easily keep going. The plans are probably the reason I've never got writers block, so I can say they're a big help for sure! xD

For the setting and characters and such . . . well, there's a character devlopment thread somewhere around here you might like. And for setting, I just write the basic outline of the world. I'm not really one to plan this out a whole lot, so I'm not much help for this part. xD

Anywho, good luck!

I agree with Shad, you need a beginning and an end... but you also need a good climax. You need a conflict (A problem- this is sometimes the hardest to think of), a climax (My english teacher says this is the part where the reader finds out if the charactor will or will not accomplish whatever they need to accomplish. This is also usually good action ), and a resolution (When the problem is solved). Also, it helps me to make bullet-points for the storyline. Hope this helps!

Good Luck!

~Emma

If you want help planning it out, I'm probably not a great person to ask. I tend to just write out the plots as I go.

I can give you an outline to help you. It's in French though, so I'll have to translate it. (This may be horrible)... Anyway, it's just basically some elements you will need in your story. You can begin by writing down a short sentence or paragraph summarizing what each of these will be in your story.

Climax - An event in the story that changes the direction of where it's going. It's normally the most exciting and action packed. (Basically what Poka said)

The setting - Time and place of the story.

The hero/heroine - The main character.

Allies - The people helping the main character. These aren't really required, actually.... But they do make things more interesting.

The goal - What the main character wants to accomplish. There isn't a story without a goal.

The bad guys - Those who get in the way of the character's goal. It can be one person, several people, an object, anything.

The conflict - Something that gets in the way of the character's goal.

The final battle - The last time the hero/heroine confronts the bad guys.

The explanation - Basically the final explanation of the story. You know, the conclusion. Here's where you find out if the hero/heroine reached their goals.

The theme/moral - Every story has a moral or theme, whether or not you realize it. If you want to get a certain message across to your readers, then plan out the moral.

I'll give you an example of this, because I'm bored and I like explaining things.

Komoda's Awesome Writing Skillage

It was midnight and Chester walked along a path, going to his mother's house. He tripped on a vine. Scowling, he tore the vine away.
Maybe I shouldn't have taken this short cut. Now I have a bruise on my knee from the vine, he thought.
Eventually, he reached his mother's house anyway.

- The climax would be him tripping on the vine.
- The setting would be "On a path at midnight."
- The hero is Chester.
- He has no allies, except for maybe his mother.
- His goal is to get to his mother's house.
- The bad guy would be the vine.
- The conflict is him tripping on the vine.
- The final battle is when he tore away the vine.
- The explanation is the last sentence.
- The moral of the story is that sometimes taking short cuts isn't the best way. XP

See, that was a short little story with not much action, yet the outline still worked for it.

Hope this helps!

One more thing that I don't believe was mentioned here is something about the climax. I learned this last year at a writing conference, and I think it's pretty important. At one point, the situation should be hopeless for the main character. It makes it exciting for the reader, and they won't be able to wait to find out what happens next.

Thanks, everyone!! Wow that helped... I didn't have a goal or a climax or anything....haha