Story Flow – Mapping the Doors of Your Castle

Have you ever been in a house where there weren’t enough doors?

Or they opened in the wrong direction?

Some layouts make all the traffic converge in one place, which leads to collisions and chaos.

This isn’t a décor problem. It’s a structural one.

Good architects understand traffic flow. They know castles need lots of doors—and that those doors must be spaced properly to allow movement.

The flow of our stories has a lot to do with where we place our doors.

But how do you know where to put them? Well, first you have to label them.

Traffic Flow

In the Beginner’s guide, we discussed the need for a beginning, middle, and end.

This is our story’s traffic flow.

We need our readers to be able to enter (begin), move through (middle), and exit (end).

Just like every part of a house, each piece of our novel needs these points.

Every scene, chapter, act, and the entire novel must have an entry, a path through, and an exit.

That sounds like a lot.

I know it does but let me remind you of something: You already know how to do this.

Storytelling is designed around this path. It’s how you’d tell a story to your friends, and it’s how you organize events in your novel.

All we’re doing is making ourselves aware of this natural process so we can use it to our advantage.

Let’s take a look at a common flow issue.

Choppy Chapters

I’m sure you’ve come across a book (or several) that felt choppy. Maybe you didn’t know why or even what that meant but you know it applies.

Choppiness often comes from flow issues. A confusing first chapter. A scene cuts off abruptly. The middle of the book goes on forever only to take an unexpected nose dive into major plot revelations.

Every one of these examples is missing a door or the doors aren’t spaced properly. Together these small problems create uneven obstacles at every level of the novel.

This gives the reader a subconscious feeling of tripping over furniture even if they aren’t sure why.

But you said it’s natural!

I did.

The thing is – we get confused. Or overzealous. We’ve got ideas, beats, and grammar swirling around in our heads. We assume our readers know where to go because we know where to go. Most of the time, we have the door clearly there, it’s just not labeled.

For them or us.

We need neon OPEN signs, glowing exits, and velvet ropes. A path that allows the reader to walk from room to room and always know the way.

But first, we need to map the path for ourselves. And we do that with a simple three-point system.

The Three-Point System

You are the architect of your castle – and the tour guide. No one knows where to go unless you tell them. This is awesome and also overwhelming at times.

As your castle grows, mapping paths becomes a crucial step in developing flow.

Think of each space as having three points:

Beginning (Entrance) - Middle (Moving) - End (Exit)

What do these points actually mean?

The beginning is your entry point. Where do we start? How do we come into the room?

The middle is the path from one door to another. What happens in the middle of the room? How do we get through this place?

The ending is our grand exit. Where are things when we leave? Where are we headed? What makes us go?

These are the questions that every container needs answered and each container needs their own points on the map.

Take our confusing first chapter. Lots of writers get stuck in the beginning unsure of how to present their castle to the reader.

The problem is that the first chapter isn’t one beginning - it’s several.

Your first chapter is the starting point for:

The entire novel

Act One

Chapter One

Scene One and maybe Two and Three

This is where the confusion happens. Your readers don’t know which door to take.

Maybe you don’t know which door to take. (I’ve been there)

The solution lies in the map.

If you have three points mapped out for each of these containers, then the chapter is no longer a jumble of destinations. It’s a foyer with nicely labeled doors.

You want me to map out all of these?

Yes. Yes, I do. But I promise that it’s worth it.

Let me show you how.

Example Time

For this example, I’m using one of my actual drafts in progress. I just started plotting this story so this example is mapping in real time.

Novel Level

Beginning - Clementine and Jack collide in both external and internal conflicts

Middle - Clementine and Jack grow closer as the world presses in around them

End - Clementine and Jack find their places in the world and with each other

Act One Level

Beginning - Define conflicts both external and internal

Middle - Inciting incident that alters both their courses and starts their journey together

End - We turn a corner and move toward a new destination as internal conflicts continue

Chapter One Level

Beginning - Clementine alone, bored and searching for purpose

Middle - Clementine reaches out to her friend to express her concerns and is shut down

End - Clementine sees her friend and her own life for what it is. She’s sad and angry but not yet able to do anything about it.

Scene One Level

Beginning - Clementine at home, bored and searching for purpose

Middle - Her own internal conflict, encounter with a wolf

End - She chases off the wolf, the encounter ends with her saying how he didn’t want to be fenced in anyway (circling back to her internal conflict). She returns to her chores.

Scene Two Level

Beginning - Clementine’s husband and the dinner with friends. Intro to her relationships

Middle - Her and Alice talk. She expresses her concerns. Alice shuts her down.

End - Husband and friend leave for the tavern. Clementine is left alone pondering her mother’s fate and if it’s her future.

Notice how we went from broad points to more narrow directions. In my article, Dual Arcs in Romantasy, we took an in-depth look at large scale arcs over the course of a novel.

Our beginning, middle and end at that level fits neatly inside our arc.

Also notice how chapter one and scene one match in the beginning. They are the same starting point. The chapter is just larger so its points cover more territory.

These levels are like overlays on a map. Each one has its own set of information that covers the same space.

Now it’s your turn.

Take your first chapter and use the template below to map your castle.

Novel Level

Beginning -

Middle -

End -

Act One Level

Beginning -

Middle -

End -

Chapter One Level

Beginning -

Middle -

End -

Scene One Level

Beginning -

Middle -

End -

Scene Two Level

Beginning -

Middle -

End -

I’m sure in the course of this exercise you’ll discover that you already have the bones of this design. It came to you naturally but there might be a missing piece here and there.

That’s okay.

Unlike a story we tell our friends, novels require more from us. We have to manage dozens of moving parts that only exist inside us.

Mapping those parts doesn’t limit your story. It gives your reader a path through it.

And that’s where the magic lives.

Go map your castle, my little magic builder. I believe in you.