In primary school, we learned about the whale figure. The whale figure is a figure which shows the different parts of the story. Let's go through them:
Setting the scene: During the prologue and the first chapter, you have to make people feel caught. You have to set the scene. You gotta set the vibe. Let your reader know the basics about your main character. Who is his or her family? Who is he or she? Where are we? And at the same time, let people wonder what will happen.
Explanation: The next chapters have to include more information. It has to include when the conflict started, more about the characters and their situation.
Point of no return: Now you have to make something happen. Something that makes the characters unable to go back. Someone could die. This is a big point. In my story White angel, the point of no return is when Alexander leaves the hospital that he has been living in to search for his little brother. Which a life-threatening danger outside, he can not undo his decision and go back again, because he would maybe be able to die if he didn't get help. I hope it makes sense.
Building up the conflict: Next you have to build the excitement. This is where things go downhill. All the bad things happen. It's basically bad plus bad multiplied by bad. Everything seems to go to hell and there's almost no hope. BUT THEN!
Solving the problem: THEN THIS HAPPENS. You solve the problem. That doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be a happy solution. It could be like the Avengers infinity war (SPOILER ALERT AHEAD) where half of the population disappeared including many superheroes. That was sad but it was also the solution. The solution is that Thanos snaps his magical glove and people die. Basically solving the problem is when you're on the top. It's the most exciting moment.
Resting: This is where you close the story. Let everything rest nicely. You might use an epilogue to finish it off in a good place. A great ending should be able to make people feel something. Anything. Sadness, anger, happiness.
Other things:
How to build up length: If you've tried searching the internet for prompts, you're most likely gonna end up with a short story, because many of the prompts only have one issue and conflict. During a novel, there are more than one issue. You can compare that to a short film and a 2-hour-long movie. The short film has one conflict and the long movie has more than one. My tip here is to try to fit three or four prompts together in the same story or brainstorm what could happen more.
Ask these questions: Who is the main character? What does he or she desire? Who is helping? Who tries to stop the main character?
