A story tells about something that happened. It does not have to be true: it can be completely made up. It is not always just for amusement: a story is often the best way to get across news, history, religion, philosophy and even science. People like stories much more than a dry list of facts.
Some people are just naturally good at telling stories. Yet a story is something made and like anything made it has certain parts that go together in a certain way. Knowing this helps.
A good story has the following elements:
- characters: those in the story. Ordinarily there is one character we follow throughout – the hero.
- conflict: something stands in the way of what the hero wants. We want to see him succeed, but we do not see how it will happen. That makes the story. It keeps us asking “What happens next?”
- plot: the story line, the outline of what happens.
- acts: each story is made up of acts, most commonly three: a beginning, middle and end. More on that below.
- scenes: each act is made up of scenes. Each scene moves the story from one point in the plot to the next. A scene is made up of what the characters do and say.
Most stories have a three-act structure: a beginning, middle and end:
- Act I: Introduces the hero and his conflict. This is where you pull people into hearing your story.
- Act II: The heart of the story. Here you give the hero hell. Bad things keep happening. Just when he is about to make it, his hopes are ruined by some twist in the story. And so on.
- Act III: The ending. The hero either succeeds or fails. Put your surprise ending here. Do not let anyone see it coming.
In a two-hour film, Act I will probably be the first 20 minutes, Act III the last half hour and Act II will be the 70 minutes in between.
Know your characters. Plot is important, but good characters more so. If no one cares about your characters, a good plot will not save them. If you do not know your characters they will all sound the same – like you. No offence, but the story will seem flat.
Most good writers learn about their characters as they write, coming to know them like their friends. They follow the characters through the story, not the other way round.
That said, outline the plot in a compelling way on one page. If you cannot, that is a bad sign. Your outline can change, you may not even know how it will end, but you need structure.
With your outline, figure out how the story moves between the points in the plot. The first thing you think of will be too predictable to be interesting, so think some more.
Every step in your story, however, must be believable when it happens. Fact is stranger than fiction for a reason. At the same time, you must always keep your readers asking themselves, “What happens next?”
See also:
Abagond 
Leave a Reply