Good storytellers are extremely rare. They can put themselves in someone else’s shoes and feel completely understood and connected to the characters and events of the story. They can make the reader feel like they are there experiencing it all along with the characters. They can make the complicated look easy and the seemingly impossible seem possible. For a writer, a good story can be the key to selling their books and getting their work read and appreciated by the right people.
It takes a certain kind of person to be able to do this. They need to be open to new ideas, flexible, and able to look at the big picture while focusing on the details of a story. Writers who are able to do this are also usually able to turn around and do the same for their readers. Good readers can help good writers become better storytellers by pointing out ways they can make the story better and highlighting the creative choices made by the writer. This is also true of writers who want to become better readers. The key is looking for opportunities to learn and grow as a writer and as a person.
What Makes a Stories Good
There are several elements that make up a good story. Below, we’ll describe the main ones with examples from popular fiction. A lot of these elements can be found in non-fiction as well, but you’ll have to look for them a bit more subtly due to the facts and figures usually found in non-fiction.
1. Character Development
This is absolutely essential in good storytelling. A good character is the building blocks of any good story; without them, you have nothing. No matter what is going on in your story, the reader must be able to connect with the central characters and understand what makes them tick. In order to do this, you need to develop these characters based on the personality you want to project to the readers. It is usually a good idea to think of the characters as “real people”, not just names on a page. This will help bring them to life and make your story more involving and memorable.
To get a better sense of how important character development is, consider the humble beginnings of The Big Chill
- The Big Chill is the 1994 American romantic comedy film directed by Roger Donaldson and starring Thomas Jane, Robert Stack, Fred Ward, and John Candy. It was one of the highest-grossing films of the year, earning $60 million in worldwide box office receipts.
- The Big Chill follows the romantic journeys of several ex-husbands as they get together for a wedding party that lasts the whole winter.
- The film’s title is a reference to the coolness of the winter weather in Chicago. The movie takes place over a period of about a month, from mid-December to early January, and features several snow-filled scenes, some of which were shot in Canada and the US state of Ohio.
Compare this with the way the plot of the 2005 film The Holiday revolves around the efforts of a group of friends to set up a snowball fight in a blizzard on New Year’s Eve. The only character who stands out of the entire film is Michael Dorsey (played by Jim Carrey), who is the antagonist. Yet, even he is not completely unlikable. The other characters are two-dimensional and, for the most part, uninteresting. This is because the director and screenwriter, Nancy Meyers, forgot about the importance of character development. She focused so much on the “big story” that she left out the very elements that would have made the story better. This is one of the main reasons The Holiday turned out to be such a disaster. The only good thing to come out of it is Jim Carrey, who is hilarious in the role.
2. Plot
The plot of your story is the sequence of events that you want to put into motion. It’s what happens from the very first scene to the last. The plot should be a clear and easily followed sequence of events, with each step logically connected to the next. This doesn’t mean that your story will necessarily be easy to understand or that it will be perfectly linear. But it should be a clear and easily followed story line with a beginning, middle, and end. The beginning should set the scene and establish key characters, motives, and themes; the middle should develop these elements as the story progresses, and the end should leave you with some sort of resolution, usually involving the main characters in some way. This should all be driven by some larger theme or idea that you are trying to get across to the audience.
3. Setting
This is the world and time that you are trying to depict in your story. You must give the reader a clear sense of where they are and what is going on in the world around them. They must feel as if they can readily jump into the story and understand what is happening without any sort of difficulty. This is especially important for overseas readers, who might not be as familiar with the US or Canadian culture as you are, but who might still want to read your story due to its setting in Chicago or Toronto. Setting also determines the climate you should portray in your story. Are you telling a story set in the rainforest or on a farm? What about in the desert? The answer to these questions will vary based on where you are geographically located, but the setting of your story should be apparent to the reader at all times.
4. Style
The style you choose to use should match the atmosphere you are trying to create. Do you want to put your reader into a happy or sad state of mind? This is important because your story will have a different tone and style if you want the reader to feel a certain way while they are reading it. There are several elements that make up the style of a piece of writing, and you can choose what is most appropriate for your story.
5. Theme
Your story’s theme can be easy to state: “My story is about…” But what does that mean? Your story might be about growing up and becoming who you are today. It might be about a scientific experiment gone wrong. It might be about prejudice and discrimination. It might be about family. Whatever it is, you should be able to briefly and simply state the theme of your story in a way that makes sense and is applicable to the situation you are writing about.
How to Work With a Narrator
The person who will be telling your story might not be you. For instance, if you are writing a biography about a famous person, then you might want to consider hiring a narrator to speak for you. A narrator can take over the responsibility of selecting words and conveying your ideas, while still letting the reader know that you are the one who is writing the story. Using a narrator is a great way to add dimension and feel to your story. You can still be in control of the story, but you won’t have to worry about whether the reader is understanding you or not. It is a win-win situation.
There are several well-known narrators who could work for you. If you are fortunate enough to have an in-house narrator, you might want to consider putting them in charge of picking out words and phrases for your work. This can make a huge difference in the way your work is received and understood by your audience. It is always a good idea to look for narrators who have had positive experiences with your type of work and who are able to create an atmosphere that matches what you are trying to portray. For example, if you are writing about racism, then you might want to consider an ethnic minority narrator who has experienced racism first-hand.
The Elements of a Stories
There are several elements that make up the whole of a good story. Below, we’ll discuss what makes up a good story and how you can incorporate these elements into your own work. Remember that, as a writer, you are not limited to these elements, so feel free to add your own touches to the mix.
1. Characters
Characters are the lifeblood of any story. They begin and end a story. They speak and act for the reader, presenting an opportunity to show how a story could unfold with different choices and outcomes. Good characters can make or break a story. They should be distinctive and memorable individuals who the reader can connect with on some level. These characters should be consistent in their behaviors and motivated by at least some degree of empathy or sympathy for the reader.
A good starting point for creating memorable characters is to populate them with as much as you can. Give each of them a backstory and a clear motivation for their actions. This will help establish a connection with the reader and make them feel as if they are a part of the story from the very beginning. It also helps establish conflict. If you want a complex plot, then you need a host of interesting and compelling characters to drive it.