story writing help

story writing help

Tips for Writing a Compelling Story

1. Introduction

Nor do I mean to imply that it is easy to tell a good story. The simplicity of my approach is deceptive, and it has been arrived at after many years of trial and error. It would be more accurate to say that what I aim to give here are thoughts born of labour, in the hope that they may spare other writers some of the toil. And while I should be happy if they proved useful to practising writers of stories, who are attempting to solve certain problems in their work, I should be still happier if they awakened in the readers a desire to tell stories of their own, and guide them to some first discovery and delightful adventure, the adventure of writing stories.

Let me get a couple of disclaimers out of the way at the outset. First, my approach to the subject is personal, at times almost idiosyncratic. I don’t aim to propound theory or system. I don’t think these have much to do with the writing of great stories. If you are looking for a guide to the construction of plots or a comprehensive manual on creative writing, you won’t find it here. I’m not saying that theory and/or systems of writing are of no use. They are most useful and any writer will benefit from knowing about them.

The purpose of this essay is to share my practical experiences in the craft of story writing. I hope that aspiring writers, when they have read it, will feel more confident and better equipped to make stories that are entertaining and compelling.

2. Developing Engaging Characters

Tip 3, and we believe the most important, a character must have dimensions. This means creating characters that are not just black and white. A great movie example of this is Maximus from Gladiator. On one hand, he is a general/leader and with that, he is honorable and very responsible. On the other hand, when he becomes a slave, he becomes unruly and completely irresponsible, we see he is not just one simple character throughout the story. An easy way to do this without making a character too inconsistent is to give them a spectrum of right and wrong behavior and let them fluctuate between the two.

Tip 2. Tension is everything. The main difference between real people and fictional characters is that you can’t punch real people to solve your problems. Characters must have a level of internal and/or external conflict. The easiest way to do this is give them goals and then throw obstacles in the way of these goals. A simple example of this is “character wants to buy a dog (goal), but is allergic to all animals (obstacle)” this can be developed into a full-blown plot but it gives the character something to work with. Goals also help to drive a story and give it a direction.

Tip 1. Refreshing a cliché. The personality of a character is ‘who’ the character is. Many stories suffer due to the fact that their characters are almost identical to many others. This can make these characters seem generic and ‘a-dime-a-dozen’.

3. Crafting an Intriguing Plot

– Certain key elements are common to many successful stories – notably, the “inciting incident” that gets the story underway; a crucial, mid-point ‘reversal’ of the situation; and then a final pre…

Plot is the series of events that take place in your story. These events are connected and make sense within the context of the story. A plot requires a well thought out beginning, middle, and end. You should be able to put a line of the events in your story in chronological order. A story that jumps all over the place won’t engage your reader. A good way to put (in point form):

4. Creating Vivid Settings

Once you know where and when your story is set in detail, it’s important not to overload the reader with information. You should drip-feed details into the story, using all the senses and from characters’ viewpoints. Long passages of description can be tedious – it’s usually better to keep some sense of mystery or unfamiliarity about your setting, making the reader feel they have to keep reading in order to understand it. A useful exercise can be to write 300-500 words giving details of your setting, then to throw this away and try to convey the same sense of setting through just a small scene or conversation between characters.

The next important stage is to create a vivid setting which readers will remember long after they’ve read your story. It’s important that your readers can visualise the setting – whether it’s a private school in New England, a geography class in rural Devon, or an ancient city in China. To do this, you need to be able to see the setting clearly in your own mind. You should know what it looks like, sounds like, smells like, even what the air feels like on the skin. This might take a bit of research, e.g. on a particular location or time period. Using real places and historical research can add depth and authenticity to your setting, even if the world is an entirely imaginary one.

5. Enhancing Emotional Impact

3. FOCUS ON THE SPECIFIC Specific details can have more emotional impact than generalizations. For example, a woman may be sad after a relationship break-up, but it is more poignant to show her spending hours composing a farewell letter that she will never dare to send. Create situations that are unusual and different from the norm – these are what have the most impact on people. For example, a proud businessman who, upon receiving news of his success, does not smile but must go to the bathroom and splash water on his face to steady his shaking hands. This is what people can empathize with and remember. Even if the readers have never had the same experience as the character, they will be able to relate it to a time when they have been embarrassed or shown uncharacteristic behavior due to stress.

2. SHOW, DON’T TELL This is probably the single most important piece of advice for creating emotional impact in your writing. It’s always more effective to lead readers to the conclusions you want them to make. Let them figure it out for themselves, rather than spelling it out to them. Telling robs the reader of the sense of discovery. People generally don’t like to be told how to feel, they like to be given the factors and then brought to the conclusion on their own. When something is shown, it has more impact and is more memorable. For example, it’s more effective to show a happy child rescuing a bird that has fallen from the nest than simply stating that the child is kind. This technique is usually about providing specific details in the place of generalizations.

One of the most critical factors in the success of a story is that it makes an emotional connection with the reader. Often, it is the depth of emotion in a story that lingers long after the details of a plot are forgotten. Good writing should pull the reader into the scene, making them empathize with the characters and share their emotions. There are a few simple techniques that will help you create immediate emotional impact in your writing.