Secrets To Write Better Stories

Writing isn’t easy, and writing a good story is even harder.

In this article, you’ll learn ten secrets about how to write a story, and more importantly, how to write a story that’s good.

Everything I Know About How to Write a Story

Since I started The Write Practice a few years ago, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this question, how to write a good story. I’ve read books and blog posts on writing, taken classes, asked dozens of authors, and, of course, written stories myself.

The following ten steps are a distillation of everything I’ve learned about writing a good story. I hope it makes writing your story a little easier, but more than that, I hope it challenges you to step deeper into your own exploration of how to write a story.

1. Write In One Sitting

Write the first draft of your story  in as short a time as possible. If you’re writing a short story, try to write it in one sitting. If you’re writing a novel, try to write it in one season (three months).

Don’t worry too much about plotting or outlining beforehand. You can do that once you know you have a story to tell in the first place. Your first draft is a discovery process. You are like an archeologist digging an ancient city out of the clay. You might have a few clues about where your city is buried beforehand, but you don’t know what it will look like until it’s unearthed.

All that’s to say, get digging!

2. Develop Your Protagonist

Stories are about protagonists, and if you don’t have a good protagonist , you won’t have a good story. The essential ingredient for every protagonist is that they must make decisions. Victor Frankl said, “A human being is a deciding being.” Your protagonist must make a decision to get herself into whatever mess she gets into in your story, and likewise, she must come to a crisis point and decide  to get herself out of the mess.

To further develop your protagonist, use other character archetypes like  the villain , the protagonist’s opposite, or  the fool , a sidekick character that reveals the protagonist’s softer side.

3. Create Suspense and Drama

To create suspense, set up a dramatic question . A dramatic question is something like, “Is he going to make it?” or, “Is she going to get the man of her dreams?” By putting your protagonist’s fate in doubt, you make the reader ask, What happens next?

4.  Show, Don’t Tell

Honestly, the saying “ show ,do not tell” is overused. However, when placed next to the step above, it becomes very effective.

When something interesting happens in your story that changes the fate of your character, don’t tell us about it. Show the scene! Your readers have a right to see the best parts of the story play out in front of them. Show the interesting parts of your story, and tell the rest.

5. Write Good Dialogue

Good dialogue  comes from two things: intimate knowledge of your characters and lots of rewriting.

Each character must have a unique voice, and to make sure your characters all sound different, read each character’s dialogue and ask yourself, “Does this sound like my character?” If your answer is no, then you have some rewriting to do.

Also, with your speaker tags, try not to use anything but “he said” and “she said.” Speaker tags like “he exclaimed,” “she announced,” and “he spoke vehemently” are distracting and unnecessary. The occasional “he asked” is fine, though.

6. Write About Death

Think about the last five novels you read. In how many of them did a character die? Good stories often involve death. Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Charlotte’s Web, The Lord of the Rings, and more all had main characters who died. Death is the universal theme because every person who lives will one day die. Tap the power of  death in your storytelling.

7. Edit Like a Pro

Most professional writers  write three drafts or more. The first draft is often called the “vomit draft” or the “shitty first draft.” Don’t share it with anyone! Your first draft is your chance to explore your story and figure out what it’s about.

Your second draft isn’t for polishing, although many new writers will try to polish as soon as they can to clean up their embarrassing first draft. Instead, the second draft is meant for major structural changes and for clarifying the plot and characters of your novel or the key ideas of your non-fiction book.

The third draft is for deep polishing. Now is when everything starts to gel. This is the fun part! But until you write the first two drafts, polishing is probably a waste of your time.

8. Know the Rules, Then Break Them

Good writers know all the rules and follow them. Great writers 

Know the Rules, Then Break Them

 However, the best writers don’t break the rules arbitrarily. They break them because their stories require a whole new set of rules. Respect the rules, but remember that you don’t serve the rules. You serve your stories.

9. Defeat Writer’s Block

The best way to defeat writers block is to write. If you’re stuck, don’t try to write well. Don’t try to be perfect. Just write.

Sometimes, to write better stories, you have to start by taking the pressure off and just writing.

10. Share Your Work

You write better when you know someone will soon be reading what you’ve written. If you write in the dark, no one will know if you aren’t giving your writing everything you have. But when you share your writing, you face the possibility of failure. This will force you to write the best story you possibly can.

One of the best ways to write a story and share your writing is to enter a writing contest. The theme will inspire a new creation, the deadlines will keep you accountable, and the prizes will encourage you to submit—and maybe win! We love writing contests here at The Write Practice. Why not enter our next one?

How to Write a GOOD Story

All these tips will help you write a story. The trick to writing a good story? Practice.

When you finish the story you’re writing, celebrate! Then, start your next one. There’s no shortcut besides this: keep writing.

What are your best tips on how to write a story? Let me know in  the comments.

PRACTICE

Do you have a story to tell?

Write the first draft in one sitting using the tips above. Then, share a few paragraphs of your practice here in the comments section. And if you share your practice, be sure to leave feedback on a few practices by other writers, too.

Good luck!

How to Write a Good Story

HOW TO WRITE A GOOD STORY

Humans are and can be storytellers. But when it comes to writing a good story, you may feel stumped, even if you have a vivid imagination and a million great ideas. You want to create something original, not a cliché! To write a good story, you have to get inspired, develop your content, and then revise your work until you've written the best story you can write. If you want to write a good short story, just follow these simple steps.

11.Getting Inspired

1.Pay attention to the world and what's around you. If you want to be able to write a good, short story, or even a long one, then you have to keep your eyes and ears open at all times, and listen to the world and let it inspire you! You will soon find out what you can write about to make the best story! You may want to ask other people about their ideas about the world around them, as this story is going to be for many audiences, so don't base your tale on just your opinions. You can never put too much time, effort or description into your story. Here are some great ways to gather details that may lead you to a short story:

·         Read a book. Experience helps. Reading is good for the brain, it can help educate you on what a well published book looks like. Of course, there are millions of books out there, but try going to your local library and searching for books that may fit your interests. Every book and person is different. Maybe the book will give you some good sentence starters, inspiration, and the type of text you want to write. Make sure to read a wide variety to grow your vocabulary. The next thing you know, you'll have the premise for a terrific tale.

·         Notice interesting character traits. Maybe you have noticed that your neighbour likes to talk to his plants or that he takes his cat for a walk every morning. This, again, is working with the world around you. Is your sister geeky? Maybe have a geeky character based on her personality. Try thinking about the inner life of this kind of person and see if a story develops.

·         Pay attention to your surroundings. Take a walk or spend some time sitting in a park and observing and see what you can find. Maybe you'll see a bouquet of roses sitting next to a gutter, or a brand-new pair of sneakers on a park bench. How did they get there? Ponder, daydream!

·         Listen to people when they talk. Just one interesting sentence that you hear in passing can inspire you to write an entire story. Maybe you'll hear someone say, "Nobody gets me......" or "My dog likes to torture all the men I date..." Is that enough to start a story? Sure!

2Consider a "What if

.." scenario. This is another great way to start a short story. When you pay attention to the world, you should also pay attention not only to the realities of the world, but to the possibilities of the world. When you do pay attention to a story you hear or an image you see, ask yourself, "But what if it happened like this instead?" or "What would this person do if..." Following this line of thinking can lead you to explore the mysteries that are haunting you.

·         You don't have to know the ending of a story when you start. In fact, not knowing everything about a story before you start writing it will lead you to explore more creative possibilities and will make your story stronger.

·         The "what if" scenario can be practical or completely fantastical. You can ask yourself, "What if my dog started talking to me?" or, "What if the neighbor who fawns over my dog too much kidnapped her one day?"

3Use your experiences

 Though short story writing falls under the category of fiction writing, many short stories are heavily autobiographical. If you're writing about something that actually happened to you or someone you know, then that's considered non-fiction writing, but getting inspired by experiences you actually had and then taking them to a new and fictional level is a great plan for writing a short story, especially if you feel that you have "nothing to write about."

·         Many people say that you should "write what you know." One school of thought is that if you grew up on a farm in Arkansas or if you spent ten years trying to be a painter in Iceland, you should write about those experiences instead of trying to guess what it would be like for someone to grow up in a place you've never been.

·         Some writers say that you should "write what you don't know about what you know." This means that you should start off on familiar territory and then start exploring something that left you feeling curious or that you didn't know much about.

·         If you get too comfortable with writing about things that actually happened, you won't have room for creativity. For example, maybe you had a childhood friend who moved away one day without telling a soul, or maybe you were fascinated by a Ferris-wheel operator as a kid and always wondered what happened to him. Explore this world and then make it up.

4Reflect on a story you heard

 Always be on the lookout for stories that your friends or family members have told that would make great fiction. If your mother or grandmother are always telling you stories about their childhoods, start writing them down. Try to imagine what it was like to grow up in a different time or place and start writing out the possibilities. Don't be put off if you don't know everything about that time period; you can always do your research.

·         When one of your friends says, "You won't believe what happened to me last week..." pay attention. You could have the beginning of a short story right there.

·         The story could come from an unlikely place. Maybe a radio DJ is reminiscing about his childhood in just a few sentences, and you find yourself suddenly fascinated by what his life must have been like.

·         Just be warned: if you get a reputation of a writer who "steals" the stories people tell him and uses them for fiction, then people may be more hesitant to open up to you.

5Get inspired by a setting. 

A story can come from a strong sense of place. By this stage you should know what type of story you are writing. Maybe a sci-fi story could be set in an underground laboratory, or a horror tale in a dilapidated shack. You don't have to get inspired by a breathtaking beach or by your amazing vacation to Venice. Instead, get inspiration from the ordinary. Think about what it was like to spend every summer on your grandmother's apple orchard as a kid; remember what it was like to hang out in your best friend's basement back in high/secondary/grammar school.

·         Writing about the place can lead you to develop interesting characters and conflicts

6Expand a writing exercise. 

Writing exercises have helped a lot of writers develop their creativity, find inspiration in unlikely places, and to force themselves to write when they feel like they have "no ideas." You can start with a daily warm-up writing exercise just for 10-15 minutes to get your mind going, or even write for an hour based on the exercise even if you don't feel inspired at all. Here are some great writing exercises to get you started:^[1]

·         Start a story with the following opening sentence: "I've never told this to anyone before." If your story is not told first person, maybe start it with, "She shut the door. Tears streamed down her face. Had he just deceived her?"

·         Look at a picture of an ordinary barn in a field. Then, describe it from the point of view of someone who has just committed murder. Do this again from the point of view of a girl who has just lost her mother. See how a character's thoughts can influence how he sees the world. Put yourselves in the characters shoes!

·         Just write for 10-15 minutes. Look back at what you've written to fix mistakes.

·         Pick a person in your life who you absolutely dislike. Now, try writing a story from that person's point of view. Try to make the reader sympathize with him as much as possible. Remember-it's your story!

·         Let a character surprise you. Write about a character that you seem to know pretty well, and then let this person do something that completely throws you off guard. See where this takes you. This makes your story more intriguing.

·         The argument. Have two characters arguing about something completely mundane, like who is going to take out the trash, or who will pay for the movie. Make it clear that this argument is really about something bigger and more serious, such as who is going to end the relationship, or who has been giving too much and not getting anything back. Try to let the dialogue do all the work. Don't make it boring though.

·         Body language. Write 500 words that describe two characters who are sitting next to each other. Without using dialogue, let the reader see exactly how these two characters feel about each other.

7Read other short stories. 

If you want to be able to master the short story, then you should read as many short stories as you can. You should read both the classics and the contemporary masters, and use the writing of others to inspire you to write some short stories of your own. Here are some contemporary and classic short stories that can inspire you to write more short stories of your own:

·         Chekhov's "The Lady with the Little Dog"

·         Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado"

·         Ernest Hemingway's "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place"

·         Eudora Welty's "A Worn Path"

·         Raymond Carver's "Cathedral"

·         Isaac Asimov's "The Dead Past"

·         Ray Bradbury's "The Veldt"

·         Tim O'Brien's "The Things They Carried"

·         Alice Munro's "The Beggar Maid"

·         Jamaica Kincaid's "Girl"

·         Joyce Carol Oates' "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

·         Jhumpa Lahiri's "A Temporary Matter"

·         Junot Diaz's "How to Date a Brown Girl, Black Girl, White Girl, or Halfie"

·         Malorie Blackman's "Cloud Busting".

·         Franz Kafka's "The Metamorphosis"

2.   IMPROVING YOUR WRITING SKILLS

1Take writing classes.

 Writing classes are a great way to learn about the skill of writing good books and stories. Find a class focusing on writing generally or within a field of interest to you. Writing stories can come in many forms, from kid's books to even articles in a magazine.

2

Practice describing people, animals, things and landscapes.

 Also practice writing out emotions, feelings and reactions. A good writer knows how to describe all of these in the most creative ways. Try practicing describing things around you.

·         For example, suppose you have purple curtains. What do the curtains look like? What do they remind you of? Where are they located in the room?

·         However, don't be overly descriptive, as too much description can slow down a story. Just try to paint a realistic picture in the reader's mind.

·         3       Focus on how to write a story in a fascinating way.

 No one likes to read something that lacks interest or doesn't spark curiosity. Use unique words. Skim through the dictionary and find words that catch your eye. Or, listen to your favorite show. Be fun, make the reader want more of your work. The goal is to catch the reader's eye, and make them want to read more.

·         4      Be grammatically correct.

 Make sure the reader can understand what you are writing. Talking "like dis" may confuse the reader, and when you are writing a proper book, you want to use more advanced words and avoid the "ye old" typos. However, if your character talks "like dis", keep it all within quotation marks and be true to your character's real speaking and thinking voice.

5Write from the heart.

 If writing is a passion, then share the passion as a genuine storyteller who is immersed in the tale. Write what you like and what you think is good for your story. Learn to write through your heart.

·         Listen to constructive criticism and know when it's helpful to improving your writing skills. Also know when it's just griping or jealousy. You'll grow to know this with practice.

3.                   Developing Your Story

1

Develop your point-of-view. Most short stories are written in first, second, or third-person point-of-view. If you're starting out, you should stick to just one point-of-view. Here are the three points-of-view and how they are used:

·         The first person. The first person is told directly from the perspective of a character who uses "I" to refer to himself. "I've never told anyone this before," is an example of first-person writing. The first person is great if you want to stick closely to a character's thoughts and perspective, but it can be limiting if that character's perspective is too limiting. First-person may be the easiest perspective to use if you're just starting out.

·         The third person. The third person is when you write about a character using "he" or "she" from an outside perspective, such as saying, "He was tired." In the third person, the author can get close to a character's thoughts or can be more distant from the character.

·         The second person. The second person addresses the reader directly as "You." As in, "You are walking into your office." This can be a great technique for grabbing the reader, but it can be a bit overdone.

2

Develop your plot. Every short story should have a plot that grips the reader, leading him to ask what will happen next. This doesn't mean that your story should include a high-speed chase or a murder; your readers can want to know what happens next even if all that's happening is that two people are talking over coffee. Though every short story is different, here are some basic elements of a short story:

·         The rising action/exposition: this typically comes at the beginning of a short story, when readers are introduced to the main characters, the setting, and the central conflict. However, some stories start off right in the middle of the action and make the readers work backward to find out what's really going on.

·         The conflict: the stakes of the story. There has to be something at stake in every story, or the reader won't want to keep reading, no matter how beautiful the language may be. Every story needs conflict or a point of tension; it can be as dramatic as two men fighting over the same women, or a girl wondering if her friend is going to invite her to a party. The nature of the conflict isn't important -- what's important is that the readers have to care what happens.

·         The falling action: the resolution of the story. After the conflict is resolved or discussed, the story has to wrap up. But most short stories don't have neat happy endings or even neat endings at that. Many stories end on a word or image that leaves the reader thinking. If the story is neatly "wrapped up" at the end, then you've removed some of the mystery and allure.

3

Develop your characters. Your story has to have a character or characters that your readers should care about and even root for, even if the characters aren't upstanding citizens or good-natured people. You can characterize your characters through a number of different ways and all of them are valid. Here are a few ways to give your readers a strong sense of your characters:

·         Describe what they say. The perfect line of dialogue can shed insight into a character's intentions -- especially if the dialogue doesn't match what he's thinking.

·         Describe what they do. Does the character get up at six every morning without an alarm, or does he spend hours hitting the "snooze" button before he gets up? Every little action can help build the character, however insignificant it seems at first.

·         Describe what they look like. Does the character dress to the nines when he goes to the supermarket, or smile maniacally during a moment of deep sadness? A character's physical appearance can shed insight into his mental state.

·         Describe how they interact with others. Is your character debilitatingly shy, or so bossy that everyone around him is afraid to open his mouth? Is he nice to waiters because his mother was a waitress, or is he a jerk to all waitresses because a waitress once broke his heart, or just because he feels like it? Seeing a character out in the world can reveal a lot about him.

4

Develop your dialogue. Dialogue marks the words that characters say, which are usually placed inside quotation marks. Dialogue can reveal a lot about a character both from the things that the character says and the things he chooses to not say. You should find dialogue that sounds like it can be spoken by real people instead of sounding too fancy or forced. Read your dialogue aloud to see if it actually sounds like something a person would say.

·         The dialogue between two characters can also shed a lot of insight into their dynamic.

·         Pay attention to what is not said as well. For example, if a little boy is upset that his father missed his baseball game if he doesn't even bring up the game when they next see each other and says, "How was work?" instead, that can reveal a lot about him.

·         Avoid giving your dialogue obtrusive tags, such as saying, "Mary stated..." instead of "Mary said..."

5

Develop your setting. The setting of a short story can be crucial or it can have very little to do with the events that unfold. If your story is set in a generic house that has little to do with the story, then fine. But if a character's mistress breaks into the house that he shares with his wife, then every little detail is important because it can shed light onto the character's relationship with his wife -- and what his mistress thinks about it. Decide how much your setting should matter and develop it accordingly.

·         Even if the setting isn't so crucial to the story, avoid confusing the reader and let him know where the events are taking place, even if it's just a cow town in Illinois or a non-descript high school in the middle of nowhere.

·         The time period can be considered part of the setting. If your story is set in the 1960s, give your reader enough clues, or say it outright, so he doesn't spend half the story thinking it's taking place in the present.

6

Develop your voice. In writing, the voice is the unique way that the words are written that show that they can be written by only you. Your words should have their own quirks, rhythm, and cadence, and no one should be able to duplicate them. In the beginning, it's natural for short story writers to try to imitate their favorite short story writers. But as you move forward as a short story writer, you should find a unique way to express your thoughts and ideas.

·         Voice describes the way the author's words sound, not just the way the words of a character sound. Every word that is put down in a short story contributes to the voice of the author.

7

Avoid the pitfalls of short story writing. Though there are a few guidelines, there are no hard and fast rules about what makes a good short story and what makes a bad short story. Still, you can improve your chances of writing a successful short story by avoiding some of the common mistakes made by short story writers. Here are some things to think about as you move forward with your short story:

·         Avoid "the information dump." Don't tell your reader everything you think he needsto know right when the story starts. If you spend three pages describing the characters and action before anything actually happens, your reader will get weary.

·         Avoid the trick ending. No one likes to read a story only to find out that it was all a dream, or that it was told from the point of view of an alien the whole time. O. Henry was famous for such endings, but by now it's seen as cliché.

·         Keep it simple. You may think that using floral, elevated language to write a short story is the way to go. If you're writing a story about high society life in an ornate castle, then this may be your best bet, but for most concepts, it's best to keep it short and simple.

·         Avoid exposition in dialogue. Narration, non-dialogue, should tell your readers the basic information about the story. Dialogue should be used to provide more information about the characters and their struggles and relationships, but not to give "the facts" of the story. For example, a character should not say, "Sam, though you are twenty years old and this is your second year at Harvard..." because this is something that both characters already know.

·         Keep the stakes of the story clear. Any reader should be able to answer "What's at stake?" while he's reading your story and after he's done. If a reader finishes the story and has no idea what was at stake, then the story has failed.

4.Revising Your Story

1

Set it aside and come back to it. Give your story a break -- even if it's only for a day. Then, read it with new eyes, and try to see it as a reader instead of as a writer. As a reader, which sentences would you find unnecessary or confusing? Which facts would you need to know more about? Which plot points are too obvious or too complicated? Reading your own work with fresh eyes can give you a fresh perspective on what needs to be changed.

·         Sometimes just printing out a story that you've been writing in a Word Document can help you see it from a new perspective.

·         If you really want to improve the story but are completely stumped, try setting it aside for a month or two. You'll be surprised by how much insight you'll gain during this period.

·         Setting your work aside for a little while is a good move, but don't set it aside for so long that you lose interest in it.

2

Get feedback. If you're ready to take your story out into the world, you can share it with a close friend, a fellow writer, an English teacher, or even a group of fellow writers. Make sure you don't ask for an opinion on the story before it's fully formed, or you may feel stifled by the criticism. Joining a writing workshop with like-minded individuals who are seriously committed to good writing can help you gain a new perspective on your own work.

·         For feedback to be helpful, you have to be receptive to it. If you think you've written the most perfect story in the world, then you won't actually hear a word anyone says.

·         Make sure you're giving your story to the right readers. If you're writing science fiction but have handed your story to your writer friend, who has never actually read science fiction before, then you may not get the best feedback.

3

Revise the story using a variety of tricks. There are many different ways to revise a story, and it all depends on what the first draft of your story looks like and how much work you may have left to do. Many stories can take ten or more drafts to get right, so don't get discouraged if you feel like you have to change everything in your story. As you revise your work, here are some things to think about:

·         The need for a change in point-of-view. You may have thought your story worked best in the first person, but on a second read, you may see that the third person would have been better for the story you wanted to tell.

·         Cutting down on the wordiness. A good rule of thumb is to cut 250 words from the story (provided that it's at least ten pages long) after you're convinced you're done. You'd be surprised by how much unnecessary verbiage you may find.

·         Cut down on the confusion. Ask yourself if you would completely understand what was going on if you didn't write the story yourself. Maybe the concepts of the story were crystal-clear to you, but your readers could be utterly confused.

·         Make sure you include feelings, sounds, etc. Feelings make a story alive. After all, what's a story without feelings?

·         Do more research if necessary. If you're writing a story set in the West Village in New York City in the 60s and find that you don't actually know as much as you thought you did about this time period, it'll be time to hit the books to learn enough to write a convincing story about this era.

·         Be persistent. When you get frustrated, remind yourself that no first draft of a story is ever very good -- but that if you write a second, third, and even a fourth draft, that you have the potential to write an amazing short story.