Robert McKee, known as “The Story Theorist,” stated, “A story is a series of acts that build to a last-act climax or a meaningful and fulfilling resolution.” This emphasizes that stories follow a structured progression that leads to a significant conclusion.
Similarly, Lisa Cron, a story coach and author of “Wired for Story,” noted, “A story is how what happens affects someone who is trying to achieve a difficult goal and how they change as a result.” This highlights that a strong story centers on character development, challenges, and transformation.
So, a story is a structured narrative that describes a sequence of events—whether real or imaginary—to entertain, inform, or provoke thought in the audience. It typically includes characters, a setting, a plot, a conflict, and a resolution. Stories can be conveyed through various forms, including novels, short stories, plays, movies, folktales, and even oral storytelling.
The fundamentals of writing stories
1. Idea:
To write a story, you first need an idea. Story materials are spread everywhere. From there, you have to choose an idea that you can use to write a story. This idea suddenly pops into the canvas of the mind. That is why it is necessary to always have a notebook with you. When an idea comes to mind, you should write it down immediately. Again, any incident or scene that happens in front of your eyes can be the inspiration for a story.
Experience is also a great supplier of ideas. Science fiction grandmaster Isaac Asimov got many story ideas from experience. All great stories come from the experience of great writers. Therefore, going beyond experience or writing with little experience can often hinder good writing.
2. The main structure of the story:
First, you need to know how the main structure of the story will be. Because the idea has to be transformed into a story in a suitable structure, which has a beginning. This beginning will have the idea of place, time, and character. Then comes the sequence of events, through which the story will continue to progress. It will start moving towards its conclusion. Finally, there will be a beautiful, joyful conclusion or a sad ending. To bring variety to the writing, the story must use pithy dialogue. This dialogue must be used skillfully.
3. Find a character or start with someone close to you:
You need to decide in advance what you will write about and who you will write about. If you can’t find anything like that or if the hero or heroine of the story doesn’t resonate with you, then choose someone close to you who has attracted your attention and the attention of others in some way. Their behavior, mannerisms, and above all, their various rules can be the subject of your story. Start writing about them.
4. Know the characters of the story:
Determine the characters of the story in such a way that each of the main characters is realistic. Only then will the story be believable, and the reader will be able to identify with them easily. It isn’t easy to portray real people in a story in an attractive way. However, the reader desires both credibility and an attractive personality. To solve this issue, the writer needs to know all the aspects of their possible character. For example, name, address, surname, appearance, complexion, and nature. Each character can have a different nature. For example—angry or calm, polite or rude, restless or calm. What is their favorite color, what kind of clothes do they feel comfortable wearing, and what kind of food are they used to eating? What is their manner of speaking? Is there any regional accent in their speech? If someone has any flaws, they should also be highlighted. Not emotional. Smoker or any other addiction. The way of speaking, any weaknesses or flaws in the character. These should be highlighted through writing or description, with the ingenuity of language. The reader does not want a perfect character in the story. Again, the language should be used with care so that there are not too many weaknesses. All these are essential to make the story interesting and credible. The elaboration of the narrative is the subject of the story or novel. Therefore, wherever necessary, it should be used very precisely.
5. The scope of the story will be limited:
It should be kept in mind that the story will have one plot and a few characters. The events will unfold over a few days. If necessary, it should be limited to a few hours. If more than one plot or more characters are included in the story, it will not have a story but will turn into a novel. In that case, it would be better to describe it as a novel.
6. Narration of the story:
Three types of narrative stories are written—the main character or a character in the story is the narrator of his own story. That is, he narrates from his own presence. The middle character, that is, the narrator, plays the role of the viewer or listener, and the reader takes on the role of the narrator. Here the writer narrates the story from a neutral distance. The reader thinks that the narrator of the story is an unknown person. That is, it will seem like someone from behind is narrating the story.
It is important to note here that the number of stories written in the middle person is limited. And in a story written in the first person, i.e., narrated from the present, it is advisable to write as much as possible for the character of the story to know. This limits the narrative. On the other hand, if the narrator is in the first person, i.e., the narrator, the scope of the narrative increases a little. Here the writer gets some extra freedom. Because it will seem very natural to the reader that the unknown narrator knows more. Here the writer can resort to a little trick if he wishes. In that case, he can combine the descriptions of the first person and the first person in the narrative of the story.
7. Preparation:
Before writing a story, you need to plan out what you will write about and why you will write it. That is, how to start, how it will develop, and how to end the story step by step. If you want to plan out these steps in your mind, you can write down the points in a serial form before you start so you don’t have to worry about any extra hassle.
8. Beginning of writing:
Actually, writing about any subject is easy, but the most difficult thing is to start writing. Once you start, it becomes much easier. And the first sentence should be thoughtfully started and should contain some things that will make the reader interested in reading the entire text. The reader will read the rest of the story for this short introductory sentence.Sometimes the beginning can be dramatic. And this beginning will be sudden. It will be clear if we give a few examples:
- Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (1851)
“Call me Ishmael.”
This simple yet enigmatic opening line immediately establishes a personal, almost confessional tone. It makes the reader curious: who is Ishmael, and why should we care about his story? Soon, we are drawn into a whaling voyage filled with themes of obsession and doom.
- 1984 by George Orwell (1949)
“It was a bright, cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.”
This striking image of a world where clocks defy convention immediately unsettles the reader. This seemingly minor detail signals that we are entering a dystopian nightmare where even time has been manipulated by a totalitarian regime.
In addition to the words each character utters in response to a word during a conversation, recording what the character is thinking also adds aesthetic value to the writing. That is, the inner conversations should be highlighted, and if they can be expressed in the regional language, it will also give pleasure to the reader and will be considered a pleasant text.
9. Ending:
‘Even though it’s over, it’s not over’ is how the ending should be. There will be a sense of dissatisfaction in the last sentence. Sometimes it can end dramatically; sometimes it can end abruptly, as if the mind is shocked by the shock of that abruptness.
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (1861)
Dickens originally wrote a bleak ending in which Pip and Estella part ways forever. However, he later revised it to suggest that they might end up together. This ambiguity leaves readers uncertain about their fate. The revision seems more like an attempt to meet expectations than a natural conclusion.
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006)
After following the harrowing survival journey of a father and son in a post-apocalyptic world, the father dies, and the son is taken in by a mysterious group. While some readers find this hopeful, others feel that the sudden shift leaves too many questions about the boy’s future.
10. Editing:
Remember, whatever the story, novel, or poem, whatever it is, it is important to edit it after writing. Spelling, language, verbs, and punctuation must all be corrected. The more times a piece of writing is read, the better, purer, and smoother it will be. It is known that professional writers in the West write the same piece of writing at least three times. They consider the first draft to be immature, which they do not even let anyone see. They think it is just to create the idea of their story. The second time they correct the errors in the story, polish the characters or decide on the correct presentation strategy of the main point and remove any inconsistencies. The third time they finalize it for publication.
