Ads
related to: writing a good storyOver 2,000+ Satisfied Authors with 10,000+ Great Books Out There. Get Your Book Listed On Top Publishing Platforms By US Best Book Publishers. Chat Now
We've compiled our best resources so you can take your writing skills to the next level. Your ideas are on the money. Make sure they come across clearly with Grammarly.
We publish your book for distribution to major bookstores and retailers everywhere. Work with a great team and an assigned editor for your book. Submit your manuscript today.
Unlock Your Passion & Discover New Skills With Courses By The World's Greatest Minds. Unique Online Lessons That You Can Take At Your Own Pace. Subscribe To Access 20+ Courses.
Get Deals and Low Prices On how to write your best story ever On Amazon. Read Customer Reviews & Find Best Sellers. Free, Easy Returns On Millions Of Items.
Search results
People also ask
How to write a good short story?
What makes a great story?
How do you start a story?
How do you get ideas for a short story?
- Determine Your Setting. Location is an enormously useful tool in novel-building. You should treat it as you would treat a character, allowing it to convey mood and letting it reveal more of itself over time.
- Make Memorable Characters. Character and event are inseparable, because a person is what happens to them. You might think of this as a distinction from films, where actors are cast into pre-existing roles.
- Understand the 2 Types of Conflict. Every story is made up of both events and characters. A story happens because a pattern is interrupted. If you are writing about a day that is like any other day, it is most likely a routine, not a story.
- Give Your Plot a Twist. Think Like a Pro. In his first-ever online class, best-selling author Dan Brown teaches you his step-by-step process for turning ideas into page-turning novels.
- Overview
- Developing Your Characters and Plot
- Drafting Your Story
- Improving Your Story
- Revising and Finalizing Your Story
- Sample Excerpts
A good story captures your reader’s attention and leaves them wanting more. To craft a good story, you need to be willing to revise your work so that every sentence matters. Start your story by creating memorable characters and outlining a plot. Then, write a first draft from beginning to end. Once you have your first draft, improve it using a few writing strategies. Finally, revise your story to create a final draft. You may need to edit a few times but keep doing so until you enjoy the final product.
Make character sheets and choose a story setting. Then, create a plot outline to guide you through the story-writing process.
Set the scene, introduce the characters, and establish a problem for the characters to solve in the first 2-3 paragraphs.
Fill the middle of the story with action that shows the character (s) working on the problem. Present 2-3 new challenges to keep things interesting.
to find an interesting character or plot.
The spark for your story might come from a character you think would be interesting, an interesting place, or a concept for a plot. Write down your thoughts or
to help you generate ideas. Then, pick one to develop into a story. Here are some inspirations you might use for a story:
An interesting person you saw
Characters are the most essential element of your story. Your reader should relate to your characters, and your characters should be driving your story. Make profiles for your characters by writing their name, personal details, description, traits, habits, desires, and most interesting quirks. Provide as much detail as you can.
Do the sheet for your protagonist first. Then, make character sheets for your other main characters, like the antagonist. Characters are considered main characters if they play a major role in the story, such as influencing your main character or affecting the plot.
Set the scene and introduce your characters in the beginning.
Spend the first 2-3 paragraphs immersing your reader in the setting. First, place your character in the setting. Then, give a basic description of the place, and incorporate details to show the era. Give just enough information for your reader to paint a picture in their mind.
You might start your story like this: “Esther pulled her medical text from the mud, carefully wiping the cover clean on the hem of her dress. The laughing boys sped away on bicycles, leaving her to walk the last mile to the hospital alone. The sun beat down on the rain-soaked landscape, turning the morning’s puddles into a dank afternoon haze. The heat made her want to rest, but she knew her instructor would use tardiness as an excuse to kick her out of the program.”
Introduce a problem in the first few paragraphs.
Begin your story as close to the end as you can.
Your reader doesn’t need to read about every event that leads to the problem your character is dealing with. They only want to see a snapshot of your character’s life. Pick an inciting incident that gets the reader into the plot quickly. This will help you ensure your story doesn’t move too slowly.
For example, starting with Esther walking to the hospital is a better place to start than when she enrolled in medical school. However, it might be even better to start when she arrives at the hospital.
Incorporate dialogue that reveals something about your characters.
Set your story aside for at least a day before revising it.
It’s difficult to revise your story right away because you won’t be able to notice your errors and plot holes yet. Leave it alone for a day or longer so that you can look at it with fresh eyes.
Printing out your story may help you see it from a different perspective, so you might try that when you go back to revise it.
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.
Read your story aloud to listen for areas that need improvement.
When you read your story aloud, you get a different perspective on it. This will help you identify passages that don’t flow well or sentences that sound choppy. Read your story to yourself and make notes where you need to revise it.
I want to give my story to a teacher, but I keep on writing different stories because I've lost interest in that story. What do I do?
Find a writing buddy (someone else who likes to write stories, too). Share your unfinished story with him or her, and get some help figuring out how to finish it. Then, finish it and turn it into your teacher. Even if you don't feel really inspired by it anymore, you'll have completed the story and turned it in.
Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
Thank you for your feedback.
If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission.
If I'm a high school student and still learning English, can I write a story?
May 7, 2024 · There’s no secret formula to writing a short story. However, a good short story will have most or all of the following elements: A protagonist with a certain desire or need. It is essential for the protagonist to want something they don’t have, otherwise they will not drive the story forward. A clear dilemma.
Sep 23, 2022 · Learn how to write a good story in five steps—from coming up with ideas, to outlining, to ending a story, with examples of great stories.
- Lindsay Kramer
Oct 7, 2021 · 1. Start with a character or concept. A strong character or interesting concept: all great stories start with one or the other. Most writers tend to begin with a concept, then build out the story and characters from there. But some writers prefer to start with a distinctive character and shape the story around them.
- 2. Create intrigue with your inciting incident. Once you’ve got your main character, concept, or a bit of both, it’s time to invent an inciting inc...
- 3. Ramp up your story with rising action. Now for the element that will form the bulk of your story: the rising action. This is everything that lea...
- 4. Culminate in a climax. The climax of a story is where all that rising action peaks: the conflict comes to a head, the big twist is revealed, and...
- 5. Strike an ending that satisfies. Post-climax comes the falling action, or denouement — and while it might seem (literally) like an afterthought,...
- 6. Refine in the rewrite. You’ve written out your entire story — congrats! But you’re not out of the woods just yet. No matter how carefully you pl...
Jan 19, 2023 · 1. Write Interesting, Believable Characters. Good stories require relatable characters that readers will remember long after they finish the book. There are a few key things to keep in mind when creating characters that will make your story stand out.
May 9, 2024 · Step 1 – How do you find a short story idea? You can pull ideas from short stories from everywhere. Former short story editor and now-published short story author (with 2 collections), Hannah Lee Kidder says, “The best short story ideas will always come from you yourself.
Ads
related to: writing a good storyOver 2,000+ Satisfied Authors with 10,000+ Great Books Out There. Get Your Book Listed On Top Publishing Platforms By US Best Book Publishers. Chat Now
We've compiled our best resources so you can take your writing skills to the next level. Your ideas are on the money. Make sure they come across clearly with Grammarly.
Unlock Your Passion & Discover New Skills With Courses By The World's Greatest Minds. Unique Online Lessons That You Can Take At Your Own Pace. Subscribe To Access 20+ Courses.
