1.
Want to Write a Story? Here’s How to Get
Started.
Knowing how to write a good story is a powerful skill. The human mind is drawn to
stories. Recite a laundry list of events from your day at work and our eyes glaze over.
But tell us how the copier jammed and you heroically saved the day with some duct
tape and a paper clip? We’re riveted.
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you from misspellings, grammatical and punctuation mistakes, and other writing
issues on all your favorite websites.
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Where to Find Story Writing Ideas
Every novelist or short story writer has heard the question many times:
The answer is always the same: from everywhere. Many aspiring
writers believe they need to wait for a sudden flash of inspiration, but generating
ideas is more of a process than an epiphany.
Pay attention.
Karen Hertzberg
Updated on
May 6, 2018
HOW TO
“Where do
you get your ideas?”
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2.
Pay attention to what’s going on around you. Those snippets of you
overheard at dinner, the car you witnessed going the wrong way down the freeway
during rush hour, the elderly man trudging down a dark alley calling the name
Maryanne repeatedly, all could spark a story. Although some of the events you
describe may be extraordinary, they don’t have to be. They just have to be interesting.
Here’s a tip: Grammarly runs on powerful algorithms developed by the world’s leading
linguists, and it can save you from misspellings, hundreds of types of grammatical and
punctuation mistakes, and words that are spelled right but used in the wrong context.
Jot things down.
Make a habit of noticing what’s going on around you, from the exciting to the
mundane, by writing things down as they catch your attention. Use your phone’s
note-taking app to capture moments. If you’re old school, keep a small notebook or
some index cards. The act of writing things down will remind you to focus and be in
the moment. The best writers are keen observers.
Ask “What if?”
Events aren’t stories. But events can germinate stories when the writer plants the
seeds by asking questions. One of the primary questions to get a story started is
“what if?” What if the car you witnessed heading the wrong way down the freeway at
rush hour was driven by a pregnant woman in labor who needed the fastest route to
the hospital? What if the man calling out in the dark alley was a widower whose
deceased wife was named Maryanne?
Creating a Story Framework
Stories are not just sequences of events—they have to go somewhere. Any good
story begins with a character who wants something. The story describes the
character’s journey toward getting what he or she wants . . . or not. (Stories don’t
have to have happy endings, only satisfying ones.)
Keep your character’s struggle to get something he desperately wants in mind as you
build your story framework by answering these questions.
Who is my main character? What is he like in his ordinary life?
What does he want? Is there an extraordinary event that calls him to action?
What is he willing to do to get what he wants?
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3.
How do the character’s flaws prevent him from achieving his goal?
What obstacles, internal or external, thwart him?
Does he finally overcome the obstacles or is he unable to succeed?
How is the character changed as a result of the struggle?
The Fundamentals of Plot
You may have learned the basics of story structure in beginning composition class,
but here’s a refresher. The story must have a beginning, middle, and end. The
character follows a path called the story arc. It begins with an event that sets the
wheels in motion. That’s followed by rising action, which means that every step in the
story’s progression raises the stakes just a bit, increasing the conflict and tension.
Then, the story reaches a climactic turning point. For better or worse, from here
forward your character will be changed as a result of his journey through the events.
The final piece is the end, or denouement, which wraps the story up in a satisfying
way and solidifies both its outcome and its theme.
Here’s a tip: The term denouement refers to the story resolution that happens after the
climactic event. It comes from the mid-18th-century French word dénouer, which
translates to “unknot.”
Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats compiled some about
storytelling in a series of tweets. She advises that you should dig into the process of
plotting the character’s story with this simple template:
You can keep repeating “Because of that, ____” for as long as necessary to get to
“Until finally ____.” But keep in mind that a plot should have rising action. If it helps,
Write the Future | Grammarly - The DeclarationWrite the Future | Grammarly - The Declaration
excellent advice
Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that,
___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.
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4.
think “Because of that, ____, which made things more complicated.”
How to Write a Story: Four Valuable Tips
Now that you understand the framework for writing a story, these tips will help you
make it great.
1. Where is your story taking place?
The details may be just for atmosphere (a bookstore where two people meet and
begin a whirlwind romance), or they can play a major role (a mountaintop from which
a volcanologist is trying to escape because the volcano he’s been studying has
suddenly roared to life).
2. Your character can’t be perfect.
Perfect people don’t exist, and if they did, they’d be interminably dull. Give your
character flaws that will both help us relate to her as a human being and increase the
story’s tension as the conflict builds.
3. Your character has to feel some discomfort.
His struggles are what make him relatable. Whatever he’s competent at, throw the
opposite at him. If he’s a cocky rock guitarist with a skyrocketing career trajectory,
make his arrogance the cause of an accident that injures his hand, causing
permanent damage. How will he react? How will he change? The answer is your story.
4. Whatever you’re working on, finish it.
Get a first draft on paper. Only when you’ve written from beginning to end can you
begin the work of . When you’ve tweaked the story for plot and
substance, you can use to help you fine-tune.
Grammarly
@Grammarly
These tedious adjectives have got to go. #cleanwriting
grmly.co/gp
22 12:01 AM - Apr 12, 2018
See Grammarly's other Tweets
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5.
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