Don’t we love stories?
I certainly hope so.
Now this is a story(not that kind of story you know what I meant)I wrote on here way back when. As the title implies this is indeed a rewrite. You may be wondering why?
I re-read that story a few days ago and…oh boy.
I couldn’t stand it. It felt so vague and cookie cutter and I couldn’t help but laugh at it.
I know that most of us look back at ourselves and go: “What was I thinking?” and just move on with our lives. I know that’s a common thing. However I feel like since I wrote that I’ve developed my….ability to express and my ideas of what makes a good story has also developed alongside it.
It’s a topic I’m still incredibly fond of talking about so I didn’t just want to delete it and move on. I wanted to take another shot at it. And here we are.
With all that said what do I think makes a story…compelling?
There’s a couple of things.
Also keep in mind this is way less beginner friendly than other things you may read regarding this topic. I feel there’s enough essays and other things you can read that are MORE beginner friendly. So I don’t want to repeat the same ground as many before me.
Also this isn’t a “Must Do” List.
This is simply What I think makes up a good story and some of the things enjoy in a story. Feel free to open my mind to more things that YOU enjoy in a story.
Let’s get into it.
Character Progression
I think that image sums the entire point of what I’m trying to say
(Source: Khan Academy)
I enjoy a story where a character gradually grows, develops or changes.
Characters should feel as Human as possible in order to make them more relatable and hence give people a greater reason to connect with them.
With a character arc it’s fairly easy. Now it doesn’t always have to be a person starting out bad and becoming good. In the case of a villain it could be the complete opposite.
It’s also important to keep it subtle in my opinion. You don’t have to shove in the audience’s face as it will make it substantially more artifical.
It’s also important to keep it natural. The change shouldn’t be so sudden and fake, but also not SO slow that you may miss it.
I think the above image and character they chose as a example are pretty fitting.
Morality at Grey in intervals.
Go ahead and call me downer(I don’t really care) but I find a insane amount of interest in character who are morally grey or make choices that we can’t quite say are right or wrong.
I think Characters been more than One dimensional good or bad guys is essential to keep a story….interesting. Imagine if Joel from the last of us was just a ordinary good guy and ended up sacrificing ellie to save humanity?
That’s rather predictable….and in a story Predictability is something you have to keep to a minimum in stories as it ruins things for the audience.
Growing up we are told that the world is divided into two. Good people and Bad people.
However it isn’t quite the case. There is a third color we aren’t told as much. Grey.
Characters like these also usually make choices that leads to discussion something I feel keeps a story alive rather than something you forget 5 minutes after you read a story.
Not all stories must have these but I think its fun to put some of them in. To keep these interesting you know.
Ample World Building
You want your world to feel….real. Don’t you?
One of the main things A story has to constitute is proper and gradual world building. What does this mean exactly?
Well in simple worlds your world has to feel….like its been lived in. It should have a sense of history and believability to it.
Take for example Harry Potter.
What makes so interesting?
That’s right…the magical world that J.K Rowling created and breathed life onto for us to love. Filled with magical beasts, good guys, bad guys and more spells than we can count.
Imagine instead if the Harry potter world we all know didn’t all those. Wouldn’t it feel….fake and synthetic? The harry potter books provide so much context and history to its world that events that aren’t even relevant to the plot can be quite easily deciphered and turned into a book of its own. Each character can get THEIR own series as well. Because the world is so well developed and characterized that it truly feels…..Real.
Here’s a quote from Zack Snyder, maker of the global phenomenon Zack Snyder’s Justice League, regarding world building to help you catch up.
“I want to…we’re working toward the Justice League, and I really want to create the…part of the thing I really want to create is the possibility of a world where they could exist together.”
Steadily Built Up Conflict.
There’s almost nothing to a story if there is no goal to achieve.
If the characters have nothing to do in a story then what is the point of the story?
I’ll tell you what…nothing.
However a goal cannot be simply achieved now can it? That’s not how the real world works I’m afraid.
So of course there has to be natural conflict that poses an obstacle(s) that our protagonist has to overcome in order to succeed.
You might have noticed a theme with this essay. And that’s gradual build up.
Conflicts shouldn’t be so sudden and abrupt. They should be well developed and fully utilized. It should also fit well in the plot of the story.
Now when we think of “CONFLICT” the first thing that springs up in our mind is A Antagonist or a villain. All the traits of a primary conflict should always be present in the Villain as well as a understandable motivation that also affects or challenges the Protagonist’s ideas or beliefs.
You can’t just have a conflict that rises up from nowhere and has no relation with the plot aside from being….THE conflict.
“Have it mean something like the characters you write the story around”
