How To Write A Story In A Natural Way

Writing a story takes skills that can be learned to get better at it. Writing a good story can be hard for some writers.

Ever wonder how film outfits like Pixar come out with great movies on a regular basis? A Pixar film takes six years to develop and a majority of that time is spent on developing the storyline.

There are ways to learn how to write a story in a natural way. Mastering these tips can help you write good stories.

Joe Bunting of The Write Practice shares with us what he has learned in the past few years on how to write a good story. These tips are a summary of what Joe learned after reading books, blogs, attending classes, interviewing authors and writing stories.

Write-In One Sitting
If you are writing a short story, you should finish it in one sitting. For a novel, three months would be the ideal timetable.

The first step is to know what story you want to tell. Once you discover your story you can now make the plot and outline.

Develop your Lead Character
Stories are all about the protagonist, having a good one will always lead to a great story. One of the vital ingredients for every lead character is making decisions. A good story revolves around how your protagonist gets into a conflict and eventually works his way out of it.

A good protagonist develops well with a good antagonist. You can also add a sidekick character who acts as the best friend who never leaves the protagonist’s side.

Create Suspense and Drama
To make your story exciting, there should be suspense. Put your protagonist’s fate in doubt, leaving readers in suspense and thinking how things will turn out in the end.

You need to control the flow of information to add to the drama, moreover, don’t leak the ending. You can give some clues here and there until the climax of the story.

When the big scene finally arrives, you must show the scene and not tell. Being the best part of the story, readers expect details on how things play out, don’t just tell your readers that things worked out.

Write Good Dialogue
Good dialogue is a result of knowing your characters and a ton of rewriting. Every character needs to have a unique voice, they should sound differently. The dialogue should show these differences, if you can’t distinguish one character from another then you have much rewriting to do.

Keep your speaker tags to the simple “he said” and “she said.” Tags like “he announced” or “she exclaimed” are distracting to readers and not necessary.

Include Death In Your Plot
Good stories involve some of the lead characters dying. The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings and The Avengers have main characters who died. Don’t be afraid to include death in your plot, even if one of your main characters need to go six feet under.

Edit Your Work Like A Pro
Most professional writers have three drafts of a story. The first is not that good and needs much work to improve it.

The second draft is meant for changes and making the plot clear. This is not meant for polishing yet.

The third draft is the one meant for deep polishing. Everything is now clear regarding plot and character development. All you need now is adding the finishing touches.

Don’t Be Afraid To Break The Rules
Good writers know the rules and choose to follow them. The great writers are not afraid to go against the rules. If your story is that unique then a whole new set of rules is required.

Defeat Writers Block And Share Your Story
The best way to beat the so-called writer’s block is by writing. Even if you don’t write well and you are stuck, just continue to write.

Sharing your story by joining a writing contest is a good idea. The theme will cause you to be creative and the deadlines will make you work harder. The prize is a bonus that will encourage you to keep going, winning is icing on the cake.