If you have ever written a story you might know these, but how important do you think they really are?
No matter what story you are writing, no matter how long or short it is, there are three key parts to a story. If you are missing one of them your story will be lacking an important ingredient.
Who is who?
Characters – Unless you are writing a non-fictional devotional or how-to type of book, which is not a story, you need characters! The characters might be animals, or talking cars, but you must have something to move the story along or it won’t go anywhere. Characters are what drives the plot forward, they are what connects your readers to the pages and keeps them reading. Without characters you are going to have trouble.
So create characters! Short stories can do with just a few characters, while longer novels have room for unlimited characters. Make your characters live. Make them different. Make them unique.
Establish where it takes place
Setting – I know some readers detest lots of description and so leave it out. Others love it and flood the pages with it. You need a balance. If you don’t have a setting at all, your characters will not be grounded and your reader won’t be able to settle them anywhere. But if you have too much, you can lose your readers (unless they adore descriptions). Finding a balance can be tricky, but consider adding bits of information here and there. No setting or description is like watching a movie with no background. No vehicles to drive, no bushes to hide behind.
Mention the summer sun, or the crunch of leaves underfoot. You character could stop and pull some weeds in her flower garden, or pull his coat closer together against the cold. Mention if they are in a city, or talk about the country road. It may take some practice, but weaving the setting and descriptions in as part of the story will make it a better story.
Set the stage for your characters. Paint a word picture (even if it just a sentence or two) of where you characters are. What do they hear or feel? Use your imagination and take your readers with you so they too can feel the soft breeze, or smell the burnt cookies.
What is going to happen?
Plot – This one is or should be obvious. Every story has a plot. Now it might not be a big plot such as a mystery would be, but even a subtle plot will work. I know some readers have a hard time recognizing the subtle plots, but a story can’t end and resolve without a plot of some kind. It can be Man vs. Man, Man vs. Nature, Man vs. Himself, or some other slight variance of one of them.
Plot and plan. Bring on the action, or just take your readers on a lovely stroll up the hill to gaze at the stars. The plot can be simple and gentle, or it could have your readers on the edge of their seats while they read a quickly as they can! Either way will work.
Do you use all three things in your stories? What is the hardest one of these things for you? Which one is the easiest? Is there anything else you think needs to be in a story?
– Yes. – Setting. 😝 – Characters. – Theme. 😁
This was super fun to read ☺️
🙂 Glad you enjoyed it.
Yes, these are essentials. The easiest for me is characters. They’re always in my head, so much so that I often forget they aren’t real people. I adore elaborate settings. I can see the places vividly. However, I think that may be my weakest point. I can’t put into words the places in my story.
Yep, it can take some practice to get the scene from your head to the paper. Aw, yes, characters are super fun!
I have a hard time NOT making an over abundance of characters XD I’d say I have issues with setting. I need to make sure my characters aren’t floating in nothingness XP
I know, characters are just fun. 🙂
But they have to be grounded.
Characters are the easiest for me, but that results in me sometimes putting in “too many”… setting I see very vividly and that results in me having too many details, or so they say… and my plots are literally like rollercoaster rides instead of ONE ROLLERCOASTER like they say it should be… ;P
Sometimes it takes a bit of sifting to get your style down so you aren’t overwhelming your readers with too much of one thing. Or more than one thing. 😉