How to Write a Great Story in 5 Steps
Writing a story
What is a story?
A story is an account of events that includes a setting, theme, plot, conflict, and at least one character.
How does a story work?
A story communicates a theme by telling the reader about a series of events, also known as a narrative.
Within the narrative, a character faces at least one conflict, which often (but doesn’t always) change the
character.
What are the different types of stories?
There are many different kinds of stories. The seven basic plot types are:
Overcoming the monster
Rags to riches
The quest
Voyage and return
Rebirth
Comedy
Tragedy
Storytelling comes naturally to human beings. That’s why stories are all around us. When you talk to your
friends, you tell stories. When you watch movies and read books, you’re watching and reading stories.
When you study history and current events, you’re understanding the world through stories.
1. Why write a story?
We think a better way to phrase that question is: Why not write a story?
You have stories to tell. And whether you consider yourself a storyteller or not, you already tell them. By
learning how to write a story, you can become a stronger communicator and even a better writer in other
areas, like academic and professional writing.
2. What is a story?
A story is, essentially, an account of connected events. These events can be mentioned explicitly or implied.
Take a look at this famous six-word story that’s often attributed (incorrectly) to Ernest Hemingway:
For sale: baby shoes, never worn.
There’s a lot you might infer from this sentence. From the story’s scant clues, you might form ideas about
who’s offering the shoes, why they were never worn, and why the seller is seeking payment for them
rather than passing them along for free. As you make these inferences, you’re putting together a story.
An account of events isn’t always a story, though. To be a story, the following five elements must be
present:
1. Setting
2. Plot
3. Conflict
4. Character
5. Theme
In our six-word example above, the reader is tasked with inferring most of these elements from the few
words provided, like who the characters are and the conflict that led to the baby shoes being placed for
sale. Here’s another example of a piece of flash fiction (that’s only one letter long!):
“Cosmic Report Card: Earth,” by Forrest J. Ackerman: F.
