What does it take to have the perfect story? Has anyone ever even written the perfect story? Does a perfect Story even exist? Together as writers though It feels like all of our goals are the same. We are all out to write that perfect story. Some get close, some not so close, but still we all struggle to be the one who does that. What exactly does it take to get the perfect story? What are the steps you need to follow? Here are seven things you need to know to write a ‘perfect’ story.
First you need to Understand your story.
A story is written with a middle, beginning and end as every good English teacher had taught you; so you as a writer need to understand where the story will start, go, and end. This is the step that is hard for writers because when you get the bug and you want to spew those words out onto the paper, sometimes you don’t feel the need to go and plan the middle of your story. Not all writers plan their stories and that’s alright too, but all good authors understand the beginning, middle, and end concept. You will not find a decently written story without this. So do whatever you need to do to understand every little aspects of your characters story.
Choose Your Plot
Every story has been written, let’s face it. There's nothing that hasn’t been done in a world so large. Writing is a magical thing though where if you try and do it your way, every little piece will be different. It’s a beautiful thing that happens and only YOU can create what you are going to create. Nobody else can read your mind, so though the plot may have already been done, put your twist on it. Just get out there and pick one.
Choose Your Hero
This could be a main character, maybe it’s even a backup character. Every story has a hero though and somebody who is always there to save the day, whether it’s a best friend with a shoulder to cry on or a literal superhero. You need to pick on and figure out how you would like your hero to be portrayed.
Choose Your Characters
Other than the hero there are other characters that need to be included in your story. I mean it’s been done, but it’s hard to write a story with literally only one character. So Unless that is the style you are going for you need to have surrounding characters to help the plot. Have some fun with this, but remember to keep them consistent throughout the story.
Observe The Rule Of Threes
Stories usually work out the best when there is only three. Three pigs, three goats, three bears, thee friends. Three is the magic number when writing a story. Leaves you with a main character with whom you can focus and plenty of backup for those sticky situations your characters might find themselves in. Look around you, many things work best with the rule of threes.
Choose Your Media
As I assume most of you here reading this are writers. If not most, maybe all of you. There are other ways to share our stories. Movies, films, books, pictures, plenty of things one can do to get what they want to say out there. You should explore. Though we all know writing is one of the most fun.
Observe the golden rule
“Don't give people 4, give them 2 + 2.” - Andrew Stanton.
You want to show your readers only what they need to know. You want your characters to figure out on their own as they are the ones that need to grow. If you ruin the plot on page one, why is someone going to read your book. Make them add things up and interact with the characters in their mind.
With these tools you will be on a good path to writing your very own perfect story. So whatever you do, get out there and write, it may not be the perfect story, but is there really any such thing?
Written by: Brittani
