What Makes a Story Good?

How to write a truly good story.

One of the biggest questions often asked in creative writing workshops is: What makes a story good? The answer, it turns out, is surprisingly simple.

The Secret to Good Story Writing

Many beginner writers think what makes a story interesting is the action. Think: Bombs going off, car chases, bar fights, etc. But this is not the case.

Take “On Noise” by Seneca as an example (it’s okay if you haven’t read it). If Seneca wrote “On Noise” with pure action, people would only read about the things in his essay that make noise–a man working out, a musician tuning an instrument, a carpenter, etc. But would that have made a good story? Of course not. People would read through Seneca’s list and descriptions of all those noise-makers and think: so what?

Instead, Seneca includes his reaction to the noise around him, how it affects him, what he thinks about silence, etc. Instead of focusing on all that external brouhaha, he focuses on the internal. At first glance, Seneca’s essay is about noise in general, but readers care because of his second, deeper layer: How people can’t find peace even in perfect quiet because of their inner turmoil. Seneca is focusing on what it means to be human.

And that is the secret to making a story good.

What Does it Mean to be Human?

In Poetics, Aristotle wrote, “The cause of this again is, that to learn gives the liveliest pleasure, not only to philosophers but to men in general; whose capacity, however, of learning is more limited. Thus the reason why men enjoy seeing a likeness is, that in contemplating it they find themselves learning or inferring, and saying perhaps, ‘Ah, that is he.’”

What Aristotle meant by this is most people don’t read (or watch TV or movies, for that matter) just for the action. People read to learn about themselves as humans. The best stories reach through to a more significant, more profound meaning. The best stories focus on what it means to be a human.

This is not to say that you can't write about that crazy thing that happened to you. But for it to be interesting, for it to be “good,” for people to care, you have to add in how it affected you as a human. You have to add those elements of internal thought that bring readers through to a deeper meaning. You might be writing about that time your partner left you, but you have to tell us how it impacted you as a person. You have to make the actual subject the human condition.

Practice Writing

Try this exercise creative writing workshop instructors like to practice in class: Write one paragraph that is only external action. Talk about what you’re doing in a room or what happened to you yesterday.

Next, write one paragraph that is all internal action. Describe in detail how you look at the lamp on your desk or how what happened to you yesterday affected you as a person.

Now, read both paragraphs aloud to someone and see which one they like better. Chances are, it will be the internal action they find most compelling.

This is because readers don’t care that your basketball team beat your rivals 40-0 in that last game; they care about your unique and distinct perspective of the world. And you do have a unique and distinct perspective of the world. Tell us about it.

Tell us how we can view the world differently.

If you have questions or comments, I’d love to hear them. Send me a message or find me on social media.