What Makes a Good Story?

Hello, fellow writers! If you're reading this, you are most likely a writer, and probably a young writer, like me. Maybe you want to publish a story someday, but you're not sure what makes a story sell. Well, I'm afraid I don't know what makes stories sell, either, but like you, I love to read. Writers can gather valuable lessons from reading good stories. So, based on your reading, what makes a story good? In my decade-plus of reading, here are four traits that all my favorite stories have had in common:

1. Entertaining

This might seem obvious: A story should entertain. But what makes a story fun to read? Many elements factor into a reader's enjoyment of a story (including a heaping helping of subjectivity), but two key pieces of the puzzle are the premise and the characters.

The premise is what the story is about. For example, The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall is about four sisters who go on vacation in the mountains and befriend a kind boy who has a domineering mother. The Hobbit is about a very ordinary hobbit who is recruited by thirteen dwarves and a wizard to steal back treasure from a dragon. My current work in progress is about a spy whose kingdom is overthrown and she must help restore it. Premise is, in essence, character + interesting circumstance + conflict. (The interesting circumstance may be part of the character--e.g., she's a spy--or part of the conflict--e.g., stealing from a dragon.) What is your story's premise? Will it entertain the reader? In other words, is it something they can't get for themselves, in real life or in other stories?

The second part is the characters, which take less time to explain. Are they interesting people? Are they unique? Think of Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables by LM Mongomery, or Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III from How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell, or any other number of characters from your favorite stories. The authors clearly spent a lot of time developing their characters' fears, flaws, desires, backstories, and quirks. If you create vivid, relatable characters, readers will enjoy your story.

2. Engaging

What's the difference between "entertaining" and "engaging"? Well, entertainment is the sheer fun of your story--what draws the reader in. But engagement is what keeps them reading. This can come in the form of cliffhangers, high-stakes conflict, or a story engine.

A story engine is a question that remains unanswered until the end of the book. You never ask this questions outright, but it exists in the reader's mind and creates tension. Three common story engines are "Will they survive?" (as seen in many adventure stories), the classic "Whodunnit?" (of murder-mystery fame) and the "How?" (which crops up in stories where you know good will triumph--the mystery is in the method). Keep the reader wondering from beginning to end, and they will finish your story--maybe even re-read it.

3. Relatable

We touched on this when we discussed the entertainment value of characters, but relatability is such an important element of story that it deserves its own explanation. The relatability of a story relies not just on the humanity of the characters (even if they're not human), but on the emotions your story inspires in the reader. Great stories make the reader cry, laugh, or throw things. Great stories are a source of courage. They help us expand our hearts with compassion. They fill us with burning anger against evil. They bring us peace. Your story's relatability is its emotional component. Look once again to your favorite stories for examples: Did Mary Shelley's Frankenstein fill you with regret? Does Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson give you nostalgic feelings about your own childhood home? Do you feel joy and sorrow with Kate DiCamillo's characters? Study these stories. Besides the humanity of the characters, what about the story makes you feel so strongly? Likely, the emotional effect is tied to the theme.

4. Thoughtworthy

Now that we've looked at the emotional aspect of story, let's investigate how a good story makes you think. When you finish a story, there should be lingering questions in your mind--not to do with plot, but with real-world issues. Matters of right and wrong, for example, and the age-old question of how we should live our lives. Is it better to fight tooth-and-nail against evil while we live, or to peacefully wait for all to be made right in the end? The story may not provide cut-and-dry answers, but that's a feature and not a bug. We grow as readers and as people when we find the answers for ourselves.

Some of this has to with genre: Some stories are written for the sole purpose of raising awareness about an issue. Dystopian stories such as George Orwell's 1984, or supposedly-utopian stories such as The Giver by Lois Lowry, warn about dangerous paths society should not follow. Satires, such as Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, or even videos posted by the comedic political commentators on YouTube, use irony or ridicule to guide us away from erroneous conclusions about our culture and current events.

But genre--the intent with which a story is written--is only partially responsible. Theme is your most valuable tool if you want to make your readers think. Ask yourself, as you plan your story: What are some of the naturally occurring themes in your story? For example, one of your characters may start evil and become good--that's a redemption arc, and redemption is a beautiful, powerful theme: Nothing is so broken that it can't find a place among the good, the useful, and the true. Or perhaps your misfit characters find family in their new friendships--the accompanying message, "Family is not always found in blood," already exists in your story. You can highlight these themes and use them to your advantage. Or, if you know what to say but not how to show it, imagine real life examples of your theme at work: good vs evil, Christian compassion, or mercy, for example. We see small examples of these concepts in our lives every day, in the actions of those around us. Lift these from real life and set them in your story, and readers will recognize familiar themes, even if you don't shout your message from the rooftops.

TL;DR The four aspects of a good story are entertainment, engagement, the emotional component, and the mental component. When these elements are present, we think, we feel, and we read on with joy.