How to write a great story and become a successful writer

One powerful stroke of his sharpened machete severed the head cleanly, warm blood gushed out of severed arteries flowing into a blood-filled trench, running across the eastern wall of the abattoir.

He was used to the sound of death, the loud bawling of dying beasts as they kicked and thrust and gasped one last time, desperately trying to clutch to life, clawing to hold on to the essence of life forced out of their bodies by a heart still beating, unknowingly throbbing to its death.

His white overalls had once been white, but they were now crimson red. More fresh blood spluttered to cover new patches that had once been white.

His bearded face, unshaven and wrinkled with age, was creased in concentration, death even the death of an animal smelled of raw blood, of gore, and of wrenched guts. But he was used to it the rusty smell of iron mixed with gore that pervaded his pores.

He had a noble calling, a calling like no other. It was steeped in blood and carried a prideful title. He wore his title with pride. He was a purveyor of death to cows, a transformer of cow carcasses into steak.

He was a master butcher and he was loved or hated in the same measure but he didn’t care ….

The power of a gripping story

What you’ve just read is the opening lines of a story that could go anywhere, carry any message, express any feelings, stir up all kinds of emotions. For instance, I could talk about animal cruelty, the benefits of eating steak, or the health problems that come with eating too much steak.

Then I could be an advocate, advocating for organic-fed ranch-raised steers, or an industry critic advocating for laboratory-grown steak. Whatever I choose to do with the story will get you hooked as long as I keep weaving the story into the narrative.

That’s the power of storytelling. In his essay “The Science of Storytelling: What Listening to a Story Does to Our Brains”, storyteller Leo Widrich notes that when we hear a story, “not only are the language processing parts in our brain activated, but every area in our brain used when experiencing events in the story are activated too.”

We become immersed as every sensory in our sensory cortex is engaged. Action words like “…One powerful stroke of his sharpened machete severed the head cleanly….” engage our motor cortex. We see, feel and experience the story, therefore, becoming more connected to the message.

The science behind the story

Neuroscientists observe that when we listen to a good story — rich in detail, full of metaphor, and expressive of character — we tend to imagine ourselves in the same situation.

Princeton neuroscientist Uri Hasson observed that “a story is the only way to activate parts in the brain so that a listener turns the story into their own idea and experience.”

Lisa Cron, in Wired for Story, advocates sharing stories in business settings. She says, “Stories allow us to simulate intense experiences without having to actually live through them. Stories allow us to experience the world before we actually have to experience it.”

Harvard Psychologists Lani Peterson, Psy.D. a professional storyteller in her article The Science Behind The Art Of Storytelling notes:

“By sharing and listening to each other’s stories, we all get a little bit closer to what’s true.”

Ultimately, storytelling is about the exchange of ideas, about growth — and that’s learning.” She further observes that “Storytelling is essential if you’re trying to engage, influence, teach, or inspire others, you should be telling or listening to a story, and encouraging others to tell a story with you.”

The magic behind a good story

Everyone can tell a good story, but not many writers can write a good story. Think of campfire stories, scary and hauntingly fearful, they increased your heart rate, and gave you goosebumps, as the hair on your neck stood on end. Writing a good story does the same. It pulls the reader in, making him/her part of the action, they will remember the story long after data and facts have been forgotten.

Writers have the garb of the word, they are the only people who can tap into their imagination, create a make-believe world, create imaginary characters and events, twist emotions, start a protest, and entertain their readers all in the same breath.

We eagerly clutch at the ‘realities’ created by talented writers drench ourselves in their worlds, merge our desires, hopes, despairs, and aspirations with the characters they have created, and live a second life just by reading their books.

If you have ever read a passage of prose and experienced the hairs of your arms tingling, your blood racing, and your heart pounding, and suddenly you’re swept up in the experience of the moment, then you know beautiful writing.

How to Write a beautiful story

So how do you write a beautiful story?

This part takes me back to my creative writing professor, a gangly, wispy passionate storyteller whose once strands of blond hair now gone grey stood scattered over his head like lonely sentries. He would bend over the board in his ill-fitting brown suit, scribbling passionately and imploring;

“There are seven elements to every story,” his croaky voice would implore “every creative writer must be a maestro at artfully stringing them together”

He would pause his eyes sweeping over his protégés, his fingers twirling the blue mark pen;

“Creative writers are maestros — conductors of an orchestra!” he would repeat his voice distantly mysterious. “You have these seven elements to play beautiful music!” he would thunder in a crescendo.

1. Plot

The first element is the Plot:

Every good story has a seat-gripping, nail-biting, sweat-breaking powerful plot.

And, it’s simple and easy to follow, a convoluted plot will lose your reader. Your plot can start in ancient times and transcend into 2050, but you must keep it simple.

Jump over decades and weave together the present, the past, and the future, all you want but remember to keep it SIMPLE! Your reader must follow what’s happening.

2. Character

The second element is Character:

Actually many characters. Create believable authentic characters, they carry your story.

They define every event, respond, to every conflict live through every trauma, trial and tribulation. They bleed, cry, and hurt, even as they breathe life, defy death, and surmount insurmountable hurdles.

Every character of your story, the protagonist, the antagonist, the secondary and tertiary characters should be alive — breathing, spitting, shitting, sweating, smacking, and sauntering all over your pages.

3. Point of View(POV)

The third element is the POV

My professor couldn’t emphasize enough, why your point of view matters — He would say your POV will dispel or turn your readers into raging fanatics, willing to howl their heads off in the streets, just because you led them through searing barbs of pain, prejudice, disdain, and injustice.

You have five points of view:

First Person, First Person Peripheral (“I”), Second Person (“You”), Third Person Limited (“He/She/They”), and Third Person Omniscient (“He/She/They”)

No one is stopping you from switching to a POV that has the greatest impact on the reader. You can run through all five of them, to wring out the right emotions from your reader.

4. Setting

The fourth element is the setting:

Characters are defined by their setting. Your characters come from somewhere, your story takes place in these settings.

The relationship between your characters and their setting influences the story’s pace, plot, conflict, theme, dialogue, and action.

Setting builds symbolism, a slender African boy living in a mud, grass-thatched hut, portrays a picture of poverty, but he might not be poor, that’s because his father owns a thousand heads of cattle worth thousands of dollars if he were to sell them.

Be careful not to stereotype, setting is just one of many influences on a character’s psyche and worldview.

5. Style and Word Choice

The fifth element is Style and word choice:

Style is not forced it grows naturally defining each individual writer like a personal signature.

Word choice colors the writers’ prose in a distinctively unique style. Style is an intangible storytelling element that distinguishes how different writers tell their stories.

It occurs at two levels: Line and Global.

At the line level, — style is influenced by word choice, syntax, sentence structure, sentence length, and observational details.

At the global level — Style affects the story’s pace. It’s the presentation of information, the length of scenes, paragraphs, and chapters.

6. Conflict

The sixth element is conflict:

Conflict is What causes your pulse to race, your heart to pound, your palms to sweat, and your spine to shiver.

Great conflicts seemingly hard to resolve cause a great story.

7. Theme

The seventh element is the theme:

Theme seeks to answer the question, — What is the story all about?

A boy, a goat herder in the scrub lands of Africa, teaching himself to read, getting a scholarship and coming to America, getting married, and becoming a father to a son who becomes America’s 44th President is a great theme.

And that’s not fiction it’s a narration from former President Barack Obama’s book Dreams From My Father.

Finally:

These seven elements will help you to write a great story, interwoven with the facts, data, and strong research and presented in palatable phrases and words, that capture the imagination of your audience who will keep reading your articles and coming for more.

This article was first published Here: Why mastering the art of storytelling will make you a successful writer