How to begin the story?

How a story begins is very important. The beginning should catch the attention of the reader and make them want to read more. The beginning should be striking. It must invoke several questions in a reader’s mind so that he/she will not be able to resist the temptation to read more.

Developing the characters

A story is about its characters. The characters should be lively and genuine. They must appear like real life characters. They must think, behave and act like we do in real life. Each character should be different and must have unique traits. This adds a realistic touch and makes the characters believable.

Before you develop the characters ask the questions:

What does the character look like?

What is the background of the character – family, education, occupation etc?

How does the character behave?

How do others react to the characters? Do they all see the character in the same way?

There should be consistency in characterization. The characters shouldn’t sound illogical or whimsical.

Putting the story together

Now you have a plot outline and characters in place. You know the circumstances where you have to put them. You are now ready to write. As you begin to write, you may want to think about the following.

If you are writing a story based on a given outline, you must develop it according to the given outline. You are not supposed to eliminate any part of the given outline. You are also not supposed to include unrelated or unnecessary events. Stick to the outline and develop the story accordingly.

Dialogues

The story has to proceed with the help of both dialogue and narration. Dialogues make your story lively. A short story does not have much scope for long dialogues but you may still want to include some. Every dialogue in the story must sound natural and absorbing.

Conclusion

The story must have a logical conclusion which would appeal to the contemplating faculties of real human beings. Note that there is no point in writing stories that do not appeal to readers.

A good story is one that is understandable to everyone –even a small child. So clarity in writing is very important. Don’t make the plot or characters look or sound ambiguous.