Allison Symes's Blog - Posts Tagged "twists-and-turns"
Key Story Ingredients
All successful stories, for me, have to contain key ingredients. Doesn't matter if these are flash fiction, short stories, novellas, or novels, I think they all need to have the following ingredients in them.
1. Characters you care about and want to root for. Sometimes it can be rooting for a villain to fail.
2. Twists and turns so you have to keep reading to find out what happens.
3. A feeling of having had a fantastic reading experience when you finish the story. Points 1 and 2 are crucial here.
4. For a novel/novella series, there needs to be continual character development so you can see how they change and grow over the series. You can do likewise on a smaller scale for linked flash/short stories.
5. Understanding of the dilemmas the characters face and enjoying finding out how they deal with these.
What would be key ingredients for you?
1. Characters you care about and want to root for. Sometimes it can be rooting for a villain to fail.
2. Twists and turns so you have to keep reading to find out what happens.
3. A feeling of having had a fantastic reading experience when you finish the story. Points 1 and 2 are crucial here.
4. For a novel/novella series, there needs to be continual character development so you can see how they change and grow over the series. You can do likewise on a smaller scale for linked flash/short stories.
5. Understanding of the dilemmas the characters face and enjoying finding out how they deal with these.
What would be key ingredients for you?
