What is Story?

There aren't that many hard and fast rules when it comes to stories and storytelling, but this is one of them: Never signal to your audience that you are telling a story. Just tell the story and, if it's good enough, your audience will get lost in it and forget they're even in one.

When I was in high school, I wrote a six-hundred-page epic fantasy novel during my junior year.

The story had sixteen main characters each with their different character arcs and resolutions. It wasn't my best writing by any means, and it will NEVER see the light of day, but I was only seventeen and still learning how to write stories. I devoted every minute of my free time to it, outlining, writing, and rewriting.

Every day I would do my homework (or not) and then sit down at my computer desk and work on my story. The storyline became so intricate and complex that I couldn't figure out how to end it. I would make the situations so completely hopeless for my characters that they would get killed off halfway through the story. The remaining characters, now grieving for the loss of their companions, would create a way to go back in time and save them - thus outsmarting the bad guys.

I know, I know…like I said. Never see the light of day…

Sometimes, my story would get in the way of school and I would fall behind in my grades. But because I didn't have a job, and I didn't have any other responsibilities, I was able to finally finish the story as well as miraculously graduate high school…

Wait.

Did I just tell you a story? A story about me writing a story?

Story-ception?

Maybe. But what is a story really?

I think if a story was something you could see, you could look at it and recognize it immediately, even from far away. Like a mountain. Up close, there are crags and ravines and avalanches and a lot more to a story than you realize.

We are a culture that watches stories all the time (movies). We read them (books) and listen to them too (audiobooks).

But what other ways do we experience stories? And do we recognize them as stories?

The other day, I sat down at my computer and I started outlining the second book in the current series I'm working on. You see, I just finished a draft of my first book. I couldn't wait to start on the second one. But as I started, I realized I needed to brainstorm more because I didn't really have the story as fleshed out as I had hoped. So I stopped outlining and began gathering together all my ideas, characters, and plot points so that I can have a better picture of what the story will look like at the end.

Wait. Was that another story?

Let's analyze.

The Five Components of Story

#1 Character

Most writers agree that a story requires someone - anyone - to be a part of it. Without a character, you really don't have a story. But a character alone does not make a story.

According to Robert McKee in his aptly-titled book, "Story," When a character steps into your imagination, he brings an abundance of story possibilities.

I like to think about it visually. A character is like a single nail in the wall that can hold up a heavy and expensive painting. While you might be able to make the picture hold up, it's not very stable and it could give way under the weight of the painting. To make it so the picture doesn't fall off the wall, you need a second nail.

In the story I just told you, was there a character?

Yep. That character was me - in the past:

Past-Me.

The story may have started with me but it didn't end there. That would have been boring.

#2 Setting

I believe the second nail that most writers agree a story needs is "setting." My setting was at a desk in front of my computer. It gives the audience somewhere to put the character in their mind. Almost everyone has sat at a computer desk or seen someone sitting at a desk. It doesn't matter what that desk looks like exactly. You're on your own journey when you read a story, not my journey.

#3 Goal & #4 Problem

The third nail would be "goal." I had the goal of outlining my second novel. At least, that's what I wanted to do. But did it happen? Unfortunately not.

So when I set out to accomplish my goal, I encountered a problem. I mean, it would have been too easy if I hadn't encountered a problem - especially while planning a book, right? (Writing is hard!) If I hadn't been forced to retrace my steps, my story would probably not be as good as I eventually want it to be.

#5 Resolution (Theme)

But my story didn't end there. In truth, the story hasn't really ended yet since I'm still planning the book. However, I did gain some insight into how my story should be by being patient and retracing my steps. That’s the actual resolution. That’s the change and theme of the story. I learned to try again when I'm ready.

The theme of the story is basically what you learn as a result of the story itself. Never, ever point out the moral of the story while you're telling it. If you haven't realized by now, that sort of thing pushes your audience out of the story and back into the real world. Let your character's actions and arc do all the teaching.

Making your audience aware that they're just reading a story is the same as interrupting them while they're in the middle of something important…like reading. But instead of their crazy Aunt screaming at them from downstairs, it's YOU, the AUTHOR, who's breaking their concentration.

That's a big NOPE.

So a story just needs to have these five components.

1. Character

2. Setting

3. Goal

4. Problem

5. Resolution (Theme)

These are all very basic, very "big picture" things. It's like looking at a mountain from far away. You can see the whole mountain, but you can't see all the fine details. Up close, story could have multiple characters with different or even conflicting goals, problems, and resolutions. Perhaps more on those in a different video.

Making the story interesting

But there's one other thing I haven't mentioned yet. You, as a storyteller, can tell stories all day. But how do you make them interesting?

Good question. I'm glad you asked!

Why did I tell you that I wrote a six hundred-page fantasy story in high school? Do most seventeen-year-olds write six hundred-page fantasy stories? Is it very common for high schoolers to even think about writing a book? Probably not. 

The fact that I wrote a six hundred-page novel in high school might have surprised you. Well good. I'm glad. I elicited an emotional response in you. That was my goal.

As storytellers, we should be using our own unique perspective in life to elicit an emotional response from our audience. This comes from a lot of practice and a lot of sharing your work with others. If you think you're not that interesting, think about this. Even a guy who's been living under a rock for thirty years has a story to tell. In fact, that guy would probably make the news. How did he survive? Where was he this whole time? Is he crazy?

If story is about characters, goals, problems, and resolutions—you, as a storyteller, need to make sure that each of those elements in your story elicits an emotional response. 

Here's another example:

• Character: A single mother who is an astrophysicist

• Setting: Space ship in the year 2045

• Goal: Assassinate the captain of the ship

• Problem(s): She doesn't know how to fly a spaceship AND she gets resistance from the rest of the crew

• Resolution: ?

The story is already intriguing. Why? Because each element elicits an emotional response if you're into science fiction drama thrillers. I always like to state each as simple as I possibly can so I can fill in the gaps later and not feel like I've already written the story.

But what's the resolution you ask?

To be honest, that would take up an entire page at least. You would have to answer the following questions:

• What is this story really about?

• Why is the mother single?

• Where is her child?

• Why is she on board a spaceship in the first place?

• Why would she need to assassinate the captain?

• Does she succeed or fail? If she succeeds, how does she overcome her problems/obstacles? If she fails, how can you make her failure spectacular?

• Does she change because of it? If so, how?

The way you answer these questions will determine how interesting your story is. If each question is a plot point, knowing when to "show or tell" these plot points (and how) is another set of skills—and probably deserves its own video.

Conclusion

Telling good stories is difficult. Writing them is even harder. Make it easier on yourself and create interesting questions to answer in plot points throughout your story.

So this is a very simplified explanation of what story actually is. The more you study it, the more you read, the more you practice telling them—the more you can hone your craft as a storyteller.