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Story Bible Writing Kit

Note: this guide was extensively updated in January 2023. For the prior version, see here.

If you’re a self-taught writer, you owe it to yourself to have as many tools at your disposal. Thankfully, you can give yourself a world-class creative writing education without investing years and a small fortune into an MFA program 💸.

There are plenty of resources out there, but some are better than others. You don’t need to browse through a million articles or books. You simply need answers to these questions:

• How should you organize your writing, and why?
• What are your favorite writing tools for learning and improving your craft?

This guide is my attempt to definitively answer these questions. These tools work for me — and not in every instance of writing a story. Take whatever pieces in here you want, some things here may become a part of your routine and other things may simply make for a good exercise.

TL;DR:

This guide is a quick peek into a few of my very favorite writing tools, but there’s so much more to be said and so many more tips that I share with you here in this book format — it’s free because they’re not my ideas, just my tactics and there’s a wealth of knowledge I want to share with you. Aim for dedicated study of each topic, then revisit favorites throughout your career 🚀.

Still too much?

Read Techniques of The Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain.

Writing A Story (Writing Process) Subject Guides

Story Types

The techniques you can control are:

1. Ordinariness vs. strangeness.

2. The amount of time devoted to the character.

3. The character’s potential for making meaningful choices.

4. Other character’s focus on them.

5. The character’s frequency of appearance.

6. The character’s degree of involvement in the action.

7. Readers’ sympathy for the character.

8. Narration from the character’s point of view.

Blake Snyder 8 Story Types

1. MONSTER IN THE HOUSE (Monster, House, Sin)

• The pure monster as in “Alien” (1979)
• The Domestic Monster which would be another human as in “Fatal Attraction” (1987)
• The Serial Monster who commits many crimes such as in “Scream” (1996)
• The Supernatural Monster such as in “The Ring” (2002)

2. GOLDEN FLEECE (Road, Team. Prize)

• Sport Fleece such as “Rocky” (1976)
• Buddy fleece think “Thelma & Louise” (1991)
• Epic Fleece as “Star Wars” (1977) or “Lord Of the Rings” (2001)
• Solo Fleece as in “12 Years a Slave” (2013)

3. OUT OF THE BOTTLE (Wish, Spell, Lesson)

• Body Switch Bottle think “Freaky Friday” (1976)
• Angel Bottle such as “Cocoon” (1985)
• Thing Bottle as seen in “The Mask” (1994) or “Jumanji” (1995)
• Curse Bottle like “What Women Want” (2000)
• Surreal Bottle as seen in “The Scrooge” (1970)

4. DUDE WITH A PROBLEM (Innocent hero, sudden event, life/death battle)

• Spy Problem like “The Bourne Identity” (2002)
• Law Enforcement Problem think “Die Hard” (1988)
• Domestic Problem like “Sleeping With the Enemy” (1991)
• Epic Problem such as in “Deep Impact” (1998)
• Nature Problem as seen in “Open Water” (2003)

5. RITES OF PASSAGE (Life problem, wrong way, acceptance)

• Mid Life Passage such as in “10” (1979)
• Separation Passage as in “Kramer Vs Kramer” (1979)
• Death Passage like the movie “Ordinary People” (1980)
• Addiction Passage as in “28 Days” (2000)
• Adolescent Passage think “American Pie” (1999)

6. BUDDY LOVE (Incomplete hero, counterpart, complication)

• Pet Love as in “Beethoven” (1992)
• Professional Love as in “Rush Hour” (1998)
• RomCom Love as in “When Harry Met Sally” (1989)
• Epic Love as in “Titanic” (1997)
• Forbidden Love as in “Romeo & Juliet” (1996)

7. WHYDUNIT (Detective, secret, dark turn)

• Political Whydunit such as in “JFK” (1991)
• Fantasy Whydunit as in “The Sixth Sense” (1999)
• Cop Whydunit think “Basic Instinct” (1992)
• Personal Whydunit as in “Mystic River” (2003)
• Noir WhyDunit as in “Chinatown” (1974)

8. FOOL TRIUMPHANT (Fool, establishment, transmutation)

• Political Fool as in “Being There” (1979)
• Undercover Fool as in “Mrs. Doubtfire” (1993)
• Society Fool think “Forrest Gump” (1994)
• Fool Out of Water think “Legally Blonde” (2001)
• Sex Fool as seen in “The 40-Year Old Virgin” (2005)

9. INSTITUTIONALIZED (Group, choice, sacrifice)

• Military Institution as in “M*A*S*H” (1970)
• Family Institution as in the movie “American Beauty” (1999)
• Business Institution think “9 to 5” (1980)
• Mentor Institution as seen in “The Devil Wears Prada” (2006)
• Issue Institution as in “Friends With Money” (2006)

10. SUPERHERO (Special power, nemesis, curse)

• Real Life Superhero as in “BraveHeart” (1995)
• StoryBook Superhero think “Peter Pan” (2003)
• Fantasy Superhero as in “The Matrix” (1999)
• People’s Superhero like “Casino Royale” (1967)
• Comic Book SuperHero think “Spider-Man” (2002)

Conflicts in Literature

Use one of these plot types:

1. Adventure — a person goes to new places, experiences new things, and faces myriad obstacles.

2. Change — a person undergoes a dramatic transformation.

3. Romance — jealousy and misunderstandings threaten lovers’ happiness.

4. Mistake — an innocent person caught in a situation he doesn’t understand must overcome foes and dodge danger.

5. Lure — a person must decide whether to give in to temptation, revenge, rage, or some other passion. He grows from discovering things about himself.

6. Race — characters chase wealth or fame but must overcome others to succeed.

7. Gift — an ordinary person sacrifices to aid someone else. The lead may not be aware of his own heroism until he rises to the occasion.

8. Overcoming the Monster -- supernatural beast must be defeated to reach the prize.

9. Rags to Riches -- Low-man embarks on a series of adventures to ascend to one of the Elite.

10. The Quest -- Everyman must travel very far to reach the prize.

11. Voyage and Return -- After falling into an unknown world, Everyman must get through challenges to get home.

12. Comedy -- Confusion that must be resolved before the hero or heroine can be united in love.

13. Tragedy -- Everyman longs for something he shouldn't have and acquires it in return for his life.

14. Rebirth -- Everyman falls into a living death and is brought out by a redeeming, often sacrificial act.

Character: Desire: Problem: Antagonist: Climactic Disaster:

FIVE MAN BAND

Five-Man Band refers to a group consisting of members whose skill puts them into these categories that best describe their attributes and the skills they have that compliment one another in their own way.

The Hero - The main character of their story. The Hero is often the person who the plot focuses on. The hero can be a male or female depending on the writer. The Hero's personality can range from being an all-loving hero or an Anti-Hero depending on the plot. The Hero in the Story will sometimes be the leader, who is the one who leads the group and make the important decisions. The Hero's motivations can vary from wanting to save the world or trying to seek vengeance against the one person or group who was responsible for their tragedies and misfortune. The Hero in all fictions represent the core beliefs most people cherish and is the icon of what it means to be a true hero by following their morals unflinchingly. However the Hero can sometimes represent what they or other heroes despise if they allow themselves to give in to hatred, vengeance, and despair. The Hero at times can also be the most idealistic person in the group as they are willing to forgive and accept others even their enemies for their flaws. Additionally, the Hero can often see the good in people including their enemies and will go to great lengths to make them see it in them. Most of the times, the Hero will go against the will of others in order to do the right thing even if their actions are against the law. The Hero will also be the one to never give up and increases the morale by not giving into despair and to keep on fighting until the very end. Sometimes either the other members of the group can be also The Hero, if the plot focuses on them more.

The Leader - The one who leads is usually the Hero but not always. The Leader who is not a hero will often be the Big Good of the story itself. The leader will often be considered more reasonable for the actions of their subordinates and will decide what action will be most beneficial for the world or for the organization they lead as a whole. The Leader will often but not always be the most respectful because of how they act in situations and how they treat their subordinates. The Leader can sometimes act as a positive role model for his/her allies for being a good leader.

The Lancer - The Second in Command after the Hero. The Lancer in the group after the Hero will be the most responsible and the one to take command once the Hero is not available. The Lancer at times depending on the story can be the strongest member of the group after the Hero. The Lancer in all of fiction will be the Hero's opposite in terms of personality and powers. For example, if the Hero possesses Fire powers, the Lancer will have ice powers. Another example would be if the Hero is more idealistic, then the Lancer will be the most realistic or if the Hero is more hot-blooded and anti-social, then he or she would be more cautious and more sociable. Sometimes The Lancer can be or was the Rival to the Hero, who decided to join the group for various reasons. Despite the differences, The Lancer is often considered the closest companion to the Hero because he or she is the best friend of the main character or the one who supports The Hero's decision the most.

The Smart Guy - The Brains of the group. The Smart guy will act as the most intellectual member of their group. He or She in this category will often be the most resourceful when their comrades are in the most desperate situation and will act on how to get out of a specific situation. The Smart Guy would be the person to pick up on something that was amiss in any event that occurs. The Smart Guy can range from being a great tactician who uses their head in battle or being a great inventor, who invents many technology equipment that can be beneficial to the heroes. They will often be the ones who are able to discern the weakness of their enemies and use it to their advantage. At times, when the Smart Guy is around they are very reliable to explain things to their comrades so they too can understand the topic themselves. You can also use the opposite of The Smart Guy.

The Big Guy - The Brawns of the group. The Big Guy is considered to be the physically strongest member and the largest of their team. The Big Guy has been known to be unflinchingly loyal to his or her teammates in any situation, they can be counted on. The Big Guy can also be the most combat effective in battle and at times be a one-man army. The personalities of this group member can vary, they can sometimes be gentle giants and will be threatening when provoked or aggressive bruisers who are very rough-edged but will show their soft side at times.

The Chick - The Peacekeeper of the Group who often represents the moral compass to the group during their adventures. Depending on the writers, the Chick can also be the main love interest to the Hero. The Chick in the story is usually female but not always. This member will often be the one who breaks up a conflict between the group members in difficult times and encourages them to be loyal and trustworthy to one another. The Chick is the one who does their best to keep their comrades from giving into negative feelings and also the one to slap some sense into them if they start or are losing sight of who they are.

The Sixth Ranger - The Latest Member of the group. Usually this member of the group would be the last member to join the group and is always a new member who appears late into the story. The Sixth Ranger can sometimes be a previous and recurring enemy that has fought with the heroes but has decided to join the heroes. The Sixth Ranger for example can sometimes be considered the atoner for the group as they were enemies or pawns to an even greater evil and decides to redeem themselves for what he/she did. On the other hand, this member can be a relative to the Hero but will play an important role later in the series once that role has been discovered or can be an on/off character that occasionally sides with the good guys. Most often the Sixth Ranger will be a prominent character in their respective series, who will inevitably become a new and vital member to the group when that character will join them once they possess traits that are very respectable.

The Tag-Along Kid - The youngest member of the group and/or sometimes the most inexperienced. This member can be a Hero's Sibling or someone else's sibling. Oftentimes, the tag-along kid would be the most immature one of the group which leads to comical moments. At times of great stress, the youngest member will probably be one of the other members in the Five-man Band while still being this type of hero or grow up into becoming one as character development happens throughout the series. While being the youngest of them all, this character will inevitably be a great asset as his or her own potential will be unlocked when there will be great peril and be the one who would save the day when the others could not do it.

The Team Pet - The Animal member of the group. This group member serves as companion to the group and at times be amongst the closest of the group especially to the Hero early on in the story. In many moments, this member comes through for the team in tight situations such when its owner is struggling or uses its natural abilities to help the heroes with important matters like solving a mystery or finding something amiss. The Team pet will often be one of the most loyal companions because its owner(s) cared for it greatly, has been with the character since childhood, or was raised by that character.

Mentors — The wise advisory type who comes and goes. Potentially organizes the team, trains them to be an effective group, and/or has a personal connection with the Big Bad. They might be killed to give the group someone to rally around.

Examples

• Star Wars

* The Hero: Luke Skywalker

* The Lancer: Han Solo

* The Smart Guys: C-3PO, R2-D2, and Obi-Wan Kenobi

* The Big Guy:Chewbacca

* The Chick:Princess Leia Organa

* Sixth Ranger:Lando Calrissian

* The Mentor: Yoda

• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

* The Leader: Leonardo

* The Lancer: Michelangelo

* The Smart Guy: Donatello

* The Big Guy: Raphael

* The Chick: April O'Neil

* The Sixth Ranger: Casey Jones

* The Mentor: Splinter

Plot

MICE Quotient

MICE Quotient = The four factors are milieu, idea, character, and event.

Example:

The Wizard of Oz (the movie) illustrates this beautifully:

<Character> Dorothy Gale is dissatisfied with her life.

<Event> She runs away from home.

<Milieu> Dorothy emerges in Oz.

<Idea> “How can I get home?”

— Adventures ensue —

</Idea> “You had the power the whole time.”

</Milieu> Dorothy clicks her heels and magically leaves Oz.

</Event> Dorothy awakens in (returns to) Kansas.

</Character> “Oh, Auntie Em, there’s no place like home!”

1. Setting/Milieu - Concerns the world surrounding the characters you create. A character enters a space, attempts to navigate the place, and leaves with a lesson.

2. Character - Concerns the nature of at least one character in your story. Specifically what the character does and why they do it. A character has an identity shift and has a new, relaxed sense of self. Your character is whoever is suffering most and most in need of things to change.

3. Conflict/Idea - Concerns the information you intend the reader to uncover or learn as they read your story. How will they get around this obstacle? Character has a question, struggles to uncover the truth, and finds an answer.

4. Desire/Event - Concerns what happens and why it happens. The world is out of order and the story is about the struggle to re-establish the old order or create a new one. Normal life is disrupted by an external threat, but is restored in the end.

Plot = In SETTING, CHARACTER wants DESIRE (purpose) and overcomes CONFLICT (priority) to succeed / fail (productivity). Action moves a story forward. Fully immerse a reader in the scene. Remind people to slow down and see the present. People think they understand things well. Good art reminds people there is more to things than you see. Show don’t tell. Get a character in and out of the scene as quickly as possible. Give the audience a win - the audience realizes first, before the narrator declares it. Your main character is the one with the biggest burden.

The only way out is through.

Telling a story is excavating an ancient thing as fully intact as possible with your own individuality twisted into it.

You can use “therefore, but” to move the story along.

Pantsing a first draft = plotting an outline

The Fire Prince (Yoda Parable)

Joy leads to fear, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering, and suffering leads to joy.

Make a character empathetic:

1. Displaying a valued trait such as loyalty, love, or courage.

2. Make them particularly skilled at something - they’re unique.

3. They’re treated unjustly.

4. They want something universal like love, acceptance, purpose.

5. They’re thrust into danger or grief.

6. They’re a caregiver.

7. They pursue change or challenge their fear.

8. They’re in an instance of change or burden unknowingly.

Ask yourself, why does their story matter to me? We tell stories to warn or inspire. Characters should all want the same thing. Man is either creating or destroying. Pursuing pleasure, comfort, meaning or avoiding pain.

If you sacrifice and hone your skills you will climb toward destiny.

If your fictional vision was a good and truthful one, your characters will help your readers understand their families, their friends, their enemies, and the countless mysterious and dangerous strangers who will touch their lives, powerfully and irresistibly.

The Alignment System:

Lawful Good - Acts as a good person is expected or required to act.

Neutral Good - Does the best that a good person can do.

Chaotic Good - Acts as his conscience directs him with little regard for what others expect.

Lawful Neutral - Acts as law, tradition, or a personal code directs her.

True Neutral - Does what seems to be a good idea.

Chaotic Neutral - Follows his whims.

Lawful Evil - Methodically takes what he wants within the limits of his code of conduct without regard for whom it hurts.

Neutral Evil - Does whatever she can get away with.

Chaotic Evil - Does whatever his greed, hatred, and lust for destruction drive him to do.

Part 1 is introducing the main players, allowing stakes to emerge, and essential information to get the plot moving forward.

The First Plot Point is where something goes wrong. The hero can no longer stay on the sidelines.

Part 2 is where the hero’s relationship with the antagonist is put on display, sending the hero into the storm. Things get worse or more complicated.

Midpoint new information reinvigorates the hero to stop running and refocus.

Part 3 is where threat, tension, stakes, and urgency all accelerate.

The Second Plot Point reveals new information and changes perception - opening up an avenue of ultimate resolution for the hero. Empowers the hero or puts their back against the wall.

Part 4 is where the hero has a confrontation that determines the outcome of the story and sets up the way the hero’s life has been changed from this point moving forward.

You can have an outline of all the characters, their personalities, their goals and their relationships with other said characters. Then you can outline the entire set of events (mainly important plot beats). Once I start writing and coming up with more elements I add them to my notes and include them in the redraft of my story.

Structure

So now I put down on my page my one line synopsis, my opening scene, and my ending scene in bullet point format. Start by breaking down your story into scenes. Write a sequence of interconnected short stories. Most chapters acquaint the reader with a character’s condition, introduce a goal, move toward that goal, meet obstacles, and then overcome those obstacles, often in a dramatic way. Great stories have memorable scenes.

The GRID Outline

Source: Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Techniques of The Selling Writer

Where should you start, then? With feeling. Your own feeling. Feeling first takes form within you. That's why the first real rule of successful story-writing is . . . find a feeling.

Or, if you prefer a different phrase: Get excited! Hunt till you uncover something or other to which you react. With feeling. The more intensely, the better.

Feeling, indeed, is what drives you for-ward. Wrapped up in your story, you face the future, not the past. The tale you tell excites you. You write out of the thrill of that excitement.

Do I make myself clear? Communication of feeling your feelings demands skill as well as heart.

To win that skill, you have no choice but to begin right where you are at this very moment.

• Selection
• Who is to be viewed?
• When do we observe these characters?
• Where do we catch these people?
• What are they doing?
• How does your reader see all of this?
• Arrangement
• Description
• Your two key tools are nouns and verbs.
• Nouns are words that name something
• Verbs are words that tell what happens
• You want to pick nouns that flash pictures in the reader’s mind
• The more specific, concrete, and definite the noun . .. the more vivid the picture.
• Active verbs are what you need .. verbs that show something happening, and thus draw your reader's mental image more sharply into focus.
• To live through your story, experience it, your reader must capture it with his own senses.
• A story is a succession of motivations and reactions.
• Feeling is a thing you build through manipulation of motivation and reaction.
• A Story is never really about anything. Always it concerns, instead, someone's reactions to what hap-pens: his feelings; his emotions; his impulses; his dreams; his ambitions; his clashing drives and inner conflicts. The external serves only to bring them into focus.

In each and every case, however, one thing stands out: Somebody does something.

The situation, the state of affairs, at the end of a successful story is not the same as it was at the beginning. And neither is the focal character's state of mind. In greater or lesser degree, he's revised his evaluations, his attitudes, his ideas of who is good and what is bad and how to deal with specific kinds of trouble. His future is different than it would have been had the story not taken place.

A Motivation-Reaction Unit

a. You have received a motivating stimulus.

It points up a change in your state of affairs, your situation.

b. This change in state of affairs causes changes in your state of mind.

Your emotional balance, your equilibrium, is shattered. Feelings, ordinarily neatly restrained and disciplined, break loose in a surging chaos.

c. These feelings take the overt form of observable reaction.

And there is the pattern of emotion.

In terms of constructing a motivation-reaction unit, that order is this:

a. Motivating stimulus.

b. Character reaction.

(1) Feeling.

(2) Action.

(3) Speech.

So, how do you emphasize the significance of a stimulus properly?

(1) You choose the effect you want this particular stimulus to create, in terms of motivating your focal character to desired reaction and, at the same time, guiding your reader to feel with him.

(2) You pick some external phenomenon-thing, person, event that you think will create this effect.

(3) You frame this stimulus so as to pinpoint the precise detail that highlights the point you seek to make.

(4) You exclude whatever is extraneous or confusing.

(5) You heighten the effect, by describing the stimulus in terms that reflect your focal character's attitude.

How do you least painfully achieve such mastery?

The best way, I suspect, is to write in whatever manner comes easiest for you, paying no attention to any rules whatsoever.

Then, go back over your copy and check to make sure that each reaction is motivated; that each motivating stimulus gets a reaction; and that ineptitude in use of language has not in any way confused the issue.

Scene

You live through a scene, and there are no breaks in the flow of life.

Scene structure is as simple as a-b-c:

a. Goal.

b. Conflict.

c. Disaster.

(1) Do establish time, place, circumstance, and viewpoint at the very start of each and every scene.

(2) Do demonstrate quickly that some character has a scene goal.

(3) Do build toward a curtain line.

(1) Don't write too small.

(a) Because scenes constitute the most important portions of your story, and it takes space to impress your reader with the importance of anything.

(b) Because most of us need space, if we're to build to any kind of emotional

Peak.

(c) Because in brief, fragmentary scenes you're hard put to offer enough of the kind of color, characterization, conflict, complication, maneuvering, punch-and-counterpunch, and unanticipated development that it takes to hold reader interest.

(2) Don’t go into flashbacks.

(a) It's essentially unrealistic.

(b) It strains reader patience badly.

(3) Don't accidentally summarize.

• The reader would rather see what’s happening as it’s happening.

Sequel

A sequel is a unit of transition that links two scenes, like the coupler between two railroad cars. It sets forth your focal character's reaction to the scene just completed, and provides him with motivation for the scene next to come.

What are the functions of sequel?

a. To translate disaster into goal.

b. To telescope reality.

c. To control tempo.

How does sequel translate disaster into goal?

It provides a bridge that gives your character- and your reader a plausible reason for striking out in a particular direction that will bring Character into further conflict. Yet only when he reaches a decision as to which road to take can your story logically proceed.

Sequel is the aftermath- the state of affairs and state of mind that shapes your character's behavior after disaster has knocked him down.

Summary

Summary is what you get when you abstract or abridge. It's that part of a story in which the writer says that things are happening, or that they have happened. It's telling, not showing; or, at best, a combination of the two.

Sequel has a 1-2-3 structure:

(1) Reaction: Together, state of affairs and state of mind constitute the aftermath of disaster. Out of it all, a question arises: What's Character to do now?

(2) Dilemma: a situation involving choice between equally unsatisfactory alternatives.

(3) Decision: It's a new goal. Our character's efforts to attain it will give rise to further conflict; another scene to catch and hold a reader.

When you sit down to write a sequel, you're faced with problems in three major areas:

a. Compression.

b. Transition.

c. Credibility.

(1) Set your focal character against a backdrop of realistic detail.

(2) Push your focal character in the right direction.

(3) Let your reader see the focal character's chain of logic.

To be preoccupied with a topic is actually to be preoccupied with a particular set of feelings. Therefore, in writing sequel, you act on the assumption that feeling is the common denominator that unites all other elements.

Again, in sequel as in scene, you learn to write by writing. Get busy!

Integrating scene and sequel

a. You control story pacing by the way you proportion scene to sequel

As a general rule, big scenes equal big interest.

Long sequels, in turn, tend to indicate strong plausibility.

(1) If your story tends to drag or grow boring, strengthen and enlarge the scenes. Build up the conflict.

(2) If an air of improbability pervades your masterpiece, lengthen your sequels. Follow your character step by step, in detail, as he moves logically from disaster to decision.

b. Scenes dominate story development.

(1) How big you build a scene depends to a considerable degree on its placement in the story. Consequently, it's good sense to arrange your scenes, your peaks, in order of ascending importance and/or intensity.

(2) You can control scene placement, to some degree, by manipulating sequel.

c. Flexibility is all-important.

Each story offers different problems. A mechanical approach won't solve them. You must stand ready to adapt your methods to your materials.

Tension

Your goal, in turn, is to elicit a particular reaction from this reader. You want to make him feel a certain way . suck him into a whirlpool of emotion. To do this... to make your reader feel the way you want him to feel . .. is your story's whole and total function.

You start with one simple statement: A story is the record of how somebody deals with danger.

What seizes attention? Tension. All attention is based on it.

The thing that creates involuntary tension, most often, is fear.

What creates fear? Danger. What is danger?

Change. When any given situation is altered, the result is a different situa-tion. This new state of affairs may demand adjustment on your part. Such adjustment may be beyond your capacity, and thus may endanger your survival or happiness. Anything endangering survival or happiness creates fear.

Two factors are involved in this process:

a. Perception.

b. Experience.

Perception means merely that you must be aware a change is taking place.

Experience warns you that this particular change may expose you to injury, loss, pain, or other evil.

Your job as a writer is to control and manipulate this tension. To that end, and using your central character as a vehicle, you create it, intensify it, focus it needle-sharp, and then release it.

Manipulating Tension

A plot is merely your plan of action for thus manipulating tension.

What, specifically, is the source of story satisfaction?

A story is the record of how somebody deals with danger.

Plot-wise, the beginning of your story creates tension.

The middle builds up and intensifies it.

The end, in turn, breaks down into two segments: climax, and resolution.

In climax, the tension you've created is focused sharply.

And, finally, resolution sees the tension released, in character and in reader.

Which brings us back to our original question: What, specifically, is the source of story satisfaction?

Answer: Release of tension.

The end of a story is "right," your reader's tension is released. He sinks back satisfied, relaxed, fulfilled. If it isn't, he's left raw-nerved and jittery; on edge. At best, he feels let down and disappointed.

To make a story end "right," ask yourself one simple question: How does your hero defeat his danger?

The answer is always the same: He demonstrates that he deserves to win.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the target audience for this guide?

We have in mind that you are a self-taught writer, or precocious high school student, or a college student looking to supplement your formal education with some self-study. Perhaps you’re someone looking for a workshop group (I run online writer’s workshops here). The question of when to embark upon this journey is an entirely personal one, but most people tend to benefit from having some trial experience before diving too deep into story craft theory.

Where are your sources?

Who made this?

This guide was originally written by pprbrdd. It is based on my experience workshopping foundational writing to over 1000 mostly self-taught writers and Creative Writing grads in small group settings live online. Thank you to all of my writer friends for your continued feedback on self-teaching resources.

I’m very confident that you could teach yourself everything above, given enough time and motivation. But if you’re very serious about being a full-time writer and you'd prefer an intensive, structured, instructor-led program, you might be interested in my Authorpreneur Accelerator course. I DON'T suggest pursuing a master's degree.

For updates to this guide and general writing news and resources, you may also like to join pprbrdd’s mailing list.