Tell a Better Story 3 Tricks that Arent Tricks at All

Tell a Better Story 3 Tricks that Arent Tricks at All As far as I can tell, there are no magical writing secrets. There is no magic wand, no set of tricks, no way to flip a switch to instantly create better stories with your keyboard. There are, however, ways to hone your focus: that is, there are ways to write better, more interesting stories that will captivate an audience. The three things I look for in my own storiesâ€"whether fiction or nonfiction, essay or short story, novel or scribbling on the bathroom wallâ€"are Urgency. The first sentence has one job: make the reader want to read the second. Hence, the second sentence must make the reader want to read the third. So forth and so on. If a sentence doesnt fuel a storys urgency, it must be cut. Details. God is in the details. But so is the devil. Details, even minute ones, are incredibly important; they give your story life. Ergo, its important to know which details matter and which details are junk. Superfluous details slow down an otherwise interesting story. So whats a would-be storyteller to do? Cut a detail to see if it takes away from the story or makes it better or more urgent. Fun or funny. Every good story is either fun or funny (or both). Said another way, a story is fun when it is engaging, when it has a payoff, when it makes you think differently. Its funny if it  elicits  emotion, if you laugh, smile, or cry. A good story must make you feel something. Thus,  I always ask myself this question: does this story feel alive to me? If it does, then Im doing my job correctly. If not, then I need to go back to the top. For more free writing tips, follow my How to Write Better tips on Facebook and Twitter. Also, if you’re interested in taking a deeper dive, I teach an online writing class called How to Write Better. During my tenure, I’ve taught hundreds of students how to improve their writing (testimonials). Subscribe to The Minimalists via email.