A story is worth telling if it offers emotional resonance, relatable characters, compelling conflict, and a meaningful transformation or theme that connects with the audience's experiences, challenges their ideas, or provides insight, escape, or hope, making them feel seen or sparking new perspectives. Key ingredients include relatable flaws, genuine struggle, a unique perspective, and a strong internal or external journey that fulfills a promise to the reader, even if the writing isn't perfect.
A good story challenges preconceptions, shows growth, demonstrates adversity, has interesting characters , asks questions, paints a picture, is funny, is clever, is paced well, has an interesting hook, and is an adventure.
To review, the five Cs are: Character, Context, Conflict, Climax and Closure. The fifth process step is to determine emotion. The best stories typically have more rather than less emotion because humans are emotive beings.
Once you understand these Pillars, and their roles, you can start maximizing them in every story you tell. The foundation of story, across mediums, is built on what we call the 4 Pillars; People, Places, Purpose, and Plot.
All good stories contain 3 c's; Context, Choice, and Consequence. In a business setting, these 3 acts can be executed in how you talk about your work, in a photo, in a presentation, or in a video.
I used to ask what made a great storytelling photograph. Now I ask a similar question about written stories, and the answer keeps coming back with 4 Cs: Concept, Characters, Conflict and Context.
Too much unnecessary detail.
People lose patience with long stories, and nothing makes a story feel long like a lot of detail that doesn't contribute much. Some storytellers get hung up on trying to remember the name of a particular person, forgetting that the name makes no difference to the listener.
What do they all have in common? They weave stories that grab you, using a simple but powerful framework we like to call the “5 P's” of storytelling: People, Place, Pictures, Personalisation, and Peril. These elements make your messages heard, felt and remembered.
The pillars are as simple as people, places, plot, and purpose, but it is how they are utilized in a story that makes each of them so powerful. Each component has its own role in the storytelling process, but it takes all four together to have a message that will really impact your audience.
The Core Event is the scene in which your story reaches the height of emotional tension built up in all the scenes that came before it. It answers the question raised by the INCITING INCIDENT, and is the moment of emotional catharsis.
The Who, What, When, Where, Why of a Story. One of the best practices for writers is to follow "The 5Ws" guideline, by investigating the Who, What, Where, When and Why of a story. If you can't identify what makes your story unique and interesting, chances are nobody else will either.
What Makes a Good Story? 10 Key Elements
It is widely assumed that great writing needs a great brain. The truth is that writing is a skill that anyone can master with enough practice, discipline, and constructive criticism, no matter how high the IQ is.
If there is a story in you that keeps taking up your thoughts, your inspiration and your time - it's probably worth chasing after. And to encourage you even more, chances are other people will be interested in it as well.
The ultimate list of all 22 rules of storytelling from Pixar
How to Write an Original Story: 10 Writing Cliches to Avoid
In the end, bad storytelling is usually the result of misalignment between character and action, plot and meaning, theme and execution. The most common narrative failures happen when writers try to force stories rather than uncover them.
But when you boil it down, each story is actually made up of five basic story elements:
Whether you're a filmmaker, marketer, or business leader, storytelling is a universal tool for capturing attention and driving impact. But the difference between a story that merely entertains and one that resonates lies in mastering three pillars of storytelling: structure, meaning, and emotion.
Those seven types of story are:
The three key story elements of character, plot and setting can work in tandem to create compelling stories readers love. Having a strong grasp of all three elements is one of the best ways to tell satisfying tales.
The Three-Act Structure is a common way to tell a story, divided into three parts: Setup (Act 1), Confrontation (Act 2), and Resolution (Act 3). It's often used in movies and plays to create a clear and engaging story.
False start
A 'false start' story is when you begin to tell a seemingly predictable story, before unexpectedly disrupting it and beginning it over again. You lure your audience into a false sense of security, and then shock them by turning the tables.