How to write a story?

How to write a story - A Unique Imagination.

We all are storytellers. But when it comes to writing a good story, we find ourselves in a dilemma. A good story needs to have a perfect structure. You cannot be haphazard while writing your story. You need to have an intriguing plot to grasp the reader’s attention. To write a story, you have to have inspiration, you have to properly develop your content, and you will have to have patience unless you can write the best story possible.

Writing is not an easy task and to be able to write a good story is even harder. Don’t stress over the plot from beforehand. If you are stressed from the beginning, you won’t be able to come up with anything. The first most important thing that you need to do is to bring the process of story writing in your grasp. Think about the setting of your story. It can be any setting from your backyard to some distant faraway land.

The most important part of your story is to have a unique protagonist. There can be one or more than one protagonists. A good story must have a good protagonist with whom the readers will be able to relate to. You must come up with such a protagonist that the readers will find him/her unique and at the same time will find that they know this character somehow. It is not that the protagonist will have to be virtuous. He can also be a villain but in the end of the story the readers must discover his uniqueness.

There are some points that need to be kept in mind while writing your story. I have listed the following points for your better understanding:

1. Inspiration

You can get your inspiration from anything around you. It can be a small butterfly or the picture of a polluted city. You have a huge wide world to get your inspiration from. So why fret over it? Just pay attention to your surroundings. Perceive the world through your senses. You can even ask others about their experiences. Most the people love to share their experiences. You can read books of different genres. Then dive deeper into these stories and find out which genre is most appealing to you. Look around you and find out different character traits in people. Discover the different masks that an individual wears to mingle into the society.

You can also get inspirations from your childhood memories or some incidents that happened to you. When you witness a surprising incident, think how it would be if it occurred in a completely different scenario. Writing practice also helps a lot in getting inspiration. Read about everyday happenings and write about them. Try to practice writing every day. You will find that after some time, your way of writing will definitely improve. Your vocabulary will also improve. Try to write at least 500 words per day. Try writing about the things that kindles your emotions. It may be about a person you love or about a person you hate. Don’t stress. You will definitely find inspiration from a variety of things, just observe patiently.

2. Become a Daydreamer

If you are already a daydreamer, I am sure you have been scolded a lot of times. But daydreamers have better chances of composing a story as their lives are woven with a collection of stories. Daydreamers can think out of the box. Do not abandon reality for becoming a daydreamer. Be a daydreamer in a positive sense. Let your imagination run wild when you are sitting ideally or taking a break from the mundane chores.

Embrace your true nature. We all know that every human being puts up a facade to become the so-called normal individual. So you know best about your character than anybody else. You can define yourself best. Imagine about all your unique traits that you are afraid to reveal in front others as you don’t want others to judge you. Though you feel uncomfortable in revealing your true nature, you can still write about it, can’t you? Let out your emotions and scream in front of the world through your writing and tell them about yourself. Turn yourself into a protagonist. You don’t need to tell everyone that this character is you. Just let the world know that there can be a certain someone who is unique in a different way.

3. Plot

Now comes the plot. Think about what type of story you want to write. If it’s a short story, then your plot will have to have the grip to make the reader wonder what will happen next. He/she must be able to read it in one go. As it’s a short story, you will have to give details in a crisp manner. Most gripping short stories have abrupt endings which satisfy the readers as well as make them wonder what other possibilities were there for these stories to end in a different way. But this doesn’t mean that your story will have loose ends. You will have to wrap up your story in such a way that the readers keep thinking about it.

If you write a novel, then you must remember that you have to have all the proper stages of a story. According to Freytag’s pyramid, a proper story must have exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution/denouement. Your story must have consistency even if you are going back and forth in time. Exposition phase is the initial part of a novel. This is the part where early questions are answered and sometimes the characters could also be introduced. Then comes rising action. In this phase, the story takes up pace but is slow in the same time to increase tension and excitement in the story. All the tension that was build up in the rising action leads to the climax phase. In this phase, the story reaches the peak of its interest and things start to progress very fast. After the climax is over and many unanswered questions are answered, falling action starts. Falling action helps the author to wrap up the loose ends and the unresolved tensions. Resolution brings the story to a final satisfaction. The readers find all the answers for their curiosities.

4. Characters

A story must have characters. It may revolve around a single character or may tell the story about many different characters. You must know how to describe your character. Don’t give blunt descriptions. Try to describe your characters in such a way that the readers are able to picturize them as if they were some real-life individuals. Describe their expressions in a unique way. Don’t just blatantly say that a certain character is full of grief. Try saying “She was completely shattered. Tears kept rolling down her cheeks. Her spectacles got hazy and smudged. She could not believe that an important part of her life came to an abrupt end. Her grandfather was an influential part of her identity. How can she even think of a life without his presence?” Try to make your character unprecedented but remember that he/she must relate to the reader’s perception. If your character is a superhero, try to show that he/she also suffers like a commoner. If your characters can reach out to your readers, your book will definitely be popular among them.

5. Dialogue

Let your character speak with each other. You can be a narrator, but if you give voice to your characters, it will be more interesting. Your character can speak in an accent which will reveal his/her origin. It also will bring out his/her nature from words he/she speaks and also from the words that he/she tries to conceal. A character can also reveal his/her thoughts in a monologue. Try to write your dialogues in a day-to-day language. Read it out loud to confirm that two person can exchange conversation in that way. Try to turn your characters into real-life individuals through the dialogues spoken by them. Let the readers see how happy or agitated they are.

6. Grammar

A good story must be grammatically correct. Try to be grammatically correct. If you get stuck while writing, consult dictionaries or the internet. If an author is bad with his/her grammar, then it will have a bad impression on the readers. Be sure that the readers are able to understand what you are trying to convey to him. Try to avoid colloquial language and use more advanced words. If your characters speak in vernacular language, try to define why he/she is speaking in such a way. But the main part of the story must be in advanced language with proper grammar. To make a story beautiful, you need to brush up your vocabulary.

7. Revision

You must follow the process of revision. Take a break if you feel fatigued. Indulge in some other activities. Then come back to your writing. Try to read your story from a reader’s perspective. Think about the plot. Think about the characters. Try to look from a different angle. Try to find every possible ways to improve them. But don’t fret and get stressed. If you feel that you cannot come up with a proper decision, try to show your story to a trustworthy member—it may be a family member, a teacher, or a friend. Tell that person to give you honest feedback on your work.

Ask them what they want to see in your story. It may happen that you won’t like all these opinions, but think about them very carefully. Don’t be disheartened. Honest feedbacks may be harsh but these will definitely help you to improve your stor

8. Writing like a Pro

Try to act like a professional writer. Most of the professional writers write in three drafts or more. The first draft is only for them to see. It is just a basic plan of their stories. You don’t have to share it with others. This draft will help you to chalk out a proper plan for progressing smoothly with your story.

The second draft is for basic polishing. While writing this second draft, you will recognize all your major flaws and inconsistencies. Don’t be embarrassed with unintended mistakes. Just patiently improve the quality of your story.

The third or the final draft is the deep polishing phase. In this phase, you will enjoy yourself as you will see how well your story is coming up. This phase will make your story error-free and smooth.

How Can a Self-Publishing Company be Your Guide

Now that you are ready with your manuscript, you want it to reach to your readers, right? But as you are newbie in the writing world, you might not know how to approach publishers. You have to face and accept some bitter truths. The option of approaching traditional publishers will not work for you being a newbie. Even if you are lucky enough to get a chance, you will have very little control over your book as you have to give away a lot of rights to them. This is where self-publishing comes into the picture. Self-publishing companies grant you to retain a lot of rights and even help you in the advertising and marketing procedure.

Let us take an example. Kolkata-based self-publishing company 24by7 Publishing is a perfect platform for a newbie writer. They guide writers from beginning till the end. Last but not the least, they allow the writers to have total control over their books. Their publishing team consists of expert editors and designers. You may proofread your book yourself, but you can never publish your book while skipping proper editorial process. If you want to publish your book, you have to pass all the stages of publishing.

If you hand over your manuscript to 24by7 Publishing, then you can rest assured that your book will reach your potential readers. They will provide you good editorial and designing services to make your book beautiful and perfect. You won’t have to take the pain of pondering over how to reach the readers. They will help you in advertising your book and you will definitely be satisfied with their marketing service. They will grant you full control regarding the aspects of preproduction, promotions, launching, distribution channels, and overall investments.

So now that you have an idea about the whole procedure of writing and publishing a book, start writing a story from your heart. With this, your story writing session is complete. Now share your story with others. Have patience and choose the correct platform for your book wisely. Don’t be demoralized with harsh criticisms. Instead, listen to the feedbacks intently. Try to improve your story unless you feel it is the best. Follow these steps patiently. You will definitely succeed. Being a newbie writer, it will be best for you to seek out self-publishing companies so that you receive proper and well-planned guidance. So, all the very best to you!