Discussion What Makes a Story a Story, and What Makes it a Good One?

[deaf_judger]

What Makes a Story a Story?
I think that a story needs five elements: a character, desire, conflict, change, and meaning.




A Character
There must be a center of experience. Someone or something with a perspective that we can inhabit.




Desire
The character must want something:

• Revenge
  
• To be loved
  
• To understand
  

No desire means no movement.




Conflict
Something must resist the desire. Conflict can be internal or external, but no conflict makes it a description instead of a story.




Change
Something must shift: the world, the character, or our understanding of [...]. If nothing changes, it is a snapshot instead of a story.




Meaning
A story must somehow tell us that events matter. Without this, events become chronology.




Your Thoughts:
....




What Makes a Story Good?
I think that a good story must make these five elements inevitable. We do this through:




Emotional Truth
The events dont have to be realistic, but the emotions have to feel real.
Eg: I connected with Lena in Eighty-Six because her moral struggle felt real. I never experienced those complex politics.




Coherence
The story must obey its own rules. If a character suddenly acts against their established nature without reason, it breaks.




Thematic Depth
A good story is not about what happens, but what the events reveal. If a story can be reduced to “things happened,” it’s probably shallow.
Eg: Eighty-Six is not about war. it's about moral distance.




Earned Resolution
The ending must feel like:

“Of course it ended this way.”

The ending must be inevitable. Unearned twists weaken trust.




Resonance
A good story will stay with the reader. You think about it later.




Your Thoughts:
....

 

[Sovereign]

What Makes a Story a Story?
I think that a story needs five elements: a character, desire, conflict, change, and meaning.




A Character
There must be a center of experience. Someone or something with a perspective that we can inhabit.




Desire
The character must want something:

• Revenge
  
  
• To be loved
  
  
• To understand
  
  

No desire means no movement.




Conflict
Something must resist the desire. Conflict can be internal or external, but no conflict makes it a description instead of a story.




Change
Something must shift: the world, the character, or our understanding of [...]. If nothing changes, it is a snapshot instead of a story.




Meaning
A story must somehow tell us that events matter. Without this, events become chronology.




Your Thoughts:
....




What Makes a Story Good?
I think that a good story must make these five elements inevitable. We do this through:




Emotional Truth
The events dont have to be realistic, but the emotions have to feel real.
Eg: I connected with Lena in Eighty-Six because her moral struggle felt real. I never experienced those complex politics.




Coherence
The story must obey its own rules. If a character suddenly acts against their established nature without reason, it breaks.




Thematic Depth
A good story is not about what happens, but what the events reveal. If a story can be reduced to “things happened,” it’s probably shallow.
Eg: Eighty-Six is not about war. it's about moral distance.




Earned Resolution
The ending must feel like:



The ending must be inevitable. Unearned twists weaken trust.




Resonance
A good story will stay with the reader. You think about it later.




Your Thoughts:
....

For me personally, it has to either been a tragedy I can relate to or something on a level that tries to explain something- say philosophical. That or something emotional that touches a nerve.