How to write a good/better story + tips

Planning, Plot and Originality

I've noticed in a lot of stories on Wattpad people don't do the planning. Even I didn't start doing it till only a few years ago, but it makes the story so much better, trust me.

Now, the planning doesn't have to be very in-depth, but having a loose guide can help you stay on track. You need starting points, an endpoint, and some way to bridge that gap. That's obvious, but unplanned stories can often seem wayward when your 25 chapters in with no idea where it's going to end. Or just as bad, the story can seem to change cause abruptly, characters acting oddly-all in the name of getting to the end. Anyone who's watched the finale of Game of Thrones will know what I mean.

Your plot is the main thing in your story; it's why people read it! It keeps them interested. It needs conflict and problems. It needs a hook to attract reads, and once a bite's been taken you need to reel them in. Show them the struggle, whether physical or emotional.

Has anyone ever read those stories about where a werewolf is rejected by her mate? Yes? No? What usually happens is she's rejected because he wants to be a player, or he doesn't want to date a nerd or she's weak ect. She comes back years later to show him what they are now, how much stronger and hotter she's gotten, or sometimes for revenge.

Okay, I'm sure everyone's read something along those lines. So why not get some originality into the story?

You can still go with the cliché 'girl gets rejected' trope, but why not he rejects her because his dad's abusive and he doesn't want her to know? Or he's gay? Maybe he's got a weird fetish for licking people's armpits and is ashamed of it. Or something else entirely unexpected.

The thing is, no one is perfect, every story needs an obstacle to overcome. Her mate being gay is an obstacle, a brick wall. Does it have to be resolved? No. Who said mates have to be about physical needs and desires. Or, that the point of a mate is to pass on the 'perfect' DNA, and doesn't care about one's sexuality.

The conclusion to your story doesn't always have to be a fairytale ending. If your mate's gay, and it's supposed to be a romance, then have her fall in love with someone else, while battling that need and desire to go to her mate who can never give her love.

Has anyone ever done that? I'd say very few, if any. Simple things can change a story drastically.

Okay, now back to the plot. Something BIG has to happen, and the story has to lead up to it. If you write a story about a mute girl that's mute because she gets bullied- why is it in the first 5 chapters she starts talking? If the plot is she'd mute and she talks, why does she talk so soon? It takes away the plot, there's no reason to read it!

One problem needs to last from chapter one, all the way to the last chapter. That problem can change and evolve over time but does need to stay the same story. If the problem is solved, or changes drastically, then it needs to be split up into a new book.

Tips for an effective plan

Summarize the plot

This is a one-sentence line that show's the overall challenge through the story. Use the word 'struggle to help bridge the gap between characters and the problems they're facing.

Becca struggles to find love but meets Matt who leads her down a dangerous road of drugs and gang wars.

Write a synopsis

A synopsize is a shortened version of your story. It should include all the key points to your story. The catalyst-the thing that sets the story in motion-, the betrayals, the fights, the journey, and everything including the conclusion. This doesn't need to have everything explained but does need to show how your character gets from point A to point B.

This can should ideally be at least half a page long but can go across several pages depending on the length of your novel.

Write an Act plan

Act plans are usually broken into 3 parts. The start, the middle, and the end. You will break your synopsis into three sections. Each section should conclude with a changing point for your character.

Act one will include the catalyst, the driving force behind the plot. This will be the start of the struggle, where your character is forced to act one way or another. That decision will require the character to change in some way-usually a small change.

Act two includes the journey. This is the main chunk of the story where the character searches for the item or fights all the underlings to get close to the big bad boss. The act will end with the breaking point. This is where your character will get betrayed, get their heartbroken, or lose something they hold dear. It needs to be their lowest moment. The point where your character contemplates giving up and walking away. The challenge is too much.

Act Three, the final act, is obviously the conclusion. Here, the character has to accept the challenge and fight it head-on, all or nothing. This is the part where they go after the evil king or make that last stand in the name of love.  It should be the most engaging part of the story and end with the problem solved-unless you have more parts to the story ;)

Chapter summary

Chapter summary are exactly what you think they are. It is a shortened version of what each chapter contains. This is used to help determine the speed on your story and how the pace is going. If the summary is too short, then you don't have enough for that chapter-unless it's a fight scene, where 'fight happens' takes up too little space in summery, but lasts a while when actually written.

This can also help linear writers (most writers, i imagine), who write their chapters in order, know where to go next. What needs to happen before they can start the next chapter. Non-linear writers though (those who write key scenes first, and go back for the filler stuff, or the people who write what their inspired to write at the time) even more as they don't have to worry about 'whats's happened? What have my characters faced?' They can just look at the chapter summer and know what's happened.

If you can follow those steps, come up with a great story line/plot, that's ORIGINAL, you've already got 5% higher chance of people reading.

One last thing, when I say original, I don't mean you can't write Twilight fanfic or whatever. It means, make it completely different from everyone else. Instead of the girl being a werewolf or vampire, make her a Faerie (without the wings), or a mermaid.

Make it she doesn't like Jacob, or Edward or whoever, maybe she likes Emmet but she's Seth's mate. It's small things like that, keep people reading.

Next chapter: Characters, Set up, writer's block and BANG!