How to Write a Story (add Magic Sauce)

Put together a few basic elements in the right way, add some magic sauce, and you’ve got yourself a compelling story. Let’s dive in and discover how to write a story.

Let's write a story. First step: Take pen lid off.

I think of a story as I do any piece of writing. Break it up into the same

3 elements:

1. Introduction

2. Body, and

3. Conclusion

Let’s look at each section in more detail.

Introduction

The introduction is the SETUP. It

• Sets the scene and sets up expectations. What type of story is it?

and introduces the:

• Characters (who)

• Setting (where and when)

• Goal (what and why)

For example:

Johnny (character) is at school (setting) with his friends (setting), Max and Larry (characters). It is late in the day (setting). They can't wait to get out of class (goal) because they have footy practice (goal)

Magic Sauce

Now, you can make your story even better by sprinkling some Magic Sauce all over it. Not just throughout the introduction, but throughout the whole story.

What is Magic Sauce? Simply:

• Feelings

• Adjectives

How is Johnny feeling? Describe him. Describe other things that matter and help to set the scene.

Johnny is bored and restless. Johnny is cheeky, messy, and unfocused. Johnny is a troublemaker. The school is strict. His friends are accomplices.

Add what is relevant, aids understanding, and adds dimension to the story.

Now, Up the Stakes:

Footy practice is important because there's going to be a footy scout present who is looking for the 'next big thing'. They only do this once a year, and today is the day!

Body

The body is the bulk of the story. It includes:

• Steps taken towards the goal

• Hurdles and roadblocks stopping the character(s) from reaching the goal (the 'baddie')

• Repeat (again and again and again and again)

Johnny is watching the clock. His teacher hands out homework sheets. He screws his up and attempts to handball it to Max. The teacher nearly sees him, but doesn't. Max and Larry handball the sheet to one another. It accidentally hits another student, Laura, in the head. Laura tells the teacher. The teacher picks up the sheet. Everyone else still has their sheet, except for Johnny. Johnny has to stay back after class. Johnny is going to be late to practice.

Oh no! Now you decide: Is he going to get back on track and take a step closer towards his goal, or is he going to get further away? Does he do the detention, get out with enough time to run to footy practice and still be there on time to play for the scout? Or does he argue with the teacher and end up in the principal's office with no chance of release? Does he end up in a fist fight in the corridoor? Does he get hit by a car when he's running to the oval? Does he get a phone call to say that his mum is in the hospital? What happens is up to you. Get creative. Continue moving him closer to, then further away from his goal. Then repeat. Mess with your reader's emotions!

He misses footy practice and his friends get picked but he doesn't. How unfair! It was them that made him miss the practice.

He goes to the hospital to see his mum and misses the practice but the footy scout finds out and gives him another chance.

He gets to practice on time but doesn't get picked.

Also, KEEP UPPING THE STAKES where you can. If he accepts an offer from the scout, perhaps he will lose his friends. Maybe he breaks his leg when he is playing? Maybe he is diagnosed with a terminal condition and this is his last chance at being a footy star.

Honestly, the options are endless. What type of story is it? Is it science fiction? Do aliens come and kidnap him? Does he find out that the scout is a humanoid machine that wants to change his beloved game of football forever? Does someone kidnap the scout? Does someone kidnap Johnny? Does he walk though a portal that sends him to a magical football world?

My tip: Remember the end goal. If you take the story in random places with no purpose, it will feel aimless and unsatisfying.

Conclusion

The conclusion wraps up the story and does one of two things:

• Reaching the goal

• Shifting or elimination of the goal

In one of two ways:

• Happy ending - Satisfaction/contentment, or

• Unhappy ending - Chaos/dissatisfaction

Does Johnny get picked by the scout but fall out of love with football because the professionals are all arseholes? Does Johnny realise that he's happier playing footy in his old team with his mates? Does he become a football superstar and the book ends up with his mates watching him kick a winning goal from the crowd? Does the scout suggest that he'd be better suited to rugby? Does he try it and love it even more? Does he miss the scout but fall in love with a girl who sits in detention with him? Does he die from that terminal cancer diagnosis and a footy scholarship is set up in his honor?

Time to wrap this baby up. How does it end?

(Add a football)

Some more Magic Sauce

1. Things that interest you

2. Things that you care about or are passionate about

This Magic Sauce is optional, but it certainly helps to bring feeling, intensity and emotion into your story. If you're interested in football, then you can focus on the technical play stuff (that I clearly know nothing about) and write about how Johnny performs in front of the scout. If you feel strongly about the injustices of detention, then you could write about how Johnny fights the system and wins a battle against the education department for compensation resulting to monetary losses and emotional distress following his lost opportunity. Again, the opportunities are endless. Make the story uniquely yours. Combine your passion for football with your love of dinosaurs, why the heck not? If you care about your story, then other people probably will too because it will shine through in the story.

Things not to do

• Stress about spelling, grammar, or whether anyone else is going to love your story

Spelling and grammar can be fixed later, and there are always going to be people who love what you write and people who don't love it. You can't please everyone. Don't try to.

Anyone can write a story, and there is literally an audience for EVERYTHING. If you write a story about an accountant's inability to balance a financial statement, then you're going to end up with a unique niched-down tale that some finance guys out there are going to LOVE! Just work your way through the setup, the turmoil of the body, then conclude it with a heap of magic sauce added, and you've got yourself a story; Well done!

Happy writing!

Much love,

Marley