What Makes a Great Story?

If you're like us, you have a favorite story or two. Maybe it's an actual book, but chances are it's a movie or a show.

Okay, if you're weird, it could be a podcast.

The point is, great stories come in all shapes and sizes.

If you think of a story as a fluid idea that takes the shape of whatever container it's in, you're thinking like we do: You could pour your coffee into a small cup, a huge mug, or one of those stainless steel buckets-with-lids that are so popular these days—it's still the same coffee.

When you think of it like that, you're thinking in terms of what's called a media-agnostic idea. A story doesn't care how it gets carried. It's the same story no matter what container it's in.

And if that's true, then it must also be true that what makes a story great doesn't change either.

What Is Resonance?

Resonance is your desired outcome. It's what happens when your readers gasp and say, "No way!" It's what's working when they can't stop turning pages (old-school bingeing). It's what they feel when they cry at the end. And it's the reason they become a superfan and can't stop talking about your book.

We all want to be able to create resonance in our work. But how do we create it? It's actually pretty simple (notice we didn't say that it's easy).

Let's start with some of the basic building blocks of story.

What's an Inciting Incident?

Most stories these days begin with a bang. Action. The attention-getter.

It wasn't always this way (Jane Austen, we're looking at you. Respect).

Whether your story begins with a Michael Bay explode-o-palooza or sweet songbirds chirping on a branch above a meadow, every story needs a moment that kicks the main character out of their comfort zone and gets them moving.

Good To Know: Your main character, usually the good guy, is called the protag, or protagonist. The bad guy is usually the antagonist.

The inciting incident doesn't have to do much—just move your protag from stasis to action. It could be as small a thing as missing the bus. It could be as big as an asteroid on a collision course with earth.

What's a Story-Worthy Problem?

This one takes a little thought to get your arms around. Why? Because while it's closely related to the above kick-in-the-pants for your protag, it's not the same. Missing the bus isn't a big enough problem for your characters to wrestle with for an entire story (not one anyone's gonna want to read, anyway).

The story-worthy problem (SWP) must be big enough and thorny enough to burn for the full length of the story. Conflict is story fuel, so the minute you run out of it, the story's over. You'll want to put your brain to work here.

For example, in The Lord of the Rings, the SWP is the fact that the Ring of Power not only still exists but also must be destroyed. Everything else in the story happens because of that central tension. And that leads us nicely into archetypes.

What Are Plot Archetypes?

Christopher Booker identified these in his book Seven Basic Plots. Why's that matter? Only because we think he's profoundly correct. (The Lord of the Rings is one of the few books that fulfills all seven). Donald Miller built his Storybrand marketing framework, in part, around Booker's work. So, archetypes are a thing.

We won't swerve all the way into the weeds here, but there are good reasons we enjoy tragedy, comedy, and rags-to-riches stories today.

When a story ticks archetypal boxes, it sends certain signals to our subconscious that tell us we can either trust the storyteller or disbelieve them. Trust equals resonance, simply put. And resonance equals trust.

It doesn't matter if your book is fiction or nonfiction. You want to put archetypes to work for your story.

And storybuilding is our wheelhouse.

Where Do You Start?

First, send us your submission. If you feel like you're not ready yet, just contact us. We're happy to chat through next steps if you want.

We're excited for the journey ahead!