{"id":101376,"date":"2023-05-02T16:12:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-02T20:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=101376"},"modified":"2023-05-08T14:07:14","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T18:07:14","slug":"how-to-craft-a-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-craft-a-story\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Craft a Story: The 6-Step Process That Anyone Can Learn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Where do story ideas come from? What kinds of characters engage an audience? When you edit, what should you take out?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you have a message to convey to an audience, it takes time to craft a story<\/a> that\u2019s perfectly suited for the job. Biesenbach outlines a process you can use to create a story that matches the audience you need to reach and the message you want to deliver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn how to craft a story, from finding an idea to editing your draft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

How to Create and Tell a Great Story<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After establishing what a good story is and why it\u2019s so powerful, Biesenbach dedicates much of the book to explaining exactly how to craft a story and present it well. He explains that this is a process that anyone can learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step #1: Find Story Ideas<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

First, start<\/strong> cultivating a collection of stories<\/a><\/strong> that speak to your values and engage your areas of expertise. Coming up with a story in a pinch can feel difficult, so Biesenbach recommends noticing the stories that play out in your everyday life. It also helps to stay alert to stories in the books, journals, films, and other narratives you consume\u2014you never know when you\u2019ll run across a story that perfectly illustrates one of your core values<\/a>. You can also interview people about their stories or plumb your own history for stories that relate to the message you want to convey, like calling on a childhood memory of building a treehouse to talk about collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Looking for stories in your everyday life sounds great in theory but can prove challenging. In Made to Stick<\/em><\/a>, Chip Heath and Dan Heath agree with Biesenbach\u2019s recommendation to stay on the lookout for great stories that speak to your work or your mission. Additionally, they recommend imagining that you\u2019re wearing a set of core idea lenses<\/a> that can help you look at everything from the perspective of the message you need to communicate.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step #2: Consider Your Audience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Next, think about your audience<\/strong> and take an inventory of what you know about your listener. Without a specific listener in mind, you\u2019ll have trouble crafting a story that accomplishes your goals. Consider who they are, what they want, what you have in common with them, and what they know about you or what you represent. Also identify what you\u2019d like your audience to do after hearing your story\u2014adopt your idea, purchase your product, get behind your cause\u2014and any challenges that might stop them from doing so, such as limited time and resources or skepticism about your idea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Experts agree that you need to know your audience to craft a compelling story. Vanessa Chase Lockshin, the author of The Storytelling Nonprofit<\/em><\/a>, writes that telling a story about your cause or organization will work only if you get to know the audience<\/a> who will be listening to that story. She recommends going through a discovery process, including talking to real people, to learn who your audience really is. You can even construct a fictional audience member to make the details more concrete in your mind.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step #3: Choose Your Character, Goal, Obstacles, and Resolution<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once you have a story and an audience in mind, take some time to think<\/strong> about the character at the heart of your story<\/strong>. Because your character should help you overcome the challenges or objections you anticipate your audience having, the character needs to be relatable to your listeners. Plus, the resolution of the story\u2014where the character either does or doesn\u2019t overcome the obstacles that block the path to the goal\u2014should drive your message home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, let\u2019s say that you own an apple orchard and need to tell a story that convinces people to buy your apples\u2014but they find apples boring. So when you talk about your grandfather, who planted the orchard, you could explain how he envisioned an orchard full of odd varieties of apples: not Honeycrisp, Gala, or Granny Smith, but Black Oxford, Pink Pearl, or Mountain Rose apples. He likely faced many obstacles: Maybe he had trouble sourcing saplings, dealt with a rare beetle infestation, or felt doubted by other farmers. But when your story reaches the resolution of an orchard full of apples, your listeners appreciate the vision and the care it took to establish and tend that apple orchard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: It\u2019s crucial to take time to choose the right character because you can\u2019t separate story and character. In How To Read Literature Like a Professor<\/em><\/a>, Thomas C. Foster explains that the plot of a story is driven by the nature of the character<\/a>. As a literature professor, Foster is talking about the character in the context of a book-length narrative. But he notes that to hold the audience\u2019s attention, a character needs to grow or change\u2014a useful insight for a story of any length. Without growth or change on the part of the character, the obstacles won\u2019t feel challenging, the goal won\u2019t feel worthy of the character\u2019s pursuit, and the ending of the story won\u2019t feel satisfying. The right character sets all of those pieces in motion.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step #4: Structure and Focus Your Story<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve chosen a character and you know the basics of what will happen to him, you need to craft the structure of your story<\/strong>. Structure gives shape to the story so that it has conflict and draws the reader into the action. Stories can adopt many different structures, but Biesenbach suggests starting with a simple one that includes: <\/p>\n\n\n\n