According to Lisa Cron, "a story is how what happens affects someone who is trying to achieve what turns out to be a difficult goal, and how he or she changes as a result."
Broken down: a story is how what happens [plot] affects someone [protagonist] who is trying to achieve a difficult goal [story question], and how he or she changes because of it.
I've written about the story question before.
The takeaway here, though, is that a story isn't just something that happens, or something that happens to someone, or even something dramatic that happens to someone. More structure is required if the reader is going to close your book with a sigh of satisfaction.
But there's a formula, and if you can keep these key elements in mind, you'll be in a better position to write a successful story.
Story = plot + protagonist + resolved question/problem.
For further reading on this, I highly recommend Cron's Wired for Story.
Be Brilliant!
~Katie~
