How To Write A Story?

Beginning

The beginning should be direct, and the story should begin in the very first line. The writer should never introduce himself or the story to clarify particular things that are to be told later on. This destroys a semblance of reality in the story.

At the beginning of the story, the writer should introduce to the reader the different characters that take part in it. He should also show the trend of the story and point out the problem that the story will tackle or the incidents that will occur. So that, after having read the beginning of the story, the reader should have sufficient material to be able to appreciate all that comes later on. He should also have some idea of the things that are going to happen in the course of the story. The student should always remember that if the beginning of a short story is dull, the reader will not read further than that, so he should make it very interesting.

Main Body

In the main body, the trends shown by the story in the very beginning are further developed so that different elements that will contribute to the climax may develop. In the body of the story, the writer has to see to it that all conflicting forces that have to help in the final solution of the problem that the characters are facing may develop side by side, and the reader should have a slight inkling of the attitude of writer about things to come.

Climax

This is the most interesting part of the story. It brings about the last conflict between different forces or personalities of the story. Here, all the characters who are opposed to each other meet. The writer should try to make the climax a determining factor in the story. There should be a slight element of surprise in it. But he should be careful to keep this surprise within the limitations imposed by the rules of probability.

Ending

Very often, the end of the story and the climax come together. This gives a sharpness to the story which increases its charm. But, if that is not considered desirable, the student should come to the end of the story at the earliest after the climax. Any further dragging of the story is not considered desirable. This part of the story should be used to finally settle the questions that have been decided in principle by the resolution of the conflict in the climax. Thus, there may be a hint about reward or punishment that the characters receive, or there may be sme slight indication of the things that the writer expects would happen in the days to come. But it should not be enlarged upon in any case.