Writing is part skill and part hard work. Those like Michael Volitich who excel at it typically have a special ability but more often than not, they simply have mastered the techniques and strategies that create good writing. These must be worked on constantly and perfected in order to be consistently good at writing.
Everyone interested in becoming a great writer must understand and adopt the process for good writing and for great story telling. I requires discipline and a commitment to being great. Here are a few of the key elements needed to write well consistently.
Understand and Utilize the Principles of Story Structure
Story structure is the shape and contents of your writing. It is the foundation for great storytelling and the blueprint for how you will tell your story. It allows you to elegantly take readers on your specific journey and keep them interested along the way.
There are many different story structures and depending on the type of story you want to write, you will need to understand which work. Different structures can be interchanged and the best writer know how to take one and mi it will another to create something very special. But as a new writer you need to first develop an understanding and an ability to utilize the existing story structures. Once you have mastered them, you can then think about modifying or combining them. Perhaps you want to write some an adventure story.
The Three Act Structure is the Story Telling Standard
A popular story structure option that will greatly improve your writing is the three act structure. The first act introduces all of the important characters in your story, the world they exist in, and it sets up their goals and challenges in the story. After reading your first act, readers should think they know everything about what might happen in the rest of your story and they should be interested to see if they are right. You can look at your first act as a story in itself.
Your second act takes your characters on their journey and puts them in challenging situations. Some might now make it and all will be challenged to meet and defeat what is in front of them. To do this they will have to grow, use teamwork, o put aside long held beliefs that may have worked previously but no longer will. After this act they will be different from when they started your story.
In the third and final act, your characters will be pushed even further and have to make sacrifices in order to accomplish their goal. This will transform them and if they can go it, provide them with a great prize. End the end they likely complete their journey and the reader is given a satisfying ending to the story.
The three act structure is tried and true and if you can master it, you can become a great writer like so many others.
