Brent Hartinger: The Simple Secret to Writing Great Stories

Hellooooooooooo HarperTeen FanLit readers!

Writing advice. That's what y'all want, right? The secret to writing a great story?

You're expecting me to say there is no secret, aren't you? That writing is hard work and there are simply no shortcuts?

Wrong! There IS a secret, a simple one. Here goes.

Imagine the most interesting person you can think of. That's the starting point for all good stories: the character.

Next, give that character something she wants really badly, something she feels like she'll just DIE if she doesn't get. Then put lots and lots of obstacles between that character and what she wants, things are way stronger and way bigger than she is. In other words, make the character work REALLY hard to get what she wants--so hard that the only way she can succeed is by becoming much stronger and bigger than she was before. That's the plot of your book.

And then, finally—you're almost done!—give that character some reward for all that hard work. It might not be what the character THOUGHT she wanted when she started out, but it turns out to be exactly what she NEEDED at that point in her life. That's your ending.

That's it. That's the secret to a good story! You write that, and I guarantee that lots of people will want to read it. It's so easy, isn't it?

Okay, so maybe it's not THAT easy. But you know what? It's not that hard either. Maybe there's even something in your own life, something that happened to you that would make a great story like this.

But take it from me: Good stories are about action and drama and desire and conflict and movement and satisfaction and change.

Whaddaya think? Do your favorite stories have all these elements?

Or am I totally blowing hot air? Unfortunately, it wouldn't be the first time.

Brent Hartinger
Author of Split Screen