The 7 Elements of a Strong Story

[@joshua376]

I can’t even put into words how much of a gift you are to the world. These videos are GEMS.

[@thomascrump1165]

I haven't found the words either.

[@jackhaggerty1066]

@@thomascrump1165 How about *The Square Root of Wonderful* which happens to be a play by Carson McCullers who wrote three perfect novels: The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, The Member of the Wedding and Clock Without Hands.

[@thomascrump1165]

@@jackhaggerty1066 Well said and thanks for the novel suggestions.

[@gutenbird]

Nice comment.

[@justforrandom]

right when i NEEDED IT thank you for all your hard work everyone who works on this channel

[@trinaq]

Thanks for this video, it's insanely helpful!

[@deadeaded]

My favourite element is definitely style. Style makes or breaks a story for me.

[@the7thseven873]

I always had trouble coming up with a theme for my story. So I just started writing without thinking much about it. Halfway through it I got a picture of the theme that fits.✨ Character is one of my Favourite. Especially when I discover more about the character’s back story as I create them.

[@meggers1771]

Many great writers have said they do the same, and themes come to them as they tell the story and tends to shape their ending, so don't fret too much about having to have a theme early.

[@SHInangli]

I should really try that cuz' I feel like I'm digging for nothing. It's a relief though, that I'm not the only one who clearly has no idea on what their story's theme is

[@u_t_d_s_h-1_a]

There are good writers ---and there great story tellers, sadly---however, not all story teller write good, not all good writers could ever manage to tell a coherent story readers would enjoy, only very today few possess a convergence of good writing skills along with great story telling ability.

[@Teckno72]

It’s well worth listening to you! I like to play with setting. Like you said, if done right, it really adds a lot to the story.

[@sambsadashiv108]

Great video thank you so much.

[@mudskippa8958]

I think if you're a first time author with no connections, your only chance of getting published is having a high concept. Sadly, no agent seems to want to take the time. I got told "I write well" which is better than crickets. But there was clearly no way the agent would read enough to think about buying the book. We're talking literary fiction so it shouldn't be about instant gratification. But that seems the way these days.

[@gutenbird]

Sounds interesting. Do you have anything that I might read online?

[@TiMBiiZ]

Look beautiful n informative , video.

[@candellina6]

I appreciate the brass music at the end of the video.

[@kaundachomba1557]

Hey their I've been writing stories to myself for two years now, and yes my writing has greatly improved from when I started. And a huge thanks goes to your videos.

[@gutenbird]

Wow. What kind of stories do you write?

[@perrywarren8743]

Thnx for these tips 👌🏻

[@thomascrump1165]

I love me some conflict but I have to say my favorite part of stories is character.

[@gutenbird]

Who are your favorite characters and why do you love them?

[@jackhaggerty1066]

7 is a clever number. Traditionally the Brahmanda was divided into 14 worlds, 7 upper world and 7 lower worlds. If you like numbers as a way of suggesting story ideas, read Ian Stewart, emeritus professor of mathematics at Warwick University. Read *Calculating the Cosmos - How Mathematics Unveils the Universe* & *Professor Stewart's Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities*. I would only add form to your Elements: it was form that excited me in reading Gunter Grass, Isabel Allende, Mario Vargas Llosa, Italo Calvino. How else to explain the strange authority of Grass's *Dog Years* or Llosa's *The Green House* or *The Portrait of a Lady* by Henry James? Worldbuilding Bible is a useful phrase: think of worlds created by Sarah Perry in *Melmoth* & Dan Simmons in his terrifying *Hyperion*. Alexander Trocchi asked: *Is there no character in the book large enough to doubt the validity of the book itself?* From Trocchi's *Cain's Book*.

[@gutenbird]

Interesting comment. Can you tell me more about Ian Stewart?

[@lakeshagadson357]

I just love giving a point of view tp help it make sense but I would like to know what ideas would you give me for my story

[@SteveLorenzBicycleTour]

You don't add a theme to a plot. You start with a theme because your theme tells you why you want to write the story. Without the why, you don't have a deep story.

[@lakeshagadson357]

I want to start a memior on my life but I got a couple of ideas on what I want to write about and get some feedback on

[@billyalarie929]

Lovely, as usual.

[@YusufOzgurBahar]

Wow, i think she deserves more attention and subs

[@Wolf-ge7iz]

I love character and world buiding! Not to good at either tho. Lol!

[@Remiss63]

Sp: “punhcy”

[@Remiss63]

Sp: “confilict”

[@PhoenixCrown]

My story began with a theme, and then I feel like one of my biggest failings was not understanding exactly which part/side of the theme each of my characters represented. I definitely don't want to have a "heavy hand" and tell people how to think--I want the characters to explore all sides of themes as complex as mortality, life, survival, and inequality.

[@augustlongpre64]

Can you please do a video on writing fictional journals as a storytelling device? Thanks for everything

[@sithlordbilly4206]

Hello, 😄

[@mutmainnahansari6451]

Are you author? If you are so where I'll get book written by you. Please inform me. I would like to read it.😊 Please inform me dear ma'am.

[@gladiator652004]

I'm reading the Cazelets series, which seems to me weirdly weak on plot, almost "everything that happened to an extended family on its collective summer holiday", and as a result it is taking me a while to get through it, though it succeeds on all other elements.

[@davidbru1]

Okay new music slay

[@davidbru1]

Okay and animation I see you

[@jackhaggerty1066]

New music slay. Listen to *Naima* (KZbin) by John Coltrane, written for his wife. Sublime. Coltrane (1926-67) was an American genius who earned so little he struggled to pay the rent on his Harlem apartment.

[@gutenbird]

I hope you keep doing these videos.

[@Subahan_R]

Does being a content writer hurt one's creativity if one wishes to be a writer or a novelist? Anyone please answer this.

[@gutenbird]

Probably not. I'm guessing that being a content writer would help your creativity.

[@dhrmendrkumardhrmendrkumar2563]

Outstanding

[@skywa7183]

Plsv remove the background music. Kinda distractin

[@djtwister6997]

I miss her long hair, look so good.

[@jackhaggerty1066]

Scott Fitzgerald wrote a delightful short story *Bernice Bobs Her Hair* (Wikipedia) published 1920, Saturday Evening Post. In the post-1918 world young women were getting their hair cut and Scott modelled his story after his wife Zelda, who else? Perhaps too he was thinking about the fate of Rapunzel, the German fairy tale recorded by the Brothers Grimm. *I lost my capacity for hope on the little roads that led to Zelda's sanatorium,* Scott wrote when Zelda was in a mental home.

[@ihategooglealot3741]

Character

[@jackhaggerty1066]

Characters who make sense and characters who don't make sense. Tarka in *Tarka the Otter* makes sense. Who can fathom Iago in Othello or Lady Macbeth or Captain Ahab in Moby-Dick or Uriel in Genesis who buries Adam & Abel in Eden ?