The Essence of a Story
by Paul W. Lewis

What makes a story? What makes the difference between a stack of mere facts and an actual narrative? Since I was a wee lad in literature class, my teacher drilled it into me that the answer was "conflict." But somehow, that never sat well with me. It wasn't until much later that I figured out why. It's true that good stories involve conflict, but conflict alone does not make a story.

Every day ocean waves essentially do battle against the rocks of a shoreline. This is a conflict of sorts, but it doesn't make a story. It leaves us asking, "Who cares?" because it lacks that essential element that makes it a story.

"Yes," my kindly literature teacher might say, "It lacks persons. You must have persons in conflict." Then let's take an example using persons: Two scholars debate a topic, each attacking the other's view. Again you have conflict, but no story. You might care who wins the debate, but no one could call a debate a story.

Again, my literature teacher might chime in, "The reason it's not a story is because the conflict lacks a sequence of events. Then you have a story." So then, let's take a sequence of events involving people: A man with a stone attacks another man and murders him. This is conflict, and the battle may span a long sequence of events, but it's still not a story. By itself, a description of the battle is nothing more than a post-mortem. But introduce choices, and there you have a story. For instance, Cain chose to kill Abel — why? There is the story. And what did Abel do afterward? He chose to cover up his murder. The story continues.

What makes a story? If I had to boil it down to just one thing (and that doesn't quite work because stories are made up of many elements) I would have to say choices. Stories follow people making choices and where those choices lead them. To do that, stories require people (or characters that are like people). They involve conflict because choices require choosing A against non-A—that by definition creates conflict. And they involve a sequence of events so that we can see where the choices lead. But at the heart of a story is a choice. Will Maria choose to stay with the Von Trap family, or give up and become a nun? Will Frodo choose to destroy the ring of power, or run away, or allow himself to be seduced by its power? Take any story. At it's heart, it revolves around choices.

If you keep this idea in mind, your writing will go much easier. You no longer have to invent new and bigger ways of exploding a car. You simply have to define the choices facing your characters. Even intricate and complex stories can be built around a simple choice, because each choice leads to consequences that lead to a new set of choices.