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The three parts of a story are Characters, Presentation, and Plot

For most writers, this is the most important part. Characters and plots are the things we create in our heads and become all excited about, but a poor presentation can torpedo the entire project. Creating a good writing style takes time, energy, and tons of practice, but it is very worth it.

This is what I had to go to school to learn. I wrote dozens of short stories before I actually nailed down one of my primary flaws. It was something that changed my style forever, but the basics of these styles can be found in books and creative writing classes. I will tell you a little about my writing style now:

What Person?

1st Person - "I went to the corner store and bought some bread. The day was hot, sticky, and long ..."

The person telling us the tale is also the main character.

2nd Person - "I remember the day Jack went to the store to buy some bread. It was a scorcher out ..."

We are being told the story by another character who also exists in the story. Also referred to as a "Story within a Story."

3rd Person - "On one of the hottest days of the year, Jack went to the store to buy some bread."

An emotionless narrator tells a tale that has already occurred.

I write primarily in 3rd person limited. This means I tell my story from one character's limited point of view. The narrative voice is always past tense, accept in very specific situations. 1stperson writing bothers me. I also dislike jumping between too many characters.

Show, Don't Tell

It took me forever to figure out what this means. Don't say, "Jack went and bought some bread on a hot day." Show us... tell the story... "Jack gripped the handle of his local gas station and dragged his feet to the back of the store. The pounding in his head was almost louder than the inner mono-log who dictated the grocery list. Bread... milk... vitamins... the things that he needed to finish this terrible errand so he could crawl back into bed..." The information of where Jack is, what he is doing, and how crappy he feels has all been given to us and it is in a much more interesting manner. Remember to entertain your audience or they will not care how good of a story it is.

Showing the audience how a character feels takes time. Step-by-step they character takes actions, each action is described in the type of detail which will paint the scene. The colors, smells, and experiences of the audience are felt as the character experiences them. This is always more interesting than simply telling the audience what is there, but an author must always be careful not to talk too long about details that interest no one other than the author.

Don't Make Lists... and don't start every sentence with the subject

"Jack went to the store looking for bread. He knew it was a hot day but he was out of everything. His head hurt, a result of too much drinking, and this place was close to home. He only needed a few things, though, then he could go back to bed and try to sleep off the previous night."

Bored yet? There is a very simple trick to avoiding the paragraph sound like a list of events. Whenever possible, do not begin a sentence with a pronoun. HE should do nothing!

Instead of: "He knew it was a hot day but he was out of everything ..."

Change the order of the sentence: "The fridge chose the hottest day of the year to run bare and the grumbling of an angry room-mate was worse than the march of hang-over boots as they stomped in his brain."

The sentences will become longer, they will give better information, and, hopefully, entertain. Also ... you will seem way cooler, as a writer, and that is always a plus.

The Senses

Use them all. Your audience needs to know how hot it is, how the ground smells, the fact that the main character is hung-over and his pounding head makes it hard to focus on anything else. Later, he might notice the sweat on his body has soaked through his favorite shirt. Don't tell me about the cracks in the sidewalk (unless you like that sort of thing) but be sure to tell me that the ground is sticky from gum and left over waste.

Filling the senses with information is a wonderful way to draw an audience into a story. It puts the reader in the place of the character and allows them to feel what the character feels. This power must be used carefully, though, too much detail will overload the reader and too little will dry the story out. Every writer, every story, and every scene will have its own balance, and that balance will need to be tweaked during edits.

Know Your Target Audience

Who is going to read your stuff? Kids? Adults? Perverts? A mixture of folks? This is way more important than most give it credit for. If you "just write" you might create something that alienates your audience. We cannot please everyone but if you write a book for 14 year olds then suddenly toss in a hard core porn scene or a gory death you are going to lose them. Also, if you go for over the top horror then suddenly have some touching thoughts on feeding 3rd world nations ... well ... it might baffle your target audience. Target audience should determine on your tone, your vocabulary, and how you treat the people turning the page. WHO are they? That is what should determine your style.