Building a Story

Every story starts with a hook. Something to really draw in your readers. After you have their attention you introduce the characters if you didn't already in the hook.  Now that you're into the story you have your first act break where the story takes a turn to the dark side.  That is followed by the second act break where the story, again, takes a turn for the worse. This is where you introduce the internal conflict for the characters.  The final act break is next where the external conflict is revealed. Now the story is there and you just have to finish strong.  There has to be a good resolution that is quick. This is your last chance to keep your readers into your story. Throughout the story you have to keep asking what your character's motivation is. Why are they doing what they are doing? Does it make sense?  Keeping a beat sheet is a good way to keep good structure in your story.  It is basically an outline for your story that is separated out by the formula described earlier.