What's the Secret Ingredient to a Great Story?

[Darkodia]

Hey fellow storytellers and story lovers!

I've been on a bit of a quest lately, trying to crack the code on what makes a story truly memorable. There are so many elements that can contribute to a great story - complex characters, evocative settings, gripping plot twists, and more. But I'm really curious to hear from this community of avid readers and writers:

In your opinion, what is the single most crucial element that elevates a good story to greatness?

Is it a protagonist you can root for, a villain you love to hate, the emotional journey, or perhaps the message that resonates with you long after the story is over? Maybe it's something more subtle, like pacing, tone, or the authenticity of the dialogue?

 

[Jemini]

This seems like a somewhat dumb question, because the answer is simple. It's all of it. There is no one "ingredient" in isolation that will make a story great if any single one of the other aspects are neglected.

That said, so long as everything meets a certain minimum standard, it is possible for one element to outshine the others and become what a series is memorable for. When this is the case, the entire work needs to be made to revolve around that aspect. A good example would be "Freiren, After the Journey's End," which has it's anime adaptation airing this season. It focuses hard on the characters and the atmosphere, and it's able to do this because the entire story is written in such a way that it revolves around those aspects.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

Hey fellow storytellers and story lovers!

I've been on a bit of a quest lately, trying to crack the code on what makes a story truly memorable. There are so many elements that can contribute to a great story - complex characters, evocative settings, gripping plot twists, and more. But I'm really curious to hear from this community of avid readers and writers:

In your opinion, what is the single most crucial element that elevates a good story to greatness?

Is it a protagonist you can root for, a villain you love to hate, the emotional journey, or perhaps the message that resonates with you long after the story is over? Maybe it's something more subtle, like pacing, tone, or the authenticity of the dialogue?

I like icebergs. Seemingly not much on the surface, but you can dive below to find a ton.

 

[Deleted member 1244]

Words

 

[Deleted member 84247]

Words

Or if you are Bo Burnham- Words, Words, Words

 

[kokiboki]

Hey fellow storytellers and story lovers!

I've been on a bit of a quest lately, trying to crack the code on what makes a story truly memorable. There are so many elements that can contribute to a great story - complex characters, evocative settings, gripping plot twists, and more. But I'm really curious to hear from this community of avid readers and writers:

In your opinion, what is the single most crucial element that elevates a good story to greatness?

Is it a protagonist you can root for, a villain you love to hate, the emotional journey, or perhaps the message that resonates with you long after the story is over? Maybe it's something more subtle, like pacing, tone, or the authenticity of the dialogue?

Love is the ingredients

 

[Sola-sama]

Love is the ingredients

That's kinda gay, but alright.

Hey fellow storytellers and story lovers!

I've been on a bit of a quest lately, trying to crack the code on what makes a story truly memorable. There are so many elements that can contribute to a great story - complex characters, evocative settings, gripping plot twists, and more. But I'm really curious to hear from this community of avid readers and writers:

In your opinion, what is the single most crucial element that elevates a good story to greatness?

Is it a protagonist you can root for, a villain you love to hate, the emotional journey, or perhaps the message that resonates with you long after the story is over? Maybe it's something more subtle, like pacing, tone, or the authenticity of the dialogue?

The true secret ingredients for a story is

 

[Deleted member 84247]

That's kinda gay, but alright.



The true secret ingredients for a story is

Me.

 

[Tempokai]

Everything can be the memorable points of the story, but I can say that the least memorable is the dialogue. Sure, it can be memorable, but you 100% wouldn't remember the word to word, remembering one liners and whatnot.

 

[Paytoechip]

I like icebergs. Seemingly not much on the surface, but you can dive below to find a ton.

Fluff

 

[Deleted member 84247]

Fluff

Blood and vampires actually.

 

[Rhaps]

My secret is dice, the spirit of "Fuck it we ball" is always with me. Believe in the Will of the Dice, and you will succeed

 

[gaylolis]

i think what differentiates a good story and a great story / masterpiece is relevance.

no matter how good is the writing, if it alienates you as the reader / audience, it will just be a good story at best.

but if it can make you feel like the part of the story, that you can resonate with the characters and their struggles, then that story can easily stood above the rest. plus points if the world building is also immersive, that you can imagine yourself exploring and wanting to know more about that world.

though what's relevant to one may not be so for the other. as they say, you can't please everyone.

that's why i just mainly pick those that personally interest me and stories that feel 'relevant' for me rather than their technical excellence.

 

[Sweetmeat]

In my opinion, interesting and likeable characters are the most important element to a story. You can have a mediocre setting and a predictable plot structure, and it will still be an enjoyable story if it has characters that you like reading about. But on the other hand, even if you have an awesome and unique setting/plot, if you hate the MC you'll still hate the story.

 

[Indicterra]

Authors who can actually write the story,

 

[Deleted member 1244]

subtle commentary on what it means to be alive

 

[pqrs]

In your opinion, what is the single most crucial element that elevates a good story to greatness?

MSG

 

[TheEldritchGod]

okay... you want the secret?

HARD WORK.

It's a numbers game. Write three times what you need, throw out the worse half. SLOWLY pair down the remaining until you have the absolute BARE MINIMUM to tell the story while still being good.

It's called WORK. Grind it out. That's it. Anyone can be a good writer if they put in the time.

 

[Kalliel]

Immersion.

 

[PancakesWitch]

I'm fairly sure you're just asking this because you want to profit off what you write. You won't get any serious answers here regarding marketing, this place is more for people that just like writing in general.

I can't say for sure what makes a story special, everything all at once maybe. Or maybe not. The market and audience is ever changing, popular stories dethrone the previous ones almost daily.

Ultimately, writing the proper popular genres is what comes to mind, and then, the rest? Read the popular stuff, understand what pepole like about them, then write your own.

Or you can be like me and write what YOU want to write, what comes from within YOUR HEART.

Because ultimately, a great story is the one I enjoy and love writing.

Although I've reached a stable point in my life quite quickly from what I earn writing, this was never achieved on the spot, this was never achieved through the often miraculous rises of popular stories, where from a month to another they get 10k usd in their patreon or something.

I worked really hard to get where I am right now, very hard. I've never written popular things, I've never made people say OMG that super best sellign amazong thing! I just accumulated stories and slowly earned from all of them, turning out to make a great profit over time.

I wish, REALLY WISH I could rise like all these lucky people, so unaware of their own fortune, but I am just a struggler at the end.

And I've learned to enjoy it.