Writing Cookbook: How to Tell a Story

There are only a few specific ingredients to tell a good story, but they may not be what you think.

Good stories don’t need interplanetary travel, shocking twists, humor, or terrible tragedy.

A story really needs only one thing: a character changing.

Chances are, you’ve heard this before in some form, but how do you actually do that?

Here, we’re going to look at how you ‘actually do that’. This is a straightforward story template that illustrates character growth.

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to also check out “Showing Character Growth" as well, since it illustrates some of the same principles at work here. As a quick recap, we will believe that your main character has changed only when we see a change in action.

A story presents your main character with a problem, and that character will need to change something about themselves in order to solve it.

Without further ado, I give you, The 5 Parts of a Story:

1. Someone has a problem

2. They try to fix it

3. They fail

4. They change

5. They fix the problem

That’s it. Let’s go through each step.

As we do, I’m going to use examples from

- A college application personal statement about a student who learns to work well with others

- The movie Toy Story

---

Part 1 – Someone Has a Problem

The “Problem” can take many forms. Typically, the main character will either:

a. be threatened by an outside force

b. want/need something they don’t have

Problems can be internal or external, big or small.

On a surface level, the Problem motivates the main character to take action, but the Problem also serves to set in motion the events that will force the main character to grow.

You’ve probably noticed that in large-scale narratives like novels, movies, or TV shows, there will be several interrelated problems, but for most stories, just one Problem is plenty.

Sample College Essay: For juniors in our theater troupe, the spring play is our biggest event of the year. The seniors traditionally take on supporting roles, putting juniors in the spotlight so we can add something to our resumes for college. Even more important, it was my crush Stacy producing the play and asked me to write the script, so I wanted it to be a huge success.

Problem – Main character wants the play to be a huge success

Toy Story: At the beginning of the story, Woody is Andy’s favorite toy. The Problem arrives in the intergalactic form of Buzz Lightyear, who threatens Woody’s status when Andy begins to prefer Buzz.

Problem – Woody wants to protect his status as Andy’s favorite toy

Part 2 – They Try to Fix It

The main character now tries to do something about the Problem.

In these efforts, though, the main character reveals a shortcoming, one that initially prevents them from fixing the Problem.

Sample College Essay: I took charge of the scripting process. I was careful to avoid any outside input so that my ideas didn’t get polluted. Caffeine coursed in my pulsing veins through the night as I shaped keystrokes into the most beautiful, perfect play ever concocted for the spring musical.

Toy Story: When Woody hears that Andy can only take one toy to Pizza Planet, he knocks Buzz out the window, revealing Woody’s own jealousy and selfishness.

Part 3 – They Fail

This is the part everyone misses. They skip straight from Part 2 to Part 4, never allowing us to see the main character suffer or struggle.

There’s a natural temptation to make your main character always look good – particularly when that main character is you.

But, for the change in character your story should illustrate to be satisfying and persuasive to your audience, you need a low point where the main character genuinely hurts. And this hurt has to be their own fault.

This hurt is the reason your main character changes. We would love it if we could our shortcomings on a whim, but habits are hard to break. We need a strong motivation to do it. The hurt is that motivation.

Ideally, at this point in the story, you or your main character not only fails to fix the problem. They make it worse.

Sample College Essay: I showed my masterpiece to the lead actors, but the first rehearsal was a disaster. Stacy looked worried as they stumbled, uninspired, over my poetic monologues. They said they didn’t understand the lines I had written. At the end rehearsal, Stacy casually thanked me for writing “the first draft” and was going to have Terry, my rival, make some edits. In the meantime, she said, I could help out the lighting crew. I stewed as I coiled cable after cable for the next few rehearsals. Terry’s script was no better than mine.

Toy Story: After Buzz stows away on the back of the car headed to Pizza Planet, a series of mishaps land Woody and Buzz in a crane game at the restaurant, where they’re captured by the cruel Sid, who plans to launch them on an explosive rocket. Worse, Andy’s family is about to move out of town. Woody is further than ever from restoring his closeness with Andy.

Part 4 – They Change

This is where we learn the lesson of the story.

Spurred by the hurt of Part 3, the main character acknowledges and addresses their shortcoming, incorporating the “moral” of the story.

Sample College Essay: Enough was enough. If we wanted to make the musical a success, we had to work together. I approached Stacy at her locker after fourth period and asked if I could put a group together to get the play into shape. She cautiously agreed, and after rehearsal, I gathered Stacy, Terry, and all the leads together to go through the play scene by scene. I brewed pots of coffee so everyone else’s veins throbbed like mine as we worked through how to blend our ideas.

Toy Story: After Buzz realizes he’s a toy, not a real space ranger, Woody has to reassure him of his value to Andy. In doing so, Woody overcomes his jealousy when he reminds himself of his true goal - making Andy happy – and sets out to get himself and Buzz back home.

Part 5 – They Fix It

Finally, due to the Change exhibited in Part 4, the main character finally fixes the Problem.

This Part contrasts directly with Part 2, where we see how the growth has enabled the main character to address their shortcomings and allowed them to solve the Problem in a way they couldn’t have before the change.

Sample College Essay: The night of the opening, we peered through the curtain at the biggest audience ever gathered for the spring musical. We did not disappoint. Terry’s lines for the villain and my lines for the hero played off each other perfectly, and the leads and bit parts alike added their own flourishes to bring each role to life. As the actors bowed and the audience roared, Stacy gave me a kiss on the cheek as she clapped and jumped on her tiptoes.

Toy Story: Woody and Buzz use Sid’s rocket to catch up to the family car and land safely in a box next to Andy, who rejoices when he finds them.

---

As a side note, this template is for stories in the classical “Comedic” mode. This doesn’t mean that the story is intended to be humorous, per se, only that the main character successfully changes. A Tragedy follows the same pattern, but the main character fails to change, making them a cautionary tale for the audience.