Breathing Soul into a Story

Have you ever thought about what makes a good story, well, good? Good stories have a soul. They conjure images inside your head, provoke emotions and touch you. They're not just stories; they become part of our life, our memories.

So in a way, writers are like gods. We create those stories, and it is our responsibility to breathe a soul into every one of our stories, to turn them into more than just a mere alignment of words. I've heard from many novel writers that their characters stay with them and become an integral part of their lives until the novel is finished, and that the last word seems like saying farewell to dear friends.

Now, what exactly is the soul of a story? Is it a good plot, or well-developed characters? In my opinion, it is simple: A good story's soul are its emotions. The problem: Actually, it is not as simple, or could you tell for sure what causes a story to have emotions? Some people will be touched by a certain story setting, or a plot arch, because it touches their own life experiences and memories. Other people won't be touched at all by the very same story. People are all different, and they read stories in different ways.

This difference makes writing a good story a damn hard job. The trick is to pour your own emotions into the story while you write it. Let your own joy, fear, sorrow or regret flow into your story, weave your dreams and experiences in, and write a story that touches you, the writer. Your story's soul still won't be noticeable for every one of your readers, but chances are that many of your readers will feel the emotions you wove into the story. Don't be afraid to write about something which makes you break into tears or lets you giggle like a crazy idiot (but you probably might want to write these stories at home and not, like I've done before, in a public place like a café or a bakery). But most important of all: Write because you feel the need to write, not because you force yourself to do it.