Despite lists like Alan's - which are essentially accurate and useful - "what makes a good story" can fail to have any of those elements.
Really, written stories only require two elements:
Style. The use of prose in some way that holds the attention of the reader. We are all aware that a passage by one author we enjoy feels different than another favorite's. This isn't just individuality at play - we get something from those choices the writer makes about how to present the information the story contains using language that is spare, or humorous, or detailed, or rhythmic or uncomfortable. It is something that pulls us in early and keeps us in the world of the story when we come back to it.
Change. Whether it is twist or inevitable resolution, a story must display a change to an important element that it starts with. That can be the big twist, the end of the quest, character growth, character reveal or simply the moment the upset that started the story is rebalanced. That closes the arc and makes what the reader was doing have a point. The change makes it a story rather than a chronological list of events.
I never see real discussion of style. Writers who develop a sensitivity to it are unlikely to make many of the mistakes of poor fiction because it is very difficult to infodump or write reams of boring dialogue when you have a narrative voice that you are sticking to. That voice wouldn't annoy the reader.
This is wonderful, Stanley. Fantastic! Thank you. And much, much better said than what I was thinking of replying with.
I completely agree there has to be Change. The character(s) must change. Or the world has to change. Just what you said.
Style is definitely worth talking about. It's on my mind a lot at the moment, as I'm trying to establish a new authorial/narrative voice for myself, one that is leaner, meaner, and far more economical with the words on the page. For nearly two decades I've spelled things out to a certain degree in my stories. However, I really enjoy reading those books and short fiction that seem to pack 100 words into 20. So I'm trying to improve my skills, use subtext to a greater extent, etc. Yeah, we should talk about this more.
One question about style: is it not as subjective as the broader question of what makes a story "good"? Some readers and writers prefer a story told with tight plotting and a concise narrative voice. That may suggest fast pacing, but I don't know if it has to be. Meanwhile, other readers enjoy a full page description of the food on the table at a family's regular Sunday dinner and a slower narrative that lets them while away the hours with the characters.
Agreed. My list was making a purposeful distinction between what I found to be the elements of a "good" story and the telling of that story, which is all about the prose itself.
Certainly, a story can have everything I listed and be told in such an unattractive way that reading it is not enjoyable. As a personal example, I will use Stephen King: clearly a master of story but I find his prose uninteresting. His work converts well to screenplays though, which suggests that the story is "good", it's how it's told that makes or breaks it.
Thank you for the distinction, Alan. That's important to consider too. As I've said in this thread, what makes a story "good" is entirely subjective. And, yet, there is some objectivity to it as well. Both of which you noted with the example of Stephen King. I haven't read enough of King to comment on him directly, but I imagine we all have examples to fit the situation.
