Literary Story as an Art Form: A Text for Writers

Great stories are dramatically constructed art forms—a sculpture in words—that produce enlightened change in characters and readers. Stories are not beautiful descriptions of abstractions lived—such as love, hate, revenge, or jealousy. And stories are not created to purge the author of an emotional or intellectual crisis.  Stories are also not character sketches or detailed descriptions of events that moved the author. Stories are characters with strong desires, acting to resolve conflict in meaningful ways. Through drama, the reader is  in the conflict with the characters—and discovering meaning too.