I awaken with a few words on my mind. It quickly becomes a few hundred. Then the words manifest into a few thousand. Without warning, it flows into tens of thousands of words. And before long, a story is weaved together from a simple thought on a particular topic. The objective is to formulate a thesis sentence and expand until you have a fully developed argument with a positive and negative view. Of course, one will weigh out the other because there can only be one winner. Hence, a few words becomes a story.
As a writer, I usually do not adhere to the rules of writing my stories. I view myself as a storyteller first and a writer second. My goal is to take a reader on a journey and evoke some emotion, whether it is happiness, sadness, anger, laughter, etc. doesn’t matter to me. The idea is to create a movement of some sort that will give you pause. I believe the biggest challenge for writers is to give their stories a cause that readers can get behind. Like your favorite television program, you want your reader to root for or against the protagonist or antagonist. Fictional books should always be entertainment, but can also contain messages about humanity. Non-fictional books should always be informative but can be humorous or playful.
A few words become a story with an opening action scene. Nowadays, writers use a ton of foul language and violence to grab their audience. The action does not always have to equal shooting, stabbing, or the destruction of another. Sometimes, shock value does not hold a reader’s attention. Many times it is a turn-off. You can lose your reader before they even give your book a chance. An action scene can be as simple as walking, running, drawing, dialogue, etc. and be meaningful. We as humans are inherently nosey, so we are going to stick around to find out what is going on.
You don’t have to write a version of War and Peace to be understood or taken seriously as a writer. All these rules about chapter length and word count are technical — concentration on fleshing out your story first and worry about technique later. I have met many people who desire to put pen to paper to create manuscripts. I am living proof it can be done. My fan base grows with new readers every day. The emails I receive from my audience always reaffirm my work is worth it. When you allow the words to flow like the stream of a river, a few words become a story.