People have many opinions on what may make a movie, novel, video game campaign or a TV show’s storyline “good” or “bad”. It is embedded in our ornate nature to be able to identify perfectly crafted stories–to discuss, dissect, partake in listening and telling our own stories (albeit some less than others.) After all, this habit familiar to human nature alone is how we’ve survived, grown old and eventually keep our loved ones safe, while also entertaining younglings. So the truth is, the recalling of a horrible story plot brings up such turmoil and disgust, because we know what makes up a good story.
After my escapade through Reddit, I couldn’t help but research and write about the different things that make up a “bad” story. As a writer myself, I was interested in getting the answer to this question because I am always down to improving my writing skills, and taking about terrible story plots.
what a story contains: the bare minimum
We know that a story in its skeletal form includes an introduction, a body and a conclusion. This can also be reworded as a beginning, a middle, and an ending. There are so many different ways to name the several in-betweens when it comes to storytelling (peep this book for more information on that…), but in my opinion, if you have the three main foundations laid–beginning, middle and end–your story is set in place. Not saying it will be stellar, but it will be set to be called just that. A story. I thought it would be fun to discuss what a bad story contains so I’d have more reference. I mean, it’s innate in all of us to easily identify it, so I should already know all of this stuff, right? Right!?!
a bad story defined
1.) There is no main antagonist. (taken from here)
If I am reading a novel, or watching whatever involves a storyline, and there is no apparent threat to the main protagonists or characters, then guess what? I am going to get bored–with a capital B, baby! There needs to be some action, drama, murder, disagreement, death, or even betrayal for me to get invested (this is about fiction stuff, not real life things, ok?) And in the special case there are no external antagonists, I want to know if there is an internal antagonist. Maybe the MC is fighting against himself? Maybe he has some kind of disorders? Something along those lines. Ah, now we’re cooking up some good stuff.
2.) Character is vague and unclear.
Writer Vince Stevenson, founder of College of Public Speaking 2006, made a comment in his article about what makes a bad story, stating that “A bad story is under-prepared or not rehearsed. It stands to reason. If you saw a play and the actors didn’t know their lines or where to move, you’d leave, wouldn’t you? A lousy story also doesn’t anchor the content to a particular place. Stories seem formless or vague unless positioned somewhere – where the action takes place. Again, that’s why the first ten seconds of some movies set up the starting location and time. Classic example: “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”
I wrote an entire four-page-essay (it wasn’t really an ‘essay’…more like a venting blog post that I then ended up word counting just share here since I greatly felt that the topic I wrote about needed my 1,000 words) on a specific character from the Mortal Kombat 1 game because I found him to be an overall bland and uninteresting character. (I won’t say his name…but he is cold as ice…) Because of this, I found myself not really enjoying the game as a whole when it came to him because nothing about him was relatable because I do not know his goals or why he wants them . Having a clear-defined character is always key when it comes to any storyline. In movies, you can usually tell who is the comedic relief, the loser, the main character, etc. Now these tropes are stupid most of the time and also involve some generalization, but boy are they reliable. However, I do want to include this juicy piece of information from School of Plot, sharing this as a reason on their “What Makes A Story Badly Written List“:
Over-reliance on tropes/archetypes without a willingness to dive deeper when it’s needed. For example, the love interest is assigned the ‘tortured bad boy’ trope but it’s not explored further, or the protagonist is assigned the ‘sunshine’ trope but lacks dimension. Relying on tropes to do the heavy lifting without engaging deeper.
This is a really big one for me, because I love reading about depth in characters. I love learning their backstories, why they are the way they are, what their fears are and how they discover their strengths. It just helps me sympathize so much better with them. This is the reason why Itachi Uchiha from Naruto, Muzan Kibutsuji from Demon Slayer and Much Afraid from Hinds Feet on High Places will always stick to my brain like glue. (Oh and Guy Montag from Fahrenheit 451!)
3.) Plot holes are not resolved or continuously retconned.
This is a sign of lazy writing for me. I have written novels before, and I fully admit that following a story as long as something like a novel is not for the weak. You have to go through page after page, planning and changing things up so the story can flow. This is one reason why I ran away from novel writing for a bit, because the fear of messing anything up just began to consume me ever since I felt a connection leaving with my characters. Because the reader/watcher will know if there was a plot hole. They will know when the story is half-baked and undercooked. We will smell it.
Here is one of my favorite retcons that I hate so much but I love it because I hate it so much.
Sindel in the Mortal Kombat franchise ended her life because she wanted to protect her daughter from the evil Shao Kahn’s reign, after her husband, Jerrod. was killed. But in Mortal Kombat 11, it was revealed that she killed her husband, married Shao Kahn, and was evil just like him. And also didn’t give a crap about her daughter. I mean…it made for great entertainment, but why? Why did we need this change? And most importantly, at what cost? They all still died in the end.
So, there you have it. Three ways to identify a bad story. I’ll definitely be using this list to reference whenever I come across something that just makes me feel like I need to rip all of my hair one by one off my scalp. Hey, who’s to say I might do a what defines a “good” story list? in the future…
Do you have a “bad story” story? Share it in the comments! I would love to read them!
Shanedra Writes Too Much 