Ten Steps How to Write a Compelling Story

Learn how to write stories that capture and keep your readers interest, and you'll submit one story after another for publication. Here are ten proven steps to use for your storytelling success:

• Pick a creative title. This will catch the reader's eye with enough curiosity to begin reading your story.
• Use a powerful hook in the first sentence or paragraph. Start with the most exciting part of your story, the conflict or problem.
• Continue to use conflict and resolution in several scenes to develop your story.
• Use sensory details in your descriptions. Let your reader hear, see, smell, touch, and taste what is happening.
• Show, don't tell. Write active verb sentences and resist the temptation to use adverbs and adjectives (ly and ing words). Avoid using passive language, forms of the verb "to be"(is, was, were, has, had, would, could, should, etc.).
• Use believable dialogue in fiction and nonfiction. Read your story out loud to check your conversations.
• Include a turning point, the place where your main character changes direction in thought or action. 
• Your turning point will reveal the takeaway value of your story. Make it clear without spelling it out. 
• Write a conclusion that will keep your reader thinking about your story a long time after finishing it.

Who accepts personal experience stories? Here are a few publishers:

Chicken Soup for the Soul

Cup of Comfort

Guideposts

Angels on Earth
Inspire Press

Be on the watch for other magazines and anthologies that use inspiring stories. This is a growing market to grow your writer platform. Don't miss the opportunities.