12 Ways to Write a Bad Story

In this article, I’m going show you 12 easy ways to write a bad story. I’m telling you this because inverted thinking is a great way to understand difficult problems.

Here’s an example. Do you want to be happy? Instead of asking “what makes me happy?”, you should ask “what makes me miserable?” Because if you avoid misery long enough, you’ll eventually end up happy.

Good writing works the same way. If you can avoid terrible writing, your stories will eventually be good. Ready? Lets go!

12: Start with a boring scene.

The world’s worst stories all start with a boring scene. Make sure to include no intrigue, no suspense, and no stakes. You want it to be the type of scene that nobody wants to read. If you don’t have any ideas, try one of these:

• A prologue about the fate of the world. (Bonus points if it’s a vague prognostication. Double bonus points if it involves a minor character that never shows up again.)

• A character looking in the mirror, describing themselves. (Bonus points if they’re objectively beautiful but they believe they’re ugly.)

• A character waking up from a dream.

• A character’s ordinary day at school/work/home.

11: Write characters without stakes.

An easy way to guarantee a bad story is to have no stakes whatsoever. Your character should never stand to lose anything. Every competition should be easy for them. They should be strong enough to win every fight. They should never be in danger of injury, death, poverty, illness, and mental issues.

Hell, make your character rich, flawless, and immortal. (Bonus points if they have absolutely zero personality.)

10: Overexplain.

You should explain everything and leave no room for interpretation. Summarize every scene at the beginning (and once more at the end). Give all the facts ahead of time. Label all the emotions. Infodump infodump infodump!

Are your characters trying to hide things from each other? Explain those things to the reader. Be as detailed as you can. Is Billy angry? Tell the reader “Billy is angry.” (Bonus points if you assume the reader has never experienced anger before. Double bonus points if your character is the one that does the explaining.)