on Writers Helping Writers:

Actions have consequences—that’s what makes a story tick. A story begins when events around a character push them into action. Those actions create new situations, and those situations push the character into even tougher choices. Watching this chain reaction unfold is what keeps readers glued to the pages.

When we call a story “entertaining,” we’re really talking about something deeper: the chance to step into someone else’s experience. We want to understand their choices and see how their decisions mirror our own journey.

We’re not reading strictly to find out what happens, but neither are we reading only to understand why. Instead, we’re fascinated by the ripple effect of how one dynamic feeds the other.

A satisfying story does two things at once.