So you’ve put in all the work of coming up with a story idea, developing your characters, and outlining the plot… But the hard work isn’t done, because now you’ve got to write the story – and more than write it, you’ve got to write it in a way that it FLOWS.

But what does it mean for a story to flow?

This is a strangely elusive and hard to explain topic, but it is so essential to crafting a good story. So I’m going to break it down into three main things for you to think about when you’re writing.

These are: RHYTHM, PACE and LOGIC

RHYTHM refers to the way the sentences sound, the up and down cadence of the words. One of the best ways to get a feel for your story’s rhythm is to read it out loud. Do the words form easily on your tongue? Or do you find yourself stumbling as you read them? If you’re stumbling, try rewording the sentences so that they’re easier or more pleasing to say. Boom: you’ve fixed the rhythm.

PACE is similar to rhythm, except while rhythm is about the sentences, pace is about the plot. Ask yourself while reading your draft: do things happen too slowly, too quickly? If they’re happening too slowly, look for passages that can be condensed or deleted. If they’re happening too quickly, look for places where you can add description, or where you can insert further scenes that help improve the pace.

Finally, LOGIC is about whether our story makes sense. This part can be hard, because you as the writer know your story inside and out. But try to read it as if you’re someone coming to the story for the first time, and ask yourself every step of the way – am I, the reader, with the main character? Do I understand their motivations? Do I know why this happened, or why they made this statement? If the answer to any of these questions is ‘no’ or even ‘possibly not’, look for places in the story where you can plant information that will help the reader understand. This will fix your logical flow.

And don’t forget, it’s very important to share your work with others to get feedback. We, as writers, probably won’t be able to catch every opportunity to improve our story’s flow, so when you hand over your story for a critique, don’t forget to ask your reader to pay attention to rhythm, pace, and logic.