By Linda Lavid  »  So you have an idea for a story. That's a very good thing. And maybe you even have a few pages of dialogue, some narrative, exposition. Wonderful. You're swimming in calm water but decisions have to be made and the sooner, the better - First, who is the story about?

"Well," you say, "it's about this girl and her mother and - " 

"Stop. Who? Which one?" 

"Both," you say. "It's a mother and daughter story and the conflicts they have." 

"Hmm . . . How about some specifics? What's the daughter's name?" 

"Mary." 

"What does Mary want?" 

"She wants to get away from her mother." 

"What's stopping Mary from getting away?" 

"She's been brainwashed. She isn't strong enough. Her mother is overpowering." 

"Does Mary have the means to get away? Money, car, job?" 

"No. They live together. Her mother supports her. Her mother holds all the cards. Mary's helpless." 

"So the story is about a woman named Mary who wants to be out of her mother's home and away from her mother's controlling ways, but she doesn't have the means or the confidence to leave." 

"Yes," you say. "Exactly." 

"I love it "

Every great story is about a character struggling. Every great story mirrors our lives as we too struggle. If strife was not a human condition, it wouldn't be the fabric of storytelling. To start a story in earnest, ask and answer these three questions in one declarative sentence: Who is my story about? What does this character want? What is stopping him from getting what he wants?

The declarative sentence from the above example is: The story is about a girl named Mary who wants to be out of her mother's home and away from her mother's controlling ways, but she doesn't have the means or the confidence to leave.

This declarative sentence is also called the story goal. Think of story goal as the magnetic north. From page one until the end of your story, the story goal will be your homing device. It will keep your novel or short fiction piece focused, riveting and can even be used for publishing and marketing purposes. With a little tweaking you already have a blurb for your back cover and press release.

Every story breaks down to this essential statement. But how can one sentence sum up a novel length story? Consider Wally Lamb's 800 plus-page novel, I Know This Much Is True: An angry, resentful brother feels obligated to keep his schizophrenic twin out of harm's way. In Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code: A man under suspicion must solve a murder that is shrouded in ancient Christian ritual. In Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita: An aging professor is obsessed with a troubled girl.

Let's go back to Mary and her mother. 

"Who is Mary's mother? What's her name?" 

"Her name is Adele," you say. 

"And what does Adele want?" 

"Adele has what she wants. She wants Mary to be dependent on her. She wants to keep her that way."

The problem with this story goal is that it is reactive. Adele doesn't really have to do much except react to Mary when Mary tries to free herself. What this means is that the entire story can easily be told from Mary's perspective. On the other hand if Adele (who) wants to keep Mary at home so that she can control Mary's inheritance (what Adele wants), but Mary's uncle sees the ruse and is going to intervene (what's stopping Adele), Adele has a story goal. However, this story goal undermines Mary's story goal since Mary is not so helpless after all - her uncle is on her side. Be careful with an over abundance of characters and tangled story goals since they can easily complicate matters, confuse the reader and dilute the main storyline.

When writing a story goal, use present tense and consider what your protagonist wants and what's stopping him. The point of having a story goal is to stay focused and remind yourself at every sentence, paragraph, page and scene what the story is about. Whenever you get stuck, review your story goal. This may hold the key. You may have strayed from the story goal or not defined the story goal well enough. Changing the story goal can change the entire trajectory of the story and if you're well into the narrative this could mean substantial rewrite. Ugh. A story goal impels the story. It defines character, her want, what's stopping her, and is the basis for the opening scene.

• The author can be reached via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or her website, www.lindalavid.com.