How do I find my own 'voice?'

What makes a good story?

Thought-provoking

Neat Idea
Timeless Questions
Personal Issues
Introspection

Identification
Public and Private Shtick and Anti-Schtick
Quotable Quotes
Memorable Shots
The Runaway Locomotive
The Double-Twist Surprise Ending

Multiple Plot Threads
Unsympathetic/Heartless Protagonists
"Down Time"
Subtext and Symbol
Gratutious Titillation

Structure

Goals

Neat Idea
Timeless Questions
Introspection
Runaway Locomotive
Double-Twist Surprise Ending

Elements

Creativity
Timing
Resonance
Plot Twists

To Avoid

"Down Time"
Multiple Plot Threads
Subtext & Symbol

Goals

Personal Issues
Identification
Schticks
Quotable Quotes

Elements

Verbiage
Imagery
Dialogue
Motivation

To Avoid

Heartless/Unsympathetic Protagonists
Gratituous Titillation

Setting

Goals

Neat Idea
Timeless Questions
Memorable Shots

Elements

Imagery
Universe Development

After some contemplation, I think I've managed to pin down what makes the kind of story I really, really like. First, the story must be thought-provoking, but second and more importantly the story must have a truly strong emotional impact on the reader.

Thought-provoking

The story must be thought-provoking. A really good story makes you think about things in new ways, about new things, or forces you to re-evaluate the old and familiar.

Neat Idea

    The Neat Idea is the idee fixee of classic science fiction. A Neat Idea makes you say,
    "Hey! I never thought of that!" Naturally, Neat Ideas are thought-provoking.

Timeless Questions

    Timeless Questions are the staple of all true philosophy. They can be boiled down to just
    a few, with many variations on the theme:

        Who am I?/Who are we?
        Why are things the way they are?
        Where are we/am I going?
        How should I live my life?/What is right?

    By their very nature, such questions make the reader think.

Personal Issues

    Personal Issues are themes that are emotionally resonant with the reader. They make the
    reader say, "I know just how that character feels."  By making themes personal, the
    author ensures greater emotional impact and consequently, more thought. Of course,
    the whole trick is finding an issue the reader identifies with, so good writers rely on
    universal, tried-and-true themes.

Introspection

    Introspection is anything that illuminates the inner life of the character. It can be as subtle
    as a passing emotion on the face, to as involved a twelve-page internal monologue. The
    trick is to provoke the reader into thinking by using one of the three other techniques.

Deeply Moving

The second and more important attribute of a really good story is that it be deeply moving. C'mon, nobody thought Titanic was a great movie because it was thought-provoking (although it was...after all 1500 people dead, all because of o'erweening hubris?) but because it made you cry. I went through three or four tissues, and I'm not given to crying.

Identification

    Identification with the protagonists is a key to deeply moving stories. After all, how can
    you be moved by people you care nothing about? Identification is usually done by giving
    the protagonists familiar traits, like romantic jealously, rebellion, a hunger for simple
    happiness, etc.; and by making them do what the reader would consider is the 'right' thing.
    This is why inhuman, unsympathetic, or heartless protagonists (cf. Morrison's
    Sethe) generally make for poor stories. However, such characters make for great
    antagonists. Who can forget Dracula, or  Moby Dick?

        Speculation: Is it good or bad to have a protagonist be wholly sympathetic, or a
            antagonist wholly unsympathetic? Even Dracula had his attraction, however
            unsavory it was to a Victorian audience; even Moby Dick can not be faulted
            deliberate antagonism towards Ahab (Moby's the one being chased, after all);
            even Jesus had that violent episode at the Temple with the money changers.
            Classical Greek and Biblical literature teaches us that flawed heroes and redeemable
            villians make for more interesting reading...however a flaw does not necessarily
            equal sympathy -- certainly not in the case of Oedipus, or Pharoh? (side note:
            why the Hell didn't Pharoh just order Moses beheaded and have done with it?)

Public and Private Shtick and Anti-Schtick

    A Schtick is the thing or idea most readily associated with a character. A Schtick
    makes a character feel familiar, and therefore increases identificcation .A Schtick
    isn't purely a role; it is all the things, mannerisms, and quirks that go with the role too.
    For example, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Buffy has the Schtick of the Slayer. So one,
    associates supernatural combat along with hip fashion sense and witty banter with her,
    because these things comprise her Slayer Schtick. Characters generally have at least
    two schticks: one public for use in their plot-advancing role; one private for
    characterization and interaction. For Buffy, these are the Slayer and the ordinary
    girl.There's also the Anti-Schtick of each, the exact opposite that comes into play
    when the character is put under duress. So for Buffy these would be the overwhelmed
    whiner and the star-crossed lover. Schticks should be able to be summarized in a two
     or three word, descriptor-subject format. Anything longer is too much, and really
    another Schtick.

        Speculation: It is good or bad to have a really complex character with more than
            two Schticks, and their Anti-Schticks? Such a character would feel more 'real',
            but would require more development to show each Schtick, which would
            have to arise naturally from plot pressures, which would in turn require more
            space and more plot twists. Not necessarily a bad thing, though. Hmm, one
            could also use introspection to easily showcase new Schticks. Still, there
            generally has to be a reason for such introspection. Although, the third person
            omniscient viewpoint would come in very handy here, as well as a multiple
            first person viewpoint. And on the gripping hand, my favorite movie, Casablanca,
            seems to at first glance use no more than the normal public/private, Schtick/
            Anti-Schtick scheme, at least for Rick. So perhaps more than two Schticks
            are unnecessary.

Quotable Quotes

    Quotable Quotes are those quotes you remember long after you've finished the story.
    Remember how The Princess Bride's Inigo Montoya said, "Hello. My name is Inigo
    Montoya. You killed-a my father. Prepare to die." That's a quotable quote. Quotable
    quotes go a long way towards making a story cool and memorable, because they're so
    pithy. And of course, cool and memorable stories are more moving. I'm really not sure
    what makes a Quotable Quote so quotable; however, I like to write up dialogue in play
    formant to get a better feel for a good quote. There is a danger of making a quote too
    quotable so that it seems contrived; the best quotes involve good imagery, multiple levels
    of meaning, emotional intensity to the character speaking, and sparsely elegant word
    choice. Quotes should come at natural peaks in plot intensity to avoid contrivance. This
    is not necessarily action, but rather the emotional intensity intrinsic to a scene.

        Speculation: How is non-quotable dialogue well scripted? Should it be done at
            all, or merely made into a memorable shot? One thinks that one could underplay
            such dialogue, making it deliberately restrained and fumbly -- the necessity of any
            society that values politeness over honesty. Equally important, though, is the use
            of non-verbal gestures for character development -- a simple hand on the shoulder,
            a look, can speak pages. The keyword seems to be restraint, to create an elegant
            sparity of word and form.

Memorable Shots

    Memorable shots are those scenes that burn themselves indelibly into the reader's
    psyche. They're like a panoramic view of the Grand Canyon, striking and captivating
    by sheer imagery. Ahab's insane attempt to kill Moby Dick at the end of the book is
    one;  the end of Hamlet where nearly everbody lies dead is another. The key is
    imagery; the images must be few but intense, giving only the most striking details.
    Subtlety is also important; otherwise, it's just the literary equivalent of trash TV. I like
    to imagine that I'm shooting the scene through a film camera with unlimited freedom of
    movement and special effects tricks. I find it helps emphasize the imagery.

The Runaway Locomotive

     The Runaway Locomotive principle is one of the first things I identified about stories
     I liked. Macbeth is a great example. Despite all the vagaries of the plot, Macbeth is on
     a course straight for hell, and there's not a damn thing he can do about it. Any
     obstacles are like cars in the path of a runaway locamotive -- they are completely and
     utterly smashed in the face of Macbeth's ride to Hell. The Runaway Locomotive
     works even better when it looks like it's going to be derailed. Take George R. R.
     Martin's Sandkings, for instance. You know the protagonist is going to win; after all,
     he pulls out all the stops to kill the Sandkings, including flamethrowers...but he dies
     anyway, and horribly. The Runaway Locomotive is the essence of suspense and plot
     tension, so it's only natural that it has a strong emotional effect on the reader. Basic
    techniques to create the Runaway Locomotive effect are: foreshadowing, to point the
    way to the end; character pressure, that is, influence on the protagonist towards the
    inevitable end by his own desires, other characters, natural forces, and various
    compulsions, imposed both within and without; plot twists, preferably neither what the
    reader expects to happen at the moment, nor that thing's opposite, but rather the opposite
    of both, to trick the reader into believing everything will be fine; and identification
    with the protagonist, so the reader feels involved.

The Double-Twist Surprise Ending

    The Double-Twist Surprise Ending is another one of my old favorites. In it, the plot
    takes an abrupt ninety-degree turn right in the middle of the climax. The exact opposite
    of both what you thought was going to happen and what you were absolutely sure
   wasn't  going to happen, happens. Basically, you stand up, and go "Whaaaaaaa...?"
    Then, it happens again, your jaw drops to the ground, and the plot is back on course
    for the denouement. The really freaky thing is that when you finish the story and look
    back on the ending, it all makes perfect sense...only you forgot about that one
    insignificant detail and that one improbable exception that made it all possible.
   Macbeth is the classic example. In the end fight scene, Macbeth taunts Macduff,
   reminding us of the seemingly insignificant detail that the witches have prophesied that
   no man of woman born can kill Macbeth. Then Macduff reveals that he's the
   improbable exception...he was essentially delivered by C-section. Afterwards, you
   wonder why you didn't see it in the first place.

What is NOT Needed

Surprisingly, I find that there are a few things that are unnecessary or detrimental to a good story.

Multiple Plot Threads

    Multiple Plot Threads are basically unnecessary, unless you want to grab more familiarity
    by involving more characters, or bring up more than one theme in seperate development.
    Witness the insane stylings of Beloved. If convolution were awarded a prize, Beloved
    would certainly win for Best Symphony Score Posing as a Plot. Oh wait...that's the Nobel.

Unsympathetic/Heartless Protagonists

    I find that it helps to have a sympathetic protagonist. Why? Well, for one thing, you can
    stand to read the story, and not throw it away in disgust. More importantly, you never
    identify with a character you're not sympathetic towards, so such a character simply
    cannot move you.

"Down Time"

    "Down Time" where the characters do things that are of little value to either the plot or to
    characterization, is to me, completely unnecessary. Take Robert Jordan, for instance.
    In my view, he's not that great a writer. Why? Too much "Down Time" during his books
    of the Wheel of Time, where the characters seem solely to act as expositors to the boring
    and quotidian life of his world. Much better, in my view, to focus on the strange and
    wondrous aspects of it; frankly I don't give a damn whether Aviendha kills herself tighrope
    walking or not -- how can a circus possibly be interesting compared to Shayol Gul,
    the machinations of the Forsaken, the complex society of the Aiel, etc?

Subtext and Symbol

    In my view, subtlety should be complex but direct. That is, there should be no subtext; either
    those apples falling on Grendel (in the epononymous book) are just apples, or they're
    the counter-attack of innocence, or both, but never one hiding the other. The key, I think,
    is to link the characters' emotions with the events, a slight expression of the face, a
    tremolo in the voice gently showing the true, complex meaning of the events. This is
    because I hate literary critics saying, for example, Shakespeare meant such-and-such when
    he left his wife his second best bed. In sum, reject ambiguity, embrace complexity.

Gratutious Titillation

    The best way to incite or convey emotion is to allude to it by subtly exposing just a hint
    of the emotion; a look, a touch, rather than Toni Morrison's "And for a year, Sweet Home
    men abused cows." Just for that, she should have her Nobel taken from her. Don't believe
    this is true? Think towards any suspense novel, indeed any suspenseful scene, and ask:
    what is scarier, what they did show, or what they didn't show?

Elements of Writing

Creativity

Creativity is basically the ability to create with novelty. Brainstorming (starting from one idea and then writing down whatever comes to mind as you think of it) can be helpful here. Another technique is to find out whatever is the stereotype that's expected, and do the opposite. That is, if your typical bad guy dresses in black, is ruthless, and cruel, make the villian of your story dress in colors and be reluctant to harm. Another technique is to map out all the possible variations on your story (or characters, or setting.) Then mix and match variations for maximum effect.

Timing

Timing is the art of surprise. Several elements are involved with timing. First is complacency. Give your readers a long, slow development before hitting them with a plot twist. Convince them that the unrequited love will never be acknowledged...then acknowledge it. Another is defusement. By this, I mean using timing to turn a situation more or less serious. At the simplest level, this means breaking contemplation and drama with violence, or tragedy with comedy, or vice versa. Finally there's flow. The plot of a story should flow seamlessly from one shot to the next, from one topic to the next, from one climax to the next. Think of Star Wars. Did that movie ever let up? The only real exception to this is when you want to spring a plot twist.

Resonance

Resonance is the art of the recurring. It's the running joke, the recurring character, the theme that's emphasize again and again. Resonance exists to bring home your point. The one key to good structural resonance in a story is to relate things as much as possible. The ultimate example of this on TV is Babylon 5. Tiny, seemingly insignificant details are developed into actual subplots; recurring characters travel across plot lines to link disparate events together.

Plot Twists

The plot twist is one of the most maligned and least effectively used of all writing elements. Plot twists, in the majority of my experience, tend to be either too predictable, or occur too often. The keys to a good plot twist are: do the last thing the audience expects; twist the plot in exactly the worst way; twist the plot at exactly the wrong time. To do the last thing the audience expects, employ creativity techniques. To do things in the worst way, just ask yourself, "What is the worst thing that could happen, that would also be as unexpected as possible?" To do things at exactly the wrong time, you have to carefully use structure to deceive your reader and make her complacent. For example, the double-reverse surprise ending is a form of plot twist. You move the plot at right angles, doing neither the expected good thing, nor the expected bad thing, but the opposite of both; you screw up the plot by making the double-reverse a major obstacle; and you play the double-reverse at exactly the worst time, the end.

Verbiage

Verbiage is the creation of the bon mot, the quotable quote, the right words and phrases. Some ways to improve verbiage:
 

Zen logic/Literal Logic

Take an ordinary thing and develop it to its ridiculous, but logical end. This is the classic take of 90's standup comedy.

Juxtaposition

Take two things which normally don't belong together. (Like a camera and a toaster.) Connect them somehow. (Don't you wish cameras were all as easy as toasters to operate?) Present the resulting phrases.

Surrealism

Make your characters aware of the unnatualness of their situation. "Have you ever been in a play, and not know what to say next?" -- Oz, Amends (BtVs)

Falling in Love

Smack the characters upside their metaphorical heads. Give their current situation the same intensity as if they were falling in love that instant.

Recommended reading:
    William Shakespeare (personal favorites, Macbeth and Hamlet)
    The Bible

Imagery

Imagery is the ability to create vivid pictures in your readers' minds by using the right words. I find it interesting to pretend I'm in the story, and the image is a scene I'm shooting through a movie camera. This lets me visualize using various techniques from the Hong Kong style of moviemaking:
 

Light & Shadow

Light can be used to spotlight an object or a person. Shadow can conceal the same, either by them melting into it, or by the shadow creeping across them. Light and dark, applied to a whole scene, can dramatically change the whole setting -- just turn the lights in your room on and off at night. The related strobe effect is very popular in Honk Kong cinema.

Reflections

Not only do reflections make a neat way to introduce introspection, they can also be used to suddenly bounce light to create the effect of a flash. Multiple or distorted reflections make for a very interesting setting for a scene, as well as setting the mood for some interesting introspection. The climax of Enter the Dragon is the classic use of this.

Obstructions

Putting some obstructions between the viewer and the rest of the scene, or the viewed character(s) make for very interesting shooting. The effect is much like that of going in and out of shadow.

Odd Angles

Viewing a scene from an especially low or high vantage, or with an odd zoom-in can change the whole emphasis of certain shots. In writing terms, this means emphasizing the details of height, or foosteps, or whatever you happen to be 'zooming-in' on.

Recommended reading:

Any haikus.
Anything by Chinese poet Li Po.
Emily Dickinson.
Robert Frost.
 

Dialogue is what happens when your characters talk to each other. I've tried for a while to get good at it, and managed to break down some important facets. Still, I have a lot to learn.
 

Pouring Out Your Heart

Having characters pour out their hearts and plainly discuss their motivations in their own words always makes for good dialogue. Trouble is, you can't do it very often -- obviously, anyway -- or your writing becomes melodramatic. What you can do, is let the characters drop seemingly innocous phrases that are really big insights into their whole personalities. (From BtVS) Cordelia Chase's innocous use of "I'm good at hiding things" really shows how much she's had to cope with her less-than-socially-approved qualities like intelligence -- and depth.

Multiple Motivational Levels

I've said it elsewhere, but I'll say it again here. Human beings do things for more than one reason. This applies to dialogue as well as motivation. Often, people say one thing and mean another -- and actually carry on a conversation on both these levels! The amount of subtext in normal, everyday conversation truly surprised me when I took a close look at it. I hate subtext on principle, but having your characters employ it seems perfectly humanizing. Basically, this is accomplished through the use of code words, innuendo, body language, and innocently dropped phrases. (See above for that last one.) Characters do this so they can act according to all their levels of motivation, from their needs, to their complusions, to their emotions, to their thoughts, to their free will.

Awkwardness/Distance

There's a sense of awkwardness and distance in normal conversation. Words can't fully express what most people feel towards others, so we rely on body language, tone of voice, and generally, we choose our words poorly. I really don't have a good way to develop this; I suppose you could just pretend you're the characters in question, and as uncomfortable as they are, then just try and speak naturally.

See the More on Schticks Page

Universe Development

Universe development is the ability to create an interesting and cohesive setting. Tolkein's Middle Earth and Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time setting are the best-known examples of this I can immediately remember. You can settle a lot of what makes your setting unique with a few simple questions?

    What's different about this setting from the ones you're familiar with?
    What makes this setting work, in the practical self-sustaining sense?
    What do the culture(s) in this setting need to survive? What do they like/prize? What do they hate/discard?
    What does this culture do as a routine? Love to do? Do only under duress?
    What does this culture usually never do? Hate to do? Absolutely avoid?
    Why, to all of the above questions?

Other writing resources:

Awards Page
Character Breakdowns & Analysis
Fun With Profiling:Buffy the Vampire Slayer
How to Write
Motivations by Age Type
More on Schticks Page
My Attempt to Figure Out Relationships Page
Palaskar's Primer on Emoti