There are so many different factors in starting and ending a story. For more detailed information, I suggest you first figure out what kind of book you are planning or already are writing.

     One of the biggest and most obvious mistakes I see people do in both unprofessional and even professional books is to not plan ahead of your story. It is crucial to know how your story will end before even starting. Why, exactly, is this so important? Allow me to introduce the Q&A method of writing: questions and answers.

     It is the technique I use most often, especially now that I have learned it's importance, and is so simple, anyone can do it. It just takes some thinking.

     As you would guess, I almost always think of a question first. Now, depending on your story, the questions can be structured differently. You can either have one big question, which spans the entire book before being finished at the very end. This is a simple but also pretty enjoyable structure, though it is mostly used for shorter stories.

     Another question structure is to have several strands of questions span the entire book, some may be a little larger than others, but all intriguing. I would say the best, more professional, example of this would be the official Minecraft book: "The Crash." While this structure can easily handle a much longer story, it is important to note that these questions must be strong enough to do so.

     In my opinion, The Crash was a little bland. I believe this is because the questions, while seeming pretty strong, being about will she make it? Is her friend really alive; and what the deal is with her new friends? These questions just didn't hold as much weight as they should have. To fix this, in my opinion, the writer would have to base much more on these questions, making them influence the story more, instead of just dangling there a little with the hopes the they keep the readers' attention.

          Sooo, here's an imagery on what I mean. Imagine your book all printed out on thick leather pages. Now, those thick pages need strong ropes to tie them together. With the one rope approach, only a tiny booklet could be held together. With several, small ropes, they would eventually wear away and snap as the reader reads. Which is why I tell you, this all really does depend on your story.

     Let's look at another official Minecraft book with a slightly different question structure. The first; and my favorite so far: "The Island." Anyone who read this book already remember the interesting chapter-by-chapter structure of it? Well, that was something I for one really liked. One thing I liked about it was the simple question per chapter thing with one large question running through the whole thing. The smaller questions being ones of: how do I adjust to this new change, how do I  survive the night, how do I think smarter than my enemies, how do I mess up, etc? Okay, let's go back to our thick leather book real quick. So, just imagine a couple small threads connecting one or two thick leather pages each. Then, imagine one very thick rope tying the whole thing together. The Island is a good example of a strong question. It is constantly on the character's mind and effects almost every single decision they make as they try to figure out the answer to the massive, looming question. The only problem is.. the question is never answered. But, yet again, it all has to do with the style of the story itself.

     There is also a similar version of the one above, where instead of a tiny question per chapter, there is a slightly larger question per bundle of chapters. The different structures just mentioned are far from them all. I am sure you could make an almost limitless combination of thin and thick questions and answers/or for some, story threads.

     However, for me, I enjoy it when the stories revolve around the questions themselves. This, in my opinion, makes your story much more meaningful and memorable, because the readers will most likely remember the answers to those questions the book had brought up much longer than even the simplest of timelines. This is why I suggest you tie your questions and answers so firmly into the story itself. If the reader remembers the answers/questions, likely they will remember your story along with it.

     So, how does one properly start up a question/answer technique? Glad you asked, or, I asked for you...

     First, you must start with your driving question and answer at the same time. It is important to know the answer to your question from the beginning, even if you do not plan to answer it within the pages of the book. It is still important to keep the answer in your head, and hint at it throughout the story, maybe even making it possible for the reader to figure it out on their own.

     Depending on the story, you must develope your story naturally. While it is sometimes passable, up-front telling the reader what the question -- and answer -- is, is an obvious no no. You do that and the reader might think the writer thinks they are not smart enough to figure it out.. that, or they may believe the writer is just being lazy. Thinking of how things are revealed to us slowly, as children, when we listen to conversations, read a couple crucial words, and just overall motive and body language are ways our minds have been raised to pick-up on, meaning that the average reader will at least be looking closely at those small cues. This, is what I am meaning by introducing your questions naturally. Having them slowly appear as the reader reads is the best way to bring up the question, depending on what that question may be, and the story of course. Also, if there are several main questions being asked, start with the main question first, and then go from there. Usually if you start to reveal the main question first, but take some time to properly develope it, everyone will pick up on it, knowing it is the most important. So.. yeah. Answer time!

     You want to start hinting at answers to your questions right away, sometimes even as the question is being asked.. depending on the story and question. This is why I stress so much that what I am writing to you all is a very general overview. Going into detail would basically mean you would have to tell me your story, and I look at what can be asked and answered there.

     Answering the main question, like asking it, should start early on and take time to have it fully developed so that by the time the character fully knows the answer, your readers do too. (XD I am saying all this as if I have been doing this forever! I just started Wattpad last year!)

     For one, the answers must be meaningful for them to stand out. Your questions and answers both must personally effect you character(s), so it can better effect the reader. Having the answers to questions being uplifting should be real enough to personally effect the readers and make them happy -- while having the answers being something unexpected, but making sense, and somewhat dreary, should too have some effect on the readers.

     And finally, how to even come up with the right questions to ask. Again, looking at your story, you must decide what type of questions should be asked. For me, I usually start up a story first with a question. Usually, from that question and answer to several questions and answers is where I build my story. And what I mean by questions, I mean the simplest of things. Some simply starting out with, I wonder what I would do in that situation. Would I be afraid or not? Why would I be afraid or not? Has some life experience determined how I react? If I was raised to be tougher, would I be completely different and never fear anything, or would I still be afraid, but just better at hiding it? Can toughness develope one's character? Can one be hindered by being too tough? What would that hindrance look like? Would it make them cocky, unable to ask for help? How would someone push past such a problem?.. And thus, a core question is born. This was basically my mental process re written when I was thinking of a couple books actually. All that is left is to answer that question, and mold that into your already existing or brand new story.

     Aaaand, that's pretty much it! Who knew all it would take to structure a nice story would be just a few good questions?!. I really need to start taking my own advice here, maybe fix some older books using it. XD ...Anyyyways, I hope you maybe learned something or at least found this entertaining, and, seeya! :D

1/11/2020

...Hint; this technique also works for films and animations.