But maybe the most valuable learning involves creating the theory as you go along.  So I’m scrapping the dogma and creating my own theories on story creation.  Here’s 3 concepts that feel right to me.  Feel free to try it on, but I’m of the opinion you’ve got to make it your own before it fits.

1. The only way to bring a unique emotion into reality is to have someone experience it themselves.  This is done by taking facts and stringing them together to create emotional moments, and then stringing those together until you achieve the right amount to create the one unique emotional moment you’re looking for.  If your story doesn’t have at least one unique, emotional moment, it’s probably just a series of facts (Murder, Shouting, Crying, Shock) and ultimately, not worth telling.
2. It takes more time to create a good short story than a long story. Therefore don’t seek to create a short focused piece during the learning process.  Create long stories that combine too many ideas, and then eliminate, bit by bit.
3. To generate internal conflict, take a character with 2 core characteristics and put them in a situation where they must sacrifice one for the other.  For example, “the desire for revenge” vs. “safety of a loved one”, or ambition vs. ethics.  All decisions are about sacrificing one thing for another, but the really tough ones are those which involve two things we don’t want to part with.