Decision-making is a sign that you’re alive. Think about it. Everything you do on a daily basis is driven by the decisions you make. Get out of bed or sleep more. Cross the street now or wait for the light. Leave for the meeting now to be on time or wait a few more minutes and cut it close.

Everyday life is about decision-making. So is storytelling. And while storytelling is not the same as everyday life, it is a reflection of it. Therefore, make sure you focus on having your characters make decisions to drive the story. Don’t just let things happen to your characters, but have things happen involving your characters as a result of their decisions.

Not only do your characters have to make decisions, but your job as a storyteller, not unlike any other job, is also about decision-making. You have to decide what to include and exclude in your story. You have to decide the attributes (physical, mental, spiritual) of your characters. You have to decide the point of view from which you’re telling the story. You have to decide setting. The list goes on.

On top of all that, the shorter the form of your writing, the more challenging the decisions become because you have less space to convey in some ways the same amount of information. This is why I believe screenplays are in many ways harder than novels, Sitcoms are harder than screenplays, and commercials may be harder than sitcoms. Of course there are exceptions to the rules, but the point is about decision-making. Conveying the same amount of information in one page is definitely more challenging than expressing it over three pages.

When you venture into your next story, don’t let things just happen to your characters. Have them make decisions. That will elevate the stakes and push them closer to the climax of the story, which is a result of the ultimate make-or-break decision.