What Makes a Good Story?

What part of a film or a book do you value more than anything else? The plot? The character development? Something else?

Any story that has a snarky talking animal gets my vote.

Definitely plot. True with movies for me too. A good story gets me into it more than anything. All the special effects, cinematography, acting, character development, what not, means s*** if it ain't a good story.

Plot, for sure. It has to have a good story, it has to be very, very involved and often times complex. I like watching something that makes me think and isn't too simple.

I vote for plot as well, and especially if there is a really good and hard to forsee plot twist somewhere in it. Second place for me is dialogue.

Character development and story development.

If you breakdown the basics, a plot is really nothing and almost always seems silly.

What is Harry Potter about? A orphaned boy that finds out that he is wizard and prophesied to defeat the evil enemy.

What is the Odyssey about? A hero that has to find his way home after war but gets lost for 20 years.

What is Romeo & Juliet about? Star crossed lovers doomed to a tragic ending due to really miss-communication.

Really there is no way to answer this. It's a mix of EVERYTHING done as best as possible. It's about your prose, it's about your point of view, it's about the story, it's about the characters, your plot, it's about imagery, and dialect. It's how well you can make your reader becoming immersed in your work.

i dont mind if a movie is 2 hours plus as long as it grips you cos the time flies past i want luvable characters and a nice twist my type of movies normally have battles car chases explosions nd some kind of dependent

I like stories that present you with more questions than answers.

For me, it's the PLOT. Its where you can see the climax of the story or in the movie. What's the point of the story, what it means and it's where you can see the most interesting part show.

the plot of the movie or an novel, what i am interest in. with a novel, i automatically will turn to back outside of the novel to read the plot. in the movie, i like to see the movie trailer of the movie at first, who stars in it. over the years, i find out the plot looks good, no big stars in it in the movies, some these independence movies are excellent to watch. i read a novel, i will stay with author because i like he or she writing styles. a movie will go to see the actors, i hope to see a good or excellent movie, but honestly, it really crap shoot with movies.
even a good novel, it a really crap shoot,too. my favorite authors occasionally can put a novel out that can be a stinker, i have read few stinkers in my day. what makes a good story ? whatever you want to take a risk with!

I surely think the causality! Plot is the structure if events within a story and the causal relationship between them. There is no plot without causality.

Words!

passion

romance
action
adventure
suspense

And a snarky talking animal.