Poetry and the other arts are, at root, media of communication. As such, a poet or artist should understand the four communication goals: inform, entertain, persuade, and query. Story-telling can use all four goals, if the story or poem is made to be interactive.

Learn the elements of a well-designed story. The elements of humor, comedy, tragedy, and other forms might also be appropriate. Study different genres of written work to determine the story-telling elements. What is common? What differs between the genres? Does a horror story have different pacing from a comedy? Or are they at heart one and the same?