A simple blue print to good writing:
Once upon a time there was a [Character with a decent description] who wanted [something or someone (calling this thing 1)] more than anything else in the world because [enter back story to set up a solid motive]. [Character] sets out on a quest or journey to get [thing 1]. When [Character] comes close to attaining [thing 1] he realizes that he must give it up to get [thing 2] which is something else that [character] has grown attached to during his quest that fills a gap, or fixes a flaw in [Character]. [Character] learns this, and must overcome a villain in order to get to [thing 2]. At the end, [character] defeats villain and transforms into a new [character].
Simply put, the blue print to writing is to follow the cosmogonic cycle.
Think of Pixar's UP when Carl Fredrickson wants nothing more in the world than to get his house, and thus his wife, to Paradise Falls, because he crossed his heart in a solemn oath, and then lost her before he was able to do so. Think of Dreamwork's "How to Train Your Dragon" when Hiccup wants nothing more in the world than to slay a dragon and become one of the clan, but realizes he cant when he has captured Toothless.
Within this cycle, there is a good versus bad (Charles Muntz or the Big Dragon that eats the other smaller dragons) but there is also a more important good versus good. When Carl gets his house to Paradise falls, he realizes that it came at the great cost of saving Kevin from Charles. When Hiccup doesnt kill the dragon during his last training session, he looses his father's blessing. That conflict, of good versus good, is and its resolution is where a story comes to life and makes an good story, great.
