There are a lot of factors in good stories and good writing so it goes without saying that you need more than two ‘rules’ but I do think that keeping this pair of elements in mind you will be well set on a path for making tighter stronger stories.

Rule 1: The character must want something that is difficult to obtain.

This is the rule that will drive the plot. What the character wants can change as the plot evolve and situations force the character onto new paths, but there must be something that the characters wants so badly that it becomes a need.

Rule 2: The character wants the wrong thing.

This is the rule that drives the character arc, the emotional heart of the transformation that will force the character into new growth or their final destruction. What I mean by ‘the wrong thing’ is that the character at the start of the story has a worldview that is going to be challenged and found false or wanting and by the end of the story the character will have transformed by taking on a new world view. What the character wanted at the start of the story is driven by that old worldview and what they achieve at the end is a synthesis of their growth and new worldview at the story’s end.