A story is often described as past experiences (or in some cases futuristic/fictional) composed to give an overall purpose. I think that if there's no true meaning to a story, then it's not a story. Similar to a folk tale, a story has to make the reader learn a overall lesson/something of that nature.

What makes a good story, content wise, is that the characters are entertaining. They don't have to be jumpy or funny, they just need to hold my attention whether I like them overall or not. For example, I LOVE "How to Get Away With Murder," but the instructor in there annoys me really bad and i don't know why. However, she holds my attention and she serves her purpose in the show as an antagonist (no spoilers.. But there wouldn't be a murder if it wasn't for her).

I know some people are critical about the plot and "bad endings" or "a book being better than the movie" however that isn't as huge to me as it is some people. I feel like books still gives you a sense of imagination and you can make characters look the way you picture them and you perceive everything differently, however movies you can't. I think that's one reason some people enjoy stories on paper rather than from media. I admire John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars" although the I haven't read or saw the movie, but the same people that worked on the book with him worked on the movie too, and made sure the movie was as close as possible to the book, a reason why I think it was a really big it. Anyway, that doesn't matter to me that much unless nothing is coherent. As long as I can follow the story and not get lost, while enjoying myself with all the conflict and characters, that's what makes a good story in my opinion.