---
title: 'Stories for multiple components'
---
It's useful to write stories that [render two or more components](../writing-stories/introduction.md#stories-for-two-or-more-components) at once if those components are designed to work together. For example, `ButtonGroups`, `Lists`, and `Page` components. Here's an example with `List` and `ListItem` components:
Note that by adding `subcomponents` to the default export, we get an extra pane on the ArgsTable, listing the props of `ListItem`:
The downside of the approach used above, where each story creates its own combination of components, is that it does not take advantage of Storybook [Args](../writing-stories/args.md) meaning:
1. You cannot change the stories via the controls panel
2. There is no [args reuse](../writing-stories/introduction.md#using-args) possible, which makes the stories harder to maintain.
Let's talk about some techniques you can use to mitigate the above, which are especially useful in more complicated situations.
## Reusing subcomponent stories
The simplest change we can make to the above is to reuse the stories of the `ListItem` in the `List`:
By rendering the `Unchecked` story with its args, we are able to reuse the input data from the `ListItem` stories in the `List`.
However, we still aren’t using args to control the `ListItem` stories, which means we cannot change them with controls and we cannot reuse them in other, more complex component stories.
## Using children as an arg
One way we improve that situation is by pulling the rendered subcomponent out into a `children` arg:
Now that `children` is an arg, we can potentially reuse it in another story.
However, there are some caveats when using this approach that you should be aware of.
The `children` `args` as any other arg needs to be JSON serializable. It means that you should:
- Avoid using empty values
- Use caution with components that include third party libraries
As they could lead into errors with your Storybook.
We're currently working on improving the overall experience for the children arg and allow you to edit children arg in a control and allow you to use other types of components in the near future. But for now you need to factor in this caveat when you're implementing your stories.
## Creating a Template Component
Another option that is more “data”-based is to create a special “story-generating” template component:
This approach is a little more complex to setup, but it means you can more easily reuse the `args` to each story in a composite component. It also means that you can alter the args to the component with the Controls addon: