Elements of Fiction/Story
Setting,
character, plot, conflict, theme, point of view, tone, and style are the other
eight components of a story. Any successful book or short tale has these key
plot components as its foundation. You can compose and evaluate stories more
efficiently if you are familiar with the eight elements.
1. Setting: The setting of the story is the first of
the story's aspects. Every story has a location. The period and location where
the tale will take place are included in the setting. In a short story that
only takes place in one room of a house, there might only be one setting.
Alternately, there could be a variety of settings that cover numerous periods
and places, such as in tales that span several generations or feature people
that travel the world. Common
setting considerations are Setting of Time, Setting of Place, and Alternative
reality. Stories can be placed in the past, present, future, or even a
combination of the three in terms of time. While analyzing the feeling of
location in a book or short story, things to keep in mind are as follows. The story
settings can be the name of a country, town, village, beachside, mountain, or others. Which
country will serve as the setting for your story? You might be able to
develop your own fantastical setting if the plot is fantasy-based. Will the
action in your narrative occur in a metropolis, the suburbs, or a more rural
setting? Will the sea play a significant role in the story? The plot may also
take place in the mountains. If your protagonist is on the move, perhaps they
will pass through a variety of settings, as in The Lord of the Rings. Alternative realities may also be chosen for some storylines. Up
to a point, alternative reality novels mirrored real-world events. Then, after
a fictitious occurrence, such as a war or natural calamity, they diverge.
The place of a story may also be left unclear by some authors. This is effective
in science fiction and fantasy writings that wish to distance themselves from
the real world. Without having to make any references to the real world on
earth, the author may develop their technologies, faiths, and planets with such
an ambiguous backdrop.
2. Characters: They can have a positive role as the protagonist or hero and a bad role as the antagonist or antihero. The characters make up the next component of a story. Characters are undoubtedly one of a book's or story's most crucial components. The individuals who appear in a story are known as the characters. The protagonist, antagonist, and supporting characters are the several characters in a story that you need to be aware of. The characters undergo either static or dynamic characters in terms of transformations. The protagonist serves as both the main character and the story's hero. They are also frequently referred to as the "primary character." They will receive the majority of the author's focus. There will always be a protagonist in a story, whether it's a novel or a short story. The protagonist's foe is known as the antagonist. This character causes difficulties and is frequently the main source of conflict in the storyline. The protagonist's job is frequently to stop the adversary from hurting people.
3. Conflict: Every story has some type of conflict since no one wants to read a book or short story without it. What good would it do? The main obstacle to going beyond in a novel is the conflict. It drives the plot ahead and typically gets resolved at the climax. Protagonist vs. Antagonist, Protagonist vs. Nature, Protagonist vs. Self, and Protagonist vs. Society are the four basic types of conflict you may encounter in a tale. The protagonist (hero) must challenge the antagonist in a protagonist vs. antagonist fight to stop the antagonist from doing something bad. For instance, Harry Potter has an instance of this. Harry, the main character, must vanquish Voldermort, the antagonist. Harry stands in for the kid hero as the sole person who can defeat Voldermort and save the world. The protagonist faces a difficulty that arises in nature in the conflict between the protagonist and nature. This might entail the protagonist facing a natural challenge, like fleeing the jungle, or a natural catastrophe, such as an asteroid or tsunami striking the earth, The protagonist may have internal problems to get through in the protagonist vs. self-confidence conflict. The protagonist might have to overcome a broken heart, develop courage, or accomplish a personal objective that they had set out for themselves at the beginning of the story. This occurs, as an illustration, in The Wizard of Oz. Each of Dorothy's friends must come to understand that they already possess the qualities they most desire. The Tin Man seeks the capacity for love, the Scarecrow seeks knowledge, and the Cowardly Lion seeks courage. The protagonist may identify a social opponent or issue that they must solve, frequently by themselves, in the protagonist vs. society conflict. This approach is frequently rewritten as Child protagonist vs. Adults Society in children's stories, where the child must save adults from themselves. This is evident in the "kid savior" complex, like in The Hunger Games, for example.
4. Theme: Theme comes next in the list of plot
components. The main point or message the author wants to get through is the
topic. Many times, themes are connected to a "moral of the story" or
an analogy (a hidden meaning in the text). They make an effort to impart some
knowledge or fundamental truth about human nature for us to consider. There
will always be a main topic, even in a brief story. Good vs. evil, true love,
the absurdity of life, the suffering of war, seeking freedom, political
corruption, the strength of redemption, and the significance of faith are
examples of common themes. The majority of modern American films have a good-against-evil conflict, with the good side typically coming out on top thanks to
a brave hero in Spider-Man, as an
illustration. In a similar vein, stories have featured love as a motif for millennia.
What is true love, how do we find it, and how do we maintain it? Romeo and
Juliet is arguably the most well-known instance. Existentialist literature
makes an effort to show how worthless, useless, and meaningless life is.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Catch 22 are two excellent examples.
History is full of tales that serve as warnings about the suffering that comes
with conflict and its terrible toll on human life. The Diary of Anne Frank is a
potent illustration. Another frequently used theme in literature and films is
the desire for freedom. This frequently entails struggles to flee persecution,
conflict, or the elements. The theme of The Truman Show is one instance of this
subject that I adore. A common theme in tales of political corruption is how
fascism, communism, or other political regimes contribute to the concentration
of power and corruption. George Orwell's Animal Farm is a well-known
illustration. Redeeming stories, which are frequently based on Christian
doctrine, demonstrate how characters can overcome their guilt and shame by
performing good deeds and showing contrition. Charles Dickens's A Christmas
Carol is a fantastic illustration of this. Morals regarding religion, faith,
and the value of doing penance for a god are common themes in stories. The
short story collection Sinbad the Sailor's Seven Voyages is a well-known
illustration.
5. Plot (Chain of events): The next element of the story is the plot line. The
plot is the sequence of events that tell the story. Sometimes we call it the
‘narrative structure’. Another way to use the term ‘plot’ is to make a
plan." For example, "There is a plot to rob a bank." Plots
usually follow a familiar structure. We tell children that plots have a
"beginning," "middle," and "end," and that might
be true for a short story: Beginning: introduce the characters and set the
scene; Middle: Introduce a complication and tell the story of how it is
overcome, Ending: Resolve each character’s individual story and provide a
sense of closure. As students get older, we go into a bit more depth and use
more formal terms, such as Exposition: The exposition begins the story.
It provides the necessary background information, like the setting and
character details. It may also outline the relationships between characters and
any other important information. This section should not only set the scene but
also entertain the reader from page one. Rising Action: The rising action
part is the part of the story where "the plot thickens". Challenges,
conflicts, and complications are introduced during the rising action segment.
This is often the longest part of the story. Authors aim to create and build
tension as long as possible to entertain the reader and create a true
‘page-turner’ of a story. The climax follows the rising action. This is the
turning point of the story, where the tensions in the plotline come to a head.
A good climax may involve a twist or a big reveal. Other examples of a climax
might be a big battle, a police chase, or the exposure of a love affair.
Falling Action: After the climax comes falling action. I frequently find
the falling action segment to be brief but necessary to wrap up the
key scenes from the climax. The tension begins to dissipate during the falling
action. Resolution (denouement): The resolution gives a sense of closure
to the reader. It may tie up loose ends in character plotlines and explain what
becomes of the key characters after the story. To use an example from The Lord
of the Rings, the resolution depicts Frodo sailing to Grey Havens and Sam
marrying Rosie Cotton.
6. Point of View (narrator, narrative): The point of view of a tale has
a significant influence on how it will be told, making it the next story
aspect. There are three typical points of view: first person, second person,
and third person. Point of view also affects how the audience will react to it.
The protagonist tells stories in the first person. The usage of first-person
pronouns like "I" and "We" can be used to tell a
first-person story. You can enter inside the main character's head thanks to
the first-person point of view. Throughout the story, they can discuss their
thoughts and opinions of all the other characters. In
second-person narratives, the reader is spoken to directly by an outsider who
is not a character in the story. It seems as though the author/narrator and we are having a conversation. Breaking the fourth wall is what this is known as.
When the author addresses the reader directly as "you," that is a
second-person example. Third-person narratives do not address the audience
directly or introduce themselves as characters. The most typical point of view
is this one. An omniscient narrator is common in third-person narratives. As a
result, a narrator is an all-knowing somebody who can enter the heads of
the characters and interpret their feelings. The story is told by the
author/narrator as though through a looking glass. They use pronouns like
"he," "she," and "they" to address the
characters, including the protagonist.
7. Tone: Writers select a tone to serve as the setting for their stories. The protagonist's mood or situation frequently coincides with the tone. Melancholy, upbeat, hopeful, ominous, and intellectual are only a few examples of tones. Brave New World's dystopian tone, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy's comedic undertone, and Tuesdays with Morrie's sentimental undertone are a few instances of literary tones. A soliloquy, the time of day, and the weather can all be used to set the tone. The weather is a common way to describe mood. Some stories take place during protracted summers. Others, such as fans of Game of Thrones, are looking forward to an everlasting winter. When a character is depressed or agitated, rain is an excellent idea. Contrarily, sunshine will represent good times. Similarly to that, you might wish to specify the time of day, especially if you're writing a short story or just one scene. The atmosphere could be gloomy, mysterious, and magical at night. A warm evening may create a groggy atmosphere. A sunrise scene could suggest a tone of beginning again and leaving excited for the day's activities, In first-person texts, the narrator's soliloquy frequently establishes the mood. A soliloquy is a written or spoken work in which the author expresses their feelings and thoughts.
8. Style: One of a story's most crucial aspects is
its writing style, which is also incredibly unique to each author. In addition,
we frequently discover writers whose writing styles we enjoy and stick with
them to read all of their new works. Simply put, style is how we talk about
our subjects. a variety of styles to think about Short phrases: Very few phrases originally caught my attention in Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell
Tolls. Although
Hemingway's writing comes across as masculine, it is frequently very simple to
read. Highly Detailed: When I first started reading The Lord of the Rings, I
was surprised by how long JRR Tolkein spent describing a fireplace. Even though I like short stories, many classics use this descriptive
technique. Fast-Paced: If you enjoy reading exciting books, be sure that your
writing always moves the plot along and avoids getting bogged down in the
details.