What is Story?
So, you want to write a story, but what is story exactly? Story is a sequence of events told from the perspective of the narrator to the audience. At its most basic form, a story can be summarized by three components: a goal, conflict, and resolution. Without these key components, you don’t have a story.
To properly tell a story, you must develop the following seven elements of story which work together to create that magical feeling you are trying to achieve: 1. Character 2. Setting 3. Plot 4. Conflict 5. Theme 6. Perspective 7. Style. To create a story, you must purposefully design these seven elements and combine them to make a story. Let’s go into detail about the seven elements of story.
What are the Elements of a Story?
1. Character
All stories need a strong cast of characters who play different roles. The first character you should think deeply about is the protagonist. Creating a character your reader is invested in is the key to every successful story. If your reader cares about the protagonist, they will watch their journey until they inevitably reach their goal.
On the other side of the coin, another character you should invest a lot of time into developing is the antagonist. The antagonist is the force that works in opposition of your main character and is often an inverted reflection of them. Basic stories often revolve around the protagonist and antagonist going back and forth until one stands triumphant.
For ideas of other characters to add to your story, it’s best to learn about the 12 character archetypes. Once you learn the archetypes, you can build your characters from scratch.
2. Setting
Setting is the time and place at which a story takes place, and it’s powerful. Your setting has the power to shape the atmosphere, overall feeling, and limitations of your story. Not only should your setting be unique and imaginative, but above all else, it should be consistent in its rules and structures. Consistency not only helps your story to make sense, but it also adds drama, tension, and stakes to your story.
Let’s use the story of Cinderella as an example. In a setting where fairy godmothers and magic exists, the rule that Cinderella will turn back to normal when the clock strikes 12am adds tension because she must return home before the ball ends. The author does not go back on this rule to give Cinderella and the prince a happy ending.
When creating your setting, especially in fantasy, be aware of the rules and limitations your world follows. Take advantage of the landscape you created and follow through on your rules to make your setting believable.
3. Plot
Plot is the gradual progression of your story. It’s communicated through a sequence of events that detail how your character attempts to accomplish a goal.
There are many ways to approach plot. If you ever struggle with where your story should go, think back to the characters you developed. Plot and character are intertwined in a way where you can structure your plot so that you are revealing certain aspects of your character. You can also come up with a plot based on your theme. Whichever approach you choose to go, think carefully of what your character wants and what’s stopping them from getting it.
4. Conflict
Unfortunately, conflict is one of the components of storytelling newer authors often miss, though it’s arguably the most important. Conflict is what gets your reader intrigued and keeps your reader turning the pages. Naturally, we are drawn in by ordinary individuals who were able to overcome the greatest of odds. Easy ways to set up conflict would be forcing characters with opposite goals or beliefs to interact with each other. You can also create opposing forces which make it more difficult for a character to achieve their goals, whether it’s a rainy storm or their own faulty thinking.
5. Theme
Theme is the central idea communicated by your story. When you are writing the first draft of your story, you don’t need to know your theme immediately. However, by the final draft, you should know your themes inside and out. Theme can help you create scenes, conversations, symbolism, etc. There are multiple themes you can have at once. Think carefully of what you want to communicate to your reader.
There are many ways to approach theme. One way is to ask a question such as: Is it worth giving up on your dreams for love? Another way is to put different ideas against each other. For example: Good vs evil, fate vs freewill, and optimism vs pessimism. Whatever the case may be, stories stand out most when you are speaking to an experience that is meaningful to you.
6. Perspective
Perspective refers to who’s point of view you are telling the story from. Options you can choose from includes the perspective of someone in the story, a perspective from someone outside the story who is observing everyone (3rd person), etc.
Choose wisely when deciding which character you should tell your story from. By simply changing perspectives, you have the power to change your story completely. In most cases, you want to follow or tell the story from the perspective of the character who is driving the plot, whether you are exploring how they overcame internal or external conflict. After choosing your main character, you want to follow how they continuously change throughout the story. Most times, if the character whose perspective you to chose to tell the story from is stagnant instead of dynamic, you simply won’t have an interesting story.
7. Style
Style is the combination of the voice and tone you choose to write in. Do you want to write with a serious tone? Or would you prefer to write in a voice with a fun and distinct personality? Whichever style you choose to write in, make sure it adds to your novel in a way that shapes its overall feeling. What atmosphere will it create? Sometimes, narration with a distinct voice can make the story more engaging and even comedic to read whereas a normal tone of voice can be more balanced and less distracting.
How is a Story Told?
Now that you know the 7 elements of story, you must learn the 3 elements used to tell that story. To successfully write a story, you must create a collection of scenes that includes a steady combination of 1. action, 2. dialogue, and 3. narration. When writing a scene, it’s important to balance these elements, being careful not to have too much or too little of any. Let’s explore the importance of each!
1. Action
Action is the physical movements your character executes throughout a scene, varying from something as small as nodding their head to something as big as jumping across a chasm. Using specific actions is your opportunity to characterize each character individually
2. Dialogue
Dialogue, the words our characters say, is the surest way to understand who a character is. Just like action, dialogue is a great opportunity for to characterize your character and help the reader understand what is important to them.
When writing dialogue, it’s important to not waste your words. Be concise with your character’s language and try to make conversations as interesting (and full of tension) as you can.
3. Narration
Narration is the inner thoughts and commentary of the narrator. In book writing, you can choose 1st person point of view (POV), 2nd person POV, 3rd person POV, or 3rd person omniscience.
Narration can be used to give additional context to reflect on or react to what’s going on in a scene. Take full advantage of narration to control the pacing, tone, and perspective of your story!
So You Understand all the Elements of Story, Now What?
Once you develop the 7 elements of story, getting words on a page will become a lot easier! If you ever feel lost in your story, feel free to revisit the elements story you developed and add to them if you’d like. Hope this helped and thanks for reading!