Elements of a Story
Theme
The best place to start when trying to understand a story's elements is usually with its theme. A story's theme informs us of the true subject matter of the narrative. It's frequently the story's original purpose, as the author intended for us to comprehend a specific notion or moral lesson.
Plot
A story's plot is composed of its major events and the sequence in which they take place. A story's plot is divided into five distinct parts:
Exposition
Rising Action
Climax
Falling Action
Denoument/Catastrophe
An author can establish a theme, places, and people that we care about by organizing the plot in this way. They might then heighten the tension and suspense before the story's pivotal moment, then satisfactorily close the story.
Setting
The place where the action occurs is called the setting of the story. The majority of stories include multiple settings. Settings can be entirely imaginary, fictionalized copies of real locations with names changed, or locations that currently exist or have been in the past.
Characters
These are the characters that propel the story. The story's events happen to them, and they initiate the action. Characters can be realistically depicted, whether adults or children from any era of history or the present day. They can even be based on real individuals. They might also be fanciful individuals like wizards or superheroes. Animals have also been the primary characters in a lot of stories. As long as the reader can identify with your characters in some manner, you can make them into anyone or anything.
There are some character archetypes in most stories. These are the following:
The protagonist is the primary character who drives the plot. Usually, the protagonist must find a solution to a problem or conflict.
The antagonist is the protagonist's villain. Conflicts are frequently started by an opponent.
A foil is a figure whose actions and characteristics stand in stark contrast to those of the protagonist. Usually, the foil's job is to deepen our understanding of the protagonist.
As the name implies, a love interest is a character whose primary goal is to fall in love with the main character.
Good and terrible supporting characters are equally acceptable as long as they advance the plot and keep the action flowing.
Conflict
The conflict of a story is often an interpersonal dispute between the protagonist and the antagonist. This could stand for the conflict between good and evil or the process by which two individuals put their differences aside to allow love to blossom. Occasionally, nevertheless, the protagonist may find themselves in conflict with society or the natural world.
Tone
The story's tone determines whether we perceive it as a tragedy or a comedy, gloomy and unsettling or hopeful and bright. Although it isn't as precise as a genre, it does aid in how we think classification of a story.
Style
The author's chosen method of narrating the story is referred to as style. Do they employ complex words and sentences, for instance? Do they speak in current slang? They have an ironic style? Do they employ literary tropes like metaphor and simile? Maybe even their writing is rhymed.
POV
Point of view is the "eyes are we seeing the story through." The majority of stories are told in the third person by an omniscient narrator, allowing us to follow every character's every move and thought as it unfolds. On the other hand, a writer may occasionally decide to present a tale in the first person, from the perspective of a single character. This implies that there are some details that remain unknown to us until the character discovers them. Determining whether or not we can trust the narrator to convey the truth is another task.
Some books use multiple first-person narratives, especially those in the Gothic genre. As a result, several characters get the chance to tell the story at various stages.
Narrative Techniques
Foreshadowing
As the name implies, foreshadowing is the technique used by authors to provide clues to future events or results by utilizing objects or people from the plot.
Cliffhanger
An unfinished or open-ended story is called a cliffhanger. In order to entice viewers to return for the following episode or sequel to find out if the answers are disclosed, storytellers frequently employ this storytelling approach in television and movies.
Flashback and Flash Forward
A flashback or flash forward will show events that transpired in the past or future that have an impact on the characters in the story's present, pulling the reader out of an otherwise chronological narrative.
Red Herring
Red herrings are a common device used by authors of crime and mystery novels to draw the reader's focus away from the truth and onto a different character or plot point.
Epiphany
A character's epiphany can have a profound effect on the plot. This usually has to do with a character's ongoing issue and the emergence of a resolution or fresh viewpoint.
Author's surogate
An author's surrogate is a more defined version of the common practice of incorporating aspects of the writer into their characters. When a narrative approach is employed, a character will adopt the morals, beliefs, and even personality features of their creator.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
As the name implies, this technique is used by writers to have characters foresee events that will happen in the future and then those predictions come true because of their reflections on those events.
Allegory
An allegory is a symbolic tale that explores aspects of what it means to be human and is frequently of a religious or spiritual bent.
Pathetic Fallacy
This is the point where the inanimate objects that surround a character mirror their emotions. In fiction, weather is usually employed to imply a character's state of mind at a specific point in the narrative.
Multiperspectivity
Multiple views and narrators are possible in a story. Throughout the narrative, this technique is employed to portray the perspectives of several characters, frequently through the employment of an omniscient or all-knowing third-person narrator.
Mise en Abyme
This strategy is a wonderful example of how numerous storylines or subplots can be included in a narrative. When utilizing frame stories, authors frequently insert "mini stories" to highlight secondary characters or advance the plot.
Plot Twist
Plot twists are what happen when something unexpected occurs in a novel. Frequently employed in various forms of narrative, the anticipated conclusion is typically altered during a crucial juncture in the story.
In Medias Res
The method of starting a story or other narrative by throwing the reader into a pivotal scenario that is a component of a larger plot; the predicament is an extension of earlier events and will be further explored in a subsequent action.
Backstory
Provides context for what occurs in the present by reflecting on events that occurred prior to the main body of the story. Character reflections can be used to transmit this throughout a linear chronology, albeit it is typically displayed as a prologue.
References
https://www.britannica.com/art/in-medias-res-literature
https://www.skillshare.com/en/blog/the-narrative-technique-guide-25-examples-and-explanations-thatll-make-you-a-better-reader-and-writer/