This document discusses various literary elements and concepts related to fiction writing. It covers genres of fiction like novels, short stories, and poetry. It also discusses key character elements like protagonists, antagonists, desires, and character development through action, thought, and appearance. Additionally, it outlines plot elements such as conflict, suspense, setting, point of view, and the use of dialogue and language to develop a story.

1. Cindy Cruz-Cabrera
About.me/cindycruzcabrera / en.gravatar.com/cindycatz

2. 1. Prose fiction (narrative fiction)
 Novels
 Short stories
 Myths
 Parables
 Romances
 Epics
2. Poetry
3. Drama
4. Non-fiction Narratives

3.  A basis in realism (“versimilitude”)
 Even fantasy is derived from a
perception of life and action that is
ultimately real.
 Art imitates life.
 Life imitates art.

4.  Original meaning: “Anything made up,
crafted, or shaped.”
 The essence of fiction: NARRATION
 Modern fiction: HUMAN NATURE
 Complex motives
 The psychological and highly individual
 NOVEL vs. SHORT STORY

5.  Levels of reality
 Postulate (given premise)
 Symbolic
 Miraculous
 Possible future
 Behavior
 Alternate reality
 They remain stories about
characters you find in real life.

6.  Protagonist
 Antagonist
 Flat
 Round
 Dynamic
 Stock
 Foil
 Sidekick

7. DESIRE
 A character is someone who wants, and
that’s what a character is.
 The nature of one’s desire determines
the nature of his morality.
 Deep desire and immediate desire.
 __(name) __ is a __(adjective)__- _____
year old (noun) who wants
_______________.
 Desire >>> Goal >>> Action

8. VOICE, ACTION, THOUGHT
 the point of view of the character
 Words, actions and things, which can be
seen and heard, express and reveal
character and feeling that can neither be
seen nor heard.
 What a character says vs. what a character
does
 What is expressed voluntarily and
involuntarily
 DISCOVERY and DECISION

9.  Appearance, speech, action, and thought
 CONFLICT
 Thought is most frequently at odds with
one or more of the other three.
 Mannerisms
 Small acts that betray feelings

10.  Place and time of a story
 The natural or artificial scenery or
environment in which characters in
literature live and move.
Period in history
 Geographic location
 Characteristics
 Climate
 Political, social, and /or historical context
 Mood / atmosphere

11. Natural
 Nature itself is seen as a force that
shapes action and therefore directs and
redirects lives.
 A deep wood
 An open road
 A lake
 A mountain top

12. Manufactured
 Manufactured things always reflect the
people who made them, live in them, and
ultimately the social and political orders
that maintain conditions.
 A building
 A richly decorated house

13.  Who is standing where to watch the
scene?
 Voice of the teller, intended listener,
distance or closeness of both action and
diction
First person
 Central narrator
 Peripheral narrator
 Stream of consciousness

14. Second person
Third person
 Omniscient
 Limited omniscient
 Objective
 Dramatic
 Is the narrator reliable? Can you
trust the narrator?

15.  The interrelationship of incidents and
characters within a total design is the plot
of the story.
 A series of lifelike actions or incidents
which in total make up the story
 A map, scheme or blueprint

16.  Development and resolution of a conflict
in which a PROTAGONIST is engaged in
a struggle of some sort, which is directed
at an ANTAGONIST.
 A pattern of cause and effect that can be
traced in a sequence or chronology

17.  The way the plot is assembled
 Direct chronological order
 Out-of-sequence events
 Circular time
 Remembrances / flashbacks
 Overheard conversations
 Speeches
 Fragments of letters
 ETC.

18. Conversation
Language of dialogue indicates:
 Intelligence
 Articulateness
 Educational levels
 Emotional states
 Limited or disadvantaged background
 Regional location
 Jargon
 Cliché
 Private, intimate expressions show closeness.

19.  The suspense, anxiety, nervousness,
strain, urgency, excitement, or fear that
grips us as we read.
 The careful planting of questions in the
reader’s mind.
 What hooks readers of any age and
keeps them turning pages
 The presence of conflict
 The driving force – it propels the plot and
grabs the reader’s interest

20.  Outer goal
 The stated character’s objective
 The outer goal is resolved in the climax
 Inner desire
 Exists alongside the outer goal
 May be consistent or at odds with the outer
goal
 A character may or may not be aware of this
 External conflict
 Comes from obstacles between characters and
their goals
 Source may be environment or other characters

21.  Internal conflict
 Comes from the obstacles characters create
for themselves through self-sabotage or an
incompatibility between the outer goal and
inner desire.
 Stakes
 Characters at risk of losing something of
great significance to them if their goals or
desires aren’t met
 Stakes increase as when protagonists near
their goals

22.  Roberts, Edgar V. and Jacobs, Henry E.
Literature: An Introduction to Reading and
Writing. Eagleton Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1986.
 Burroway, Janet. Imaginative Writing: The
Elements of Craft. New York: Longman,
2003.
 Peterson, Ralph and Eeds, Maryann. Grand
Conversations. Ontario: Scholastic, 1990.

23.  http://www.fictionfactor.com/guests/tensio
n.html
 http://www.absolutewrite.com/novels/tens
ion.htm
 http://suite101.com/article/how-to-build-
tension-in-fiction-a83387
 http://andreajwenger.com/2011/07/08/five
-key-elements-to-creating-tension-in-
fiction/