Which of the following story elements best conveys the answer to part a?

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You’ve got a story idea you’re certain has the potential to impact lives.

Where do you start?

There’s enough writing advice on the internet to overwhelm you and make you want to quit before you even begin.

So let’s simplify things.

Writing a story is like building a house. You may have all the tools and design ideas, but if your foundation isn’t solid, even the most beautiful structure won’t stand.

Most storytelling experts agree that there are 7 key elements of a story that must exist.

Make sure they’re all included to boost your chance of selling your writing.

Need help writing your novel? Click here to download my 12-step guide to writing a novel.

What are the Elements of a Story?

Effective, compelling stories contain:

1 — A Theme

Plot (#5) is what happens in a story, a theme is why it happens—which you need to know while you’re writing the plot.

So, before you even begin writing, determine why you want to tell this story.

What message do you wish to convey?
What will it teach the reader about life?

Resist the urge to explicitly state your theme. Just tell your story and let it explore your theme and make its own point.

Give your readers some credit, they’re smart. Subtly weave it into the story and trust them to get it. Don’t rob them of their part of the writing/reading experience.

They may remember your plot, but ideally you want them to think long about your theme.

2 — Characters

I’m talking believable characters who feel knowable.

Your main character is the protagonist, also known as the lead or hero/heroine.

The protagonist must have:

redeemable human flaws
potentially heroic qualities that emerge in the climax
a character arc (he must be a different, better, stronger person by the end)

Resist the temptation to create a perfect lead character. Perfect is boring. (Even Indiana Jones suffered a snake phobia.)

You also need an antagonist, the villain.

Your villain should be every bit as formidable and compelling as your hero. Just don’t make the bad guy bad because he’s the bad guy. Make him a worthy foe by giving him motives for his actions.

Villains don’t see themselves as bad. They think they’re right! A fully rounded bad guy is much more realistic and memorable.

Depending on the length of your story, you may also need important orbital cast members.

For each, ask:

What do they want?
What or who is keeping them from getting it?
What will they do about it?

The more challenges your characters face, the more relatable they are.

Much as in real life, the toughest challenges transform the most.

3 — Setting

This may include location, time, or era, but it should also include how things look, smell, taste, feel, and sound.

Thoroughly research details about your setting, but remember this is the seasoning, not the main course. The main course is the story itself.

But, beware. Agents and acquisitions editors tell me one of the biggest mistakes beginning writers make is feeling they must begin by describing the setting.

It’s important, don’t get me wrong. But a sure way to put readers to sleep is to promise a thrilling story on the cover—only to begin with some variation of:

The house sat in a deep wood surrounded by…

Don’t.

Rather than describing the setting, subtly layer it into your story.

Show readers your setting, don’t tell them.

Do this, and what things look and feel and sound like subtly register in the theater of the readers’ minds while they’re concentrating on the action, the dialogue, the tension, the drama, and conflict that keep them turning the pages.

4 — Point of View

To determine Point of View (POV) for your story, decide two things:

the voice you will use to write your story: First Person (I, me), Second Person (you, your), or Third Person (he, she or it), and
who will serve as your story’s camera?

The cardinal rule is one perspective character per scene, but I prefer only one per chapter, and ideally one per novel.

Readers experience everything in your story from this character’s perspective. (No hopping into the heads of other characters.) What your POV character sees, hears, touches, smells, tastes, and thinks is all you can convey.

Some writers think this limits them to First Person, but it doesn’t.

Most novels are written in Third Person Limited: one perspective character at a time, usually the one with the most at stake.

Writing your novel in First Person makes it easiest to limit yourself to that one perspective character, but Third-Person Limited is most popular for a reason.

Read current popular fiction to see how the bestsellers do it.

Point of View can be confusing, but it’s foundational. Overlook it at your peril.

5 — Plot

Plot is the sequence of events that make up a story. It’s what compels your reader to either keep turning the pages, or set the book aside.

Think of plot as the storyline of your novel.

A successful story answers two questions:

What happens? (Plot)
What does it mean? (Theme; see #1 above—it’s foundational)

Writing coaches call story structures by different names, but they’re all largely similar. All story structures include some variation of:

An Opener
An Inciting Incident that changes everything
A series of crises that build tension
A Climax
A Resolution (or Conclusion)

How effectively you create drama, intrigue, conflict, and tension, determines whether you can grab readers from the start and keep them to the end.

6 — Conflict

Conflict is the engine of fiction and is crucial to effective nonfiction as well.

Readers crave conflict and long to see what results from it.

If everything in your plot is going well and everyone is agreeing, you’ll quickly bore your reader—a cardinal sin.

Are two characters chatting amiably?

Have one say something that makes the other storm out, revealing a deep-seeded rift in their relationship.

What is it? What’s behind it? Readers will keep turning the pages to find out.

7 — Resolution

Whether you’re an Outliner or a Pantser like me (one who writes by the seat of your pants), you must have an idea where your story is going and think about your ending every day.

How you expect the story to end should inform every scene and chapter. It may change, evolve, grow as you and your characters experience the inevitable arcs, but never leave it to chance.

Keep your lead character center stage to the very end. Everything he learns through all the complications that arise from his trying to fix the terrible trouble you plunged him into should, in the end, make him rise to the occasion.

If you get near the end and feel something’s missing, don’t rush. Give it a few days, a few weeks if necessary.

Read through everything you’ve written. Take a long walk. Think on it. Sleep on it. Jot notes about it. Let your subconscious work on it. Play what-if games. Be outrageous if you must. But deliver a satisfying ending that resonates.

Give your readers a payoff for their investment by making it unforgettable. Do this by reaching for the heart.

Readers love to be educated and even entertained, but they never forget being emotionally moved.

You Can Do This

Focus on these 7 elements of a story, and when you’re ready to dig deeper, click here to read my 12-step process for How to Write a Novel.

Knowing the parts of a story are essential for getting your book right.

Without constructing your book with these in mind, you could be taking the book idea you really love and need to get out into the world and just throwing it away.

And that’s not to mention whether or not you’re setting yourself up for success when you publish…

But if you really want readers to not only experience your story but to enjoy it, keeping these parts of a story top of mind is crucial.

These are the different parts of a story:

What are the parts of a story?

The main parts of a story consist of five elements: characters, setting, plot, conflict, and resolution. Great authors know how to harness these story elements with others we’ll cover in this post to write a memorable story.

There are infinite ways to write a book and tell a story.

You can use endlessly different story structures and styles, but each story or novel is going to boil down to three fundamental elements: character, setting, and plot.
For the purposes of giving you all the tools you need to write a book worth buying, we’re going a tad deeper than the main 5 story elements, because we know the greats—authors like Stephen King and George R.R. Martin—use more than that.

Those five elements are your story’s main course, but what’s a meal without side dishes?

In addition to the main five above, we’re also going to cover more parts of a story, including themes, morals, symbolism, point of view, and perspective.

What they are, how to use them, and how all of these literary elements work together to make a complete and filling dinner–I mean story…I’m hungry.

Parts of a Story Great Authors Use to Write Memorable, Binge-Worthy Stories & Novels

Once you’ve got a solid story idea, the real work begins.

Here are the 10 essential parts of a story every writer needs to get it right. Without these, your story (whether you’re writing a short story or a full novel) will fall flat.

#1 – Characters

Your audience should feel different levels of closeness to your different characters, depending on if they’re main, secondary, or background characters.

But one key thing to keep in mind about including characters is, if your character is important enough to have a name, they’re important enough to have a goal.

What do your characters want? Their desire can be simple or complex, tangible or concept–maybe they want a job, a house, approval, a child, contentment. If your character doesn’t want something, they won’t be compelled to act.

If your character isn’t acting, they’re passive or they’re just a plot device. You want to avoid both, and this is usually accomplished through strong character development.

Here are a few tips for writing amazing characters in your story:

Read these books to learn how characters can become a strong part of your story:

#2 – Setting

The setting is when and where your story takes place.

Aside from the physical location and position in time, your setting can include:
weather
political climate
social norms
cultural influences

Take the time to consider these aspects to build a complex world for your characters to interact with.

Particularly in fantasy and sci-fi worlds, a lot of planning goes into establishing a convincing and engaging story setting that can either add to your plot or take away from it.

#3 – Plot

Your plot is probably the most obvious part of a story. It’s the actual story–what happens, when, how, why, and what’s the result?

There are a lot of different ways to structure your plot, but in general, a plot arc has five main points:

Set-up/exposition – The beginning part of your story where you establish the world, the characters, the tone, and your writing style.
Rising action – The rising action is usually prompted by your inciting incident. Here, you escalate tension and problems, explore your characters. This is the biggest chunk of your book.
Climax – This is the sort of “moment of truth.” The culmination of everything–the highest point of tension. The point the plot has been leading up to.
Falling action – What goes up, must come down. This is where you resolve any subplots and side stories.
Resolution – Wrap up, close loops, or open any other story loops to segue into a sequel.

Along with our three fundamental story elements, we can dive a little deeper and discuss conflict and resolution.

#4 – Conflict

Your conflict should rise throughout (peaking at the climax). The conflict is the part of your story where readers get bought-in. They want to see how the conflict unfolds and how it plays into the plot.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself (or your beta readers):

Does the scene add to the overall plot?
Does the scene advance internal or inter-character relationships?
Does the scene add to a subplot?
Does the scene answer or bring about any plot-crucial questions?

The conflict could lend to the overall plot, a subplot, conflict between characters, or even a smaller conflict that is resolved within that scene. For a story to be interesting, there needs to be conflict.

Scenes that don’t add to that are fluff.

STORY TIP: During the editing process, a good practice is to look at each scene and ask if there is conflict within it. If there isn’t, be sure it’s then crucial to the plot, otherwise it can probably be deleted.

#5 – Resolution

I want to talk a little more about resolution, since it’s so important. How you end your story is what will sit with readers the longest.

What’s the culmination of all we went through during the story?

What did the characters learn that led them to the decisions they ultimately made? By the end of your story, all of your conflicts should have a resolution.

In some cases, conflicts are intentionally left a bit open-ended without a solid resolution, but this should be done intentionally and there should be some sort of resolution, even if it’s an unsatisfying ending with a little remaining mystery.

Further boiling a story down will reveal elements like themes, morals, and symbolism, parts of a story that aren’t just about putting the writing together, but more about why you’re telling this specific story.

#6 – Themes

A theme is your story’s main takeaway. Your story can have one theme, or several.

The theme of your story helps to focus the narrative and answers the question: What’s the point?

Some examples of themes include:

Coming of age–what struggles come with it, what’s good about it
Forgiveness–trying to achieve it, avoiding it, accepting it
Death–overcoming it, processing it, fearing it
Love–overcoming it, processing it, fearing it (lol)
Empowerment
Displacement
Motherhood
Injustice
Good versus bad

The list is literally endless.

What have your characters learned? How are they changed, and what will they affect now that they are different?

#7 – Morals

The moral of your story is related to theme–what message do you want your story to convey?

If the theme is what the character learned, you can think of the moral as what the reader learned.

Let’s take a coming-of-age narrative–what are possible morals in that type of story?

Don’t grow up too fast
Follow your dreams
Listen to the wisdom of others
Accept yourself as you are
Appreciate where you are and what’s happening now

Consider what morals you want to convey, but avoid directly stating them when writing your book. This is part of the experience of reading your story…and that’s for the readers.

#8 – Symbolism

Symbolism is a literary device used to convey subtle meanings.

A symbol in your story can be anything from an object, a character archetype, an animal, an occurrence in nature to things like a window, an estranged father, a lion, a storm, a desk, a fire.

Symbols have meaning connected to them that can be universal, or they can be made-up symbolism for your unique world and story.

Here are some examples of symbolism in stories:

A window might signify freedom, longing, hope.
A lion might be bravery.
A storm might be impending doom or threat.
A desk could indicate creativity, work, neglect.

It all depends on the context of the story and the connotations you assign to your symbols.

Themes, morals, and symbolism are fun writing tools and parts of a story to work with, but be cautious of relying on them.

They’re icing and sprinkles–not the cupcake.

#9 – Point of view

The point of view of your story is simply who is telling the story. The most common in fiction are first-person, third-person limited, and third-person omniscient.

First-person POV:

First-person point of view (POV) is the main character telling the story. It uses the pronouns I, me, myself.

A strength of using first-person is that your reader will connect with your character very easily–the reader essentially becomes the character. If done well, this is a very intimate reading experience.

A weakness of first-person is that your storytelling is limited to that perspective. It’s difficult to tell an entire story with a single, first-person narrator. It can be done, but it takes more effort than it might with a different point of view.

Here’s a first-person point of view example from my collection of short stories, Little Birds.

Third-person limited POV:

Third-person is an outside narrator telling the story. It uses the pronouns he, she, they.

Even though it’s an outsider narrator, third limited keeps us in the point of view of our character(s)–the reader only knows what the character knows.

A strength of third-person point of view is the versatility. It’s much easier to have multiple point of view characters with third-person, as opposed to first. You can also flow between third limited and third omniscient in a novel.

The weakness is you don’t get the closeness to the character you have in first-person, though this can still be created through strong character development and using the rule of show, don’t tell.

Here’s an example of third person limited point of view from Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea.

Third-person omniscient POV:

Third omniscient is when an outside, all-knowing narrator tells the story. Third omniscient can jump into any character’s thoughts and knows things about the story the characters might not know.

The omniscient narrator knows everything happening in the universe.

The obvious strength of third omniscient is ease of storytelling–you’re not limited to any one character’s knowledge.

The weakness is you’re even further from your character and it’s that much harder to forge a connection between your characters and your readers.

Author Erin Morgenstern does a great job with this point of view in her novel The Night Circus, seen below.

# 10 – Perspective

Even though “point of view” and “perspective” are often used in the writing community interchangeably, perspective is actually different.

Perspective in your story refers to the character’s interpretation of the world and their attitude toward it.

A character’s perspective can be determined by their personal story–their upbringing, their opinions, their socioeconomic status, their education level, etc.

Considering your character’s worldview when deciding their morals and actions will make your characters and story feel more authentic.

While you outline your book and story’s plot, characters, and setting, don’t forget to consider everything else we’ve covered.

These elements work together to tell a complete and engaging story.

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