Some Common Elements of Fiction

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Part II of the Writers Workshop: Some Common Elements of Fiction

I first presented the content of this article on the second day of a writers workshop. It is a continuation of what I taught the first day of the workshop. In addition to this article, I cover the material from the first day in the companion article, "Expanded Power Revision Checklist" .

The way this material is formatted and presented here is more suited to verbal presentation since it was first a class done at a writers workshop. I chose to preserve this format but did some moderate reformatting to make it reader-friendly and suitable for posting.

This article is a compilation of the techniques culled, distilled, and synthesized from the thirty-eight references listed at the end of this piece. These books were not merely used as cursory references. They were all read in their entirety, some more than once.

Let us dive into this material, then, by starting with the basic elements of a story.

What Is a Story?

Quite simply, a story introduces a situation that involves a problem. It shows the opposing parties involved in the problem. It shows the conflict in resolving the problem. And it shows the change or growth that results.

The basis of all drama is conflict– opposition that must be overcome.

The basic overall theme of any strong story is good versus evil. A good story emphasizes a slice of the drama of the ultimate conflict between good and evil, and shows the growth in the characters as they overcome. It is a portrayal of the real drama we encounter in life.

Detailed Structure: A story is made up of a series of scenes in a logical progression or causal chain strung together from beginning to ending. A causal chain means that what happens in one scene logically causes the next, and so on to the end. A scene doesn’t have to cause the very next scene in sequence, but it will cause a subsequent scene. The logic of the causal chain of scenes should flow naturally.

Scenes are the building blocks of a story, not chapters.

A scene is a single action or a series of connected actions taking place in a single setting in a finite period of time.

Setting is important in each scene. Characters may come and go in a scene, but the setting remains constant.

Begin a scene as close to the action as possible, get in quickly and get to the conflict. Then instigate a future scene or scenes, leave a cliff-hanger, and get out.

Every scene must advance the story or it doesn’t belong. Every character in a scene should have a personal agenda, goal, or purpose.

Key scenes are important turning points in the plot. Key scenes must be dramatic. The ultimate key scene is the highpoint, the showdown, the crux of victory or defeat. It must be the most dramatic scene in the entire story.

By thinking in scenes, you are focusing on the nitty-gritty of the conflict in achieving goals, which makes for the drama that is driving the story’s plot to the ultimate goal. Infuse this with solid character development and it makes the story powerful and moving.

The plot is the framework of your story. Think of plot as the frame of a building, the scenes are the building blocks of the finished building, and the characters live in the building. When a building is finished, we do not see the frame, the underlying girders or studs, we see the finished building. When finished with a novel, we should not see the plot, but the story and the characters who live in it.

Plot is much more than the scene progression. It includes all the underlying reasons and circumstances of the causal chain, everything behind the interactions of all the characters. Plot and characters are interdependent. Plot puts the characters into situations that reveals their inner qualities, and characters make choices that shape the future situations of the plot.

Characters

Character is about inner qualities and how these qualities determine choices. We cannot know a character unless we see them challenged in a “test.” The plot is the test that puts the character into situations that reveal his inner qualities by the decisions he makes and actions he takes.

Every character must be real, have motives and goals, and have a definite background.

Don’t tell a reader about a character, such as:

         “Jackson was timid so he didn’t tell the owner even though the owner was wrong.”

Show us Jackson’s timidity, by his thoughts, words, deeds, and actions, such as:

         “Jackson hesitated. The owner was wrong. He wanted to tell him, but instead he swallowed the words. Perhaps it was safer not to offend.”

Each character should be unique and these unique qualities should be pointed out so that the reader never confuses them.

A character must be developed thoroughly enough so that his motives are believable or the character won’t work.

Dialogue is a critical catalyst in the interaction of plot and character and is of ultimate importance in making characters live.

If we force a character to act a certain way to make the plot work, the character loses credibility.

When introducing a character, don’t give a full biographical sketch and description. Just give a few unique and memorable traits that a reader can latch onto and get back to the action.

In real life, we learn about people gradually as we interact, things from their past, hidden talents and abilities. That’s how to make a character live on paper. Allow secrets to be slowly revealed as they move forward in the plot and interact with other characters.

Though the main character will have flaws and weaknesses, he or she should always be admirable.

Dialogue

Dialogue shows characters interacting. It is one of the most important elements in powerful fiction. It is the ultimate mechanism for showing action and conflict. It enriches scenes with drama and brings characters to life. A few lines of well written dialogue can build character, advance plot, convey information, and build tension. Use dialogue in all your key scenes.

Dialogue must seem like real conversation, not copy it. Real conversation is choppy, fragmented, and dialectical. Writing it that way would lose the reader. Written dialogue must be clear, crisp, and communicate precisely while still seeming natural, like someone is speaking. Use just enough contractions, quips, and fragments to give the sense of realism and let the reader supply the rest in his imagination.

Direct dialogue is the written verbal exchange between quotation marks. It is the back-and-forth interaction.

Indirect dialogue is a summation or telling of what someone spoke to another. It is not between quotation marks.

Use direct dialogue for back-and-forth interaction that shows action, conflict, and emotion. Use indirect dialogue to sum up other essential information rather than to bore the reader with the blow by blow details.

[direct]          Patti held her crimson silk dress at arms length. “I think I should take this one,” she said.
[direct]          “Ooh yes,” Ralph nodded, “I like that one.”
[indirect]      Patti showed Ralph several more dresses and picked out some suits for him before reciting the rest of their vacation checklist.

Don’t bore the reader with the list. Use indirect dialogue to tell us she recited the list.

Direct dialogue should not be overly eloquent and poetic or it will seem forced and unnatural.

         “It must be hard working alone in the kitchen all night.”
         “No, it’s so wonderful,” she said. “There is such a grand beauty to the solitude. The pristine quiet soothes me like a balm, and oh, the fragrant aromas of herbs and spices, rich and hearty. They fill me with a sense of peace. Even the subtle glint of the chrome cooking racks in the subdued light has an artistic quality that is breathtaking.”
         He stared at her like she’d lost her mind.

Instead, use indirect dialogue for the eloquent descriptions.

         “No, it’s so wonderful,” she said. She described the beauty of the kitchen at night, the solitude, the pristine quiet, the aromas of herbs and spices, even the subtle glint of the chrome cooking racks.
         “I didn’t know it could be so interesting,” he said.

Never use direct dialogue for small talk. The reader assumes all small talk has already occurred. If there absolutely has to be a greeting, use indirect dialogue to tell us that they greeted each other, then get into the direct dialogue.

Conversations do not happen in a vacuum. Let the readers see, hear, smell, taste, and touch the setting along with the characters. To accomplish this use descriptive tag lines, telling details, gestural pauses, and word choice.

A dialogue tag or tag line is the “he said, she said” of a dialogue sequence. Avoid “said” substitutes such as “she yelled, he chortled, she retorted, he spat, she chuckled, he barked, she roared.” Even “replied” and “asked” should be used infrequently.

Avoid added modifiers such as “she said angrily, he said with emphasis, she said quickly, he said vigorously.” “Said” substitutes and added modifiers are nothing but fillers and detract from the dialogue. They interrupt the natural flow of the action. “Said” is invisible to the reader and allows the reader to infer the emotions and attitudes from the direct dialogue, descriptive clues, telling details, and gestural pauses given in the exchange. This is a powerful concept for a beginning writer to learn.

A descriptive dialogue tag adds a phrase which describes action:

         “Never in this lifetime,” he said. He heaved the anchor overboard.

Use just enough telling details between dialogue so the reader can discover new things about character and setting:

         She looked up into his eyes and said, “I’m not sure about this.”

The reader discovers that he is taller than her, perhaps quite a bit taller if she has to look up. That’s a telling detail.

         He entered the shack, crossed the threadbare rug, and pushed aside the beaded curtain to enter her room. “What are you waiting for?”
         She looked up into his eyes, “I’m not sure about this.”

The reader discovers some clues about where she lives or where she’s staying. We get to know her gradually as the story moves along rather than to stop the action to read a biographical sketch, most of which we would forget anyway if we didn’t just skip it.

A gestural pause is a descriptive interruption that enhances the spoken word by showing a gestural action that corresponds to the emotion, attitude, motive, or mood of the words spoken:

         “Kevin,” Jessica said. She pulled her chair up close. “Tell me more.”

         James tore down the street. “The car is gone.”

Another thing to note is to keep dialogue actions in sequence. If an action or a gesture comes before or during the words, put it first. If it comes after the words, put it there:

         After: “Never in this lifetime,” he said. He heaved the anchor overboard and stepped back.

         During: Heaving the anchor overboard, he said, “Never in this lifetime,” and he stepped back.

         Before: He heaved the anchor overboard, stepped back, and said, “Never in this lifetime.”

Word choice refers to the actual words between the quotation marks. Let the words within the quotes convey emotion, attitude, and mood.

Just because we want to avoid said substitutes and modifiers it does not mean we can never use them. An occasional one will add the right spice at the right moment.

Always make it clear who is talking. If you get a good logical flow and your characters are unique, you can often skip any dialogue tags altogether. Anytime it may be confusing to the reader who said what, put in a pronoun or name so we can be sure we are clear on who is talking.

Good dialogue is a carefully constructed balance between word choice, descriptive tag lines, telling details, and gestural pauses. Overdoing any one of these techniques may smother the dialogue.

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