Elements of Story

Elements of Story

In this episode Write Pack Radio explores the elements of story. When we start off writing we go to classes, read magazines and books on how to write, and go to workshops, but what are the elements of a good story?

Are characters more important than setting? Can you care about a character and still hate them? Do characters have to change? Is setting a character? Should series characters “reset” in episodic stories?

Does there have to be a plot? Is plot conflict? Is conflict separate of plot? Can a plot be a construction or deconstruction of a character? Are plots more important to some stories and less to others?

Are plot and story interchangeable? Can you write a story without a plot? What about realism, stream of consciousness,-are they stories or a treatment?

What throws you out of a story?

• Characters not behaving as themselves?
• Tone shifts?
• Too easy of coincidences?
• Language doesn’t match the setting?
• When you lose confidence in the author?
• If the story feels forced?
• When the story is “by the numbers”?

Does the designing premise help boost a story over the wall of being mundane?

What have you learned as a writer and a reader about the elements of a story?

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