Key Story Elements
I lost count years ago of how many books and/or stories I’ve read.
I include flash and short story collections here deliberately, partly because I write them, have featured in them but, in any case, they are still as much of a book as a novel or novella. They’re just a different format, that’s all, and I’ve found them useful for another reason.
If I like an author’s short work, it’s a good bet I will like their longer works too. So sometimes I have tried out an author’s short form work before buying any of their novels.
But regardless of story type, every work of fiction has to have key story elements.
For me, these include characters I can relate to, an interesting plot, and an ending which fulfils the promise of the book.
I have to feel that the ending was right. If there was a twist (and I love these), I need to be able to look back at the story on a second reading and see how it could only be this twist and it had to be the way the writer portrayed it.
No matter what the setting, the characters have to be believable too. There has to be something in their portrayal I can relate to and naturally this acts as a wonderful challenge for me to do the same with my own creations.
Reading encourages writing. Writing encourages reading. Behind it all is a love of story and the key story elements are what readers crave and what writers long to create.
I include flash and short story collections here deliberately, partly because I write them, have featured in them but, in any case, they are still as much of a book as a novel or novella. They’re just a different format, that’s all, and I’ve found them useful for another reason.
If I like an author’s short work, it’s a good bet I will like their longer works too. So sometimes I have tried out an author’s short form work before buying any of their novels.
But regardless of story type, every work of fiction has to have key story elements.
For me, these include characters I can relate to, an interesting plot, and an ending which fulfils the promise of the book.
I have to feel that the ending was right. If there was a twist (and I love these), I need to be able to look back at the story on a second reading and see how it could only be this twist and it had to be the way the writer portrayed it.
No matter what the setting, the characters have to be believable too. There has to be something in their portrayal I can relate to and naturally this acts as a wonderful challenge for me to do the same with my own creations.
Reading encourages writing. Writing encourages reading. Behind it all is a love of story and the key story elements are what readers crave and what writers long to create.
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