5 Important Elements of a Short Story

A short story is a short work of fiction. Fiction, as you know, is prose writing about imagined events and characters. Prose writing differs from poetry in that it does not depend on verses, meters or rhymes for its organization and presentation. A character is a person, or sometimes even an animal, who takes part in the action of a short story or other literary work. The setting of a short story is the time and place in which it happens. Authors often use descriptions of landscape, scenery, buildings, seasons or weather to provide a strong sense of setting. A plot is a series of events and character actions that relate to the central conflict. The conflict is a struggle between two people or things in a short story. The main character is usually on one side of the central conflict. On the other side, the main character may struggle against another important character, against the forces of nature, against society, or even against something inside himself or herself (feelings, emotions, illness). The theme is the central idea or belief in a short story. Exposition is when someone (the narrator most often but could also be a character) explains or tells the reader something: setting description, character attributes, history, philosophy, or explanations. It is aside from the plot and is generally considered to be something that should be minimized. Exposition or Introduction The exposition provides the background information needed to properly understand the story, such as the problem in the beginning of the story, characters, and setting. Rising action During rising action, the basic internal conflict is complicated by the introduction of related secondary conflicts, including various obstacles that frustrate the protagonist's attempt to reach his goal. Secondary conflicts can include adversaries of lesser importance than the storys antagonist, who may work with the antagonist or separately, by and for themselves or actions unknown, and also the conflict. Climax The third act is that of the climax, or turning point, which marks a change, for the better or the worse, in the protagonists affairs. If the story is a comedy, things will have gone badly for the protagonist up to this point; now, the tide, so to speak, will turn, and things will begin to go well for him or her. If the story is a tragedy, the opposite state of affairs will ensue, with things going from good to bad for the protagonist. Simply put, this is where the main part happens or the most dramatic part. Falling action During the falling action the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt. Dnouement, resolution, or catastrophe The dnouement (pronounced /denum/, /denumn/, or UK /denum/; French: [denum]) comprises events between the falling action and the actual ending scene of the drama or narrative and thus serves as the conclusion of the story. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis, or release of tension and anxiety, for the reader. Etymologically, the French word dnouement is derived from the Old French word dnouer, "to untie", and from nodus, Latin for "knot." Simply put, dnouement is the unraveling or untying of the complexities of a plot. The comedy ends with a dnouement (a conclusion) in which the protagonist is better off than at the story's outset. The tragedy ends with a catastrophe in which the protagonist is worse off than at the beginning of the narrative. Exemplary of a comic dnouement is the final scene of Shakespeares comedy As You Like It, in which couples marry, an evildoer repents, two disguised characters are revealed for all to see, and a ruler is restored to power. In Shakespeare's tragedies, the dnouement is usually the death of one or more characters. More modern works may have no dnouement, because of a quick or surprise ending. Criticism Freytag's analysis was intended to apply not to modern drama, but rather to ancient Greek and Shakespearean drama. A specific exposition stage is criticized by Lajos Egri in The Art of Dramatic Writing. He states, exposition itself is part of the whole play, and not simply a fixture to be used at the beginning and then discarded. According to Egri, the actions of a character reveal who they are, and exposition should come about naturally. The beginning of the play should therefore begin with the initial conflict. Contemporary dramas increasingly use the fall to increase the relative height of the climax and dramatic impact (melodrama). The protagonist reaches up but falls and succumbs to their doubts, fears, and limitations. Arguably, the negative climax occurs when they have an epiphany and encounter their greatest fear or lose something important. This loss gives them the courage to take on another obstacle. This confrontation becomes the classic climax.[6]