Think about this when you're writing short
fiction.
Does your story have a:
Beginning: Situation
Introduce character
Place
Time
Suggest basic outlines of the conflict;
what all the trouble is going to be about
Middle: Complication, describes all the trouble
Incidents of
action dramatized into scenes
Each scene arising above the one that came before
Dramatic intensity
After a number of crises a climax is
reached
Turning Point…denouement…key moment
Marks end of the Middle and beginning of End
End:
Resolution—make clear the consequences of the
action. Must be clear in connection with whole .
We like to see:
A single and
unique effect: initial sentence
A theme from
the very first line.
Make the word stand for
more than normally it needs to.
A fork
in the road is encountered.
Something has happened
to someone.
Something happens that cannot happen again.
The action of character is determining action.
What happens moves the character in a certain way.
A story assumes a constant to begin with…we see the
character in the NOW as the story begins.
Must show, and know, the significance of what happens
Critical moment—turning point.
Ascending action.
Any change in character must
be natural alteration…movement of character.
Motivation
of characters: drives, dreams, fears. What does he want?
In
a short story usually only one character is “moved.”
It
is useful for the writer to have a general overall sense of what it is
that happens to his character as a result of the action
Isolate events most important, sequences important, render in detail
Sequence of incidents must be justified, must contribute to the whole
Must move the character through the action
Must provide something that happens to someone.
Twists are
good. Innovative use of language and structure, excellent.
Humor, haunting images, style and imagery rank highly. Give us a story we remember.
