Elements of Fiction I — Narrative

Elements of Fiction: I. Narrative

Three elements make up any story, whether fiction, non-fiction, or creative non-fiction:  narrative, exposition, and dialogue. There should be, to fully engage the reader, roughly the same proportion of each in an entire story, though pages, chapters, sections, and paragraphed, may vary widely. Let’s look at narrative in this post. Some writers favor one over the others, some topics lend themselves more to one or the other. But the 33.3 percent guideline holds overall. If it doesn’t in your story, and your work is compelling and engages and moves the reader, so what?

Narrative is story-telling. Exposition is filling in details. Dialogue is conversation.

Take this nursery rhyme:  

Jack and Jill

Went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water.

 Jack fell down

And broke his crown,

And Jill came tumbling after.

Questions. questions, questions. Was the hill steep? Was there another source of water nearby? Did Jack fall down on the way up or down? Jill came tumbling after, so did she get all the way to the top? Was Jill hurt when she came tumbling down? Did Jack have to go to the hospital? Was he gravely injured or just treated and released? Did he live through the experience? What happened to Jill when she tumbled down? If it is their parents who had told them to fetch the water, were they angry that their children messed up? Was there water at the top of the hill? What happened to pail? Did they ever get any water or was the source of water empty? And what happened before the story started?

Added narrative will help it grow into a satisfactory story, but there needs to be much more. A nursery rhyme allows children room to develop their imagination by filling in the blanks. To be work of fiction, more is needed.

Next: Elements of Fiction II -- Exposition