Writing Fiction: Definitions

by Rebecca Talley  @rebeccatalley
Indie Author Hub Member

When you’re writing fiction, it’s important to understand some basic writing definitions in order to effectively write your story. Here are a few definitions to help you:

Protagonist This is the main character, the character who changes throughout the story. The protagonist doesn’t necessarily have to be human, but the protagonist does need to grow and become different by the end of the story.

Antagonist This is what stands in the way of the protagonist accomplishing his story goal. The human antagonist doesn’t need to be a villain per se, only prevent the protagonist from obtaining his goal. The most interesting stories are those when the antagonist also has good qualities and may even struggle to fight the bad within him.

Plot The events that move the story forward toward its conclusion.

Story Goal The protagonist must have a goal. The goal must be important enough to the protagonist that he will sacrifice to obtain that goal. The goal must be obvious to the reader so that the reader will side with the protagonist in his attempt to reach his goal.

Conflict Each story must have conflict. Without conflict there is no story. Conflict may come in the form of man vs. man, man vs. himself, man vs. fate/God/the universe, or man vs. society. The conflict must affect the protagonist adversely.

Obstacles Closely related to conflict are the obstacles that the protagonist encounters on his path to reach his goal. Obstacles may be in the form of other people, time, the character’s own weaknesses, or anything else that prevents the protagonist from obtaining his goal.

Story Arc A fiction story must evolve, it cannot remain static. An entire book about mundane happenings would not provide interesting reading and probably wouldn’t even be published. The story must move forward and be active.

Scene A scene is moment-by-moment action. A scene includes everything that happens and brings the reader into the action of the story.

Sequel As opposed to a scene, sequel is the follow-up to a scene and  is when events are only summarized. Long segments of time can elapse in a sequel and the reader doesn’t experience the action as he does in a scene.

Once you begin to understand the mechanics, you can write fiction that has a better chance of publication.
~~~

Rebecca grew up next to the ocean in Santa Barbara, California. She spent her youth at the beach collecting sea shells and building sandcastles. She graduated from high school and left for college, where she met and married her sweetheart, Del.

Del and Rebecca are the sometimes frazzled, but always grateful, parents of ten wildly-creative and multi-talented children and the grandparents of the most adorable little girls in the universe.

After spending nineteen years in rural Colorado with horses, cows, sheep, goats, rabbits, and donkeys, Rebecca and her family moved to a suburb of Houston, Texas, where she spends most of her time in the pool trying to avoid the heat and humidity. When she isn't in the pool, she loves to date her husband, play with her kids, swim in the ocean, redecorate her house, and dance to disco music while she cleans the house.

Rebecca has always loved to write and has authored novels, stories for print and online magazines, and children's books. She now focuses on writing romance because she believes everyone deserves their happily-ever-after.

You can find Rebecca on her website, her author page on FaceBook, and on Twitter at @rebeccatalley.