What are the parts of a story?

The parts of a story consist of five main elements: characters, setting, plot, and conflict
along with theme. The parts of a story are both technical and elemental in nature, but
these are what make up the necessary parts of a story that readers yearn for.

There are infinite ways to write a book and tell a story.

You can use endlessly different story structures and styles, but each story or novel is
going to boil down to three fundamental elements: character, setting, and plot.

These are your story’s main course, but what’s a meal without side dishes?

We’re also going to cover conflict, resolution, themes, morals, symbolism, point of view,
and perspective: what they are, how to use them, and how all of these literary
elements work together to make a complete and filling dinner–I mean story…I’m hungry.

Parts of a Story Plot: Characters, Setting, Plot,

Here are the 10 essential parts of a story every writer needs to get it right. Without
these, your story (whether you’re writing a short story or a full novel) will fall flat.

#1 – Characters
Your audience should feel different levels of closeness to your different characters,
depending on if they’re main, secondary, or background character.

But one key thing to keep in mind about including characters is, if your character is
important enough to have a name, they’re important enough to have a goal.
What do your characters want? Their desire can be simple or complex, tangible or
concept–maybe they want a job, a house, approval, a child, contentment. If your
character doesn’t want something, they won’t be compelled to act.

If your character isn’t acting, they’re passive or they’re just a plot device. You want to
avoid both, and this is usually accomplished through strong character development.

#2 – Setting
The setting is when and where your story takes place.

Aside from the physical location and position in time, your setting can include:

 weather

 political climate

 social norms

 cultural influences

Take the time to consider these aspects to build a complex world for your characters to
interact with.

Particularly in fantasy and sci-fi worlds, a lot of planning goes into establishing a
convincing and engaging story setting that can either add to your plot or take away from
it.

#3 – Plot
Your plot is the actual story–what happens, when, how, why, and what’s the result? 

There are a lot of different ways to structure your plot, but in general, a plot arc has
five main points:
 1. Set-up/exposition – The beginning part of your story where you establish the world, the
characters, the tone, and your writing style

2. Rising action – The rising action is usually prompted by your inciting incident. Here, you
escalate tension and problems, explore your characters. This is the biggest chunk of your
book.

3. Climax – This is the sort of “moment of truth.” The culmination of everything–the highest
point of tension. The point the plot has been leading up to.

4. Falling action – What goes up, must come down. This is where you resolve any subplots and
side stories.

5. Resolution – Wrap up.

Here’s what happened in the plot of this video:

1. Set-up: Supporting cast prepping to roll our main character down a hill in a tire. We can tell
from the vibe and energy that this is just some classic lad antics.

2. Rising action: The tension builds as our MC gains momentum, and we can’t tell what’s going
to happen.

3. Climax: Our MC is speeding down the hill at this point, when he nearly collides with a moving
vehicle! Then he disappears into the water! Is he okay? Tension is at its highest.

4. Falling action: Our hero is safe! The vehicle and driver are fine.

5. Resolution: His stoned pals cheer him on. All is wel

Along with our three fundamental story elements, we can dive a little deeper and
discuss conflict  and resolution.

#4 – Conflict
Your conflict should rise throughout (peaking at the climax).
During the editing process, a good practice is to look at each scene and ask if there is
conflict within it.

Here are some questions you can ask yourself (or your beta readers):

 Does the scene add to the overall plot?

 Does the scene advance internal or inter-character relationships?

 Does the scene add to a subplot?

 Does the scene answer or bring about any plot-crucial questions?

The conflict could lend to the overall plot, a subplot, conflict between characters, or
even a smaller conflict that is resolved within that scene. For a story to be interesting,
there needs to be conflict.

Scenes that don’t add to that are fluff.

#5 – Resolution
I want to talk a little more about resolution, since it’s so important. How you end your
story is what will sit with readers the longest.

What’s the culmination of all we went through during the story?

What did the characters learn that led them to the decisions they ultimately made? By
the end of your story, all of your conflicts should have a resolution.

In some cases, conflicts are intentionally left a bit open-ended without a solid resolution,
but this should be done intentionally and there should be some sort of resolution, even if
it’s an unsatisfying ending with a little remaining mystery.

Further boiling a story down will reveal elements like themes, morals, and symbolism. 

Some examples of themes include:

 Coming of age–what struggles come with it, what’s good about it

 Forgiveness–trying to achieve it, avoiding it, accepting it

 Death–overcoming it, processing it, fearing it

 Love–overcoming it, processing it, fearing it (lol)

 Empowerment

 Displacement 

 Motherhood

 Injustice 

 Good versus bad

The list is literally endless.

The theme of your story helps to focus the narrative and answers the question: What’s
the point?

What have your characters learned? How are they changed, and what will they affect
now that they are different?

#7 – Morals
The moral of your story is related to theme–what message do you want your story to
convey?

If the theme is what the character learned, you can think of the moral as what the
reader learned. 

Let’s take a coming of age narrative–what are possible morals in that type of story?

 Don’t grow up too fast

 Follow your dreams

 Listen to the wisdom of others

 Accept yourself as you are

 Appreciate where you are and what’s happening now

Consider what morals you want to convey, but avoid directly stating them when writing
your book. This is part of the experience of reading your story…and that’s for the
readers.

#8 – Symbolism
Symbolism is a literary device used to convey subtle meanings.

A symbol can be anything from an object, a character archetype, an animal, an

Symbols have meaning connected to them.

Here are some examples of symbolism in stories:

 A window might signify freedom, longing, hope.

 A storm might be impending doom or threat.

 A desk could indicate creativity, work, neglect.

It all depends on the context of the story and the connotations you assign to your
symbols.

Themes, morals, and symbolism are fun writing tools and parts of a story to work with,
but be cautious of relying on them. They’re icing and sprinkles–not the cupcake.

#9 – Point of view
The point of view of your story is simply who is telling the story. The most common in
fiction are first-person, third-person limited, and third-person omniscient.

First-person POV:

First-person is the main character telling the story. It uses the pronouns I, me, myself. 

A strength of using first-person is that your reader will connect with your character very
easily–the reader essentially becomes  the character. If done well, this is a very intimate
reading experience.

A weakness of first-person is that your storytelling is limited to that perspective. It’s

# 10 – Perspective
Even though “point of view” and “perspective” are often used in the writing community
interchangeably, perspective is actually different. 
Perspective refers to the character’s interpretation of the world and their attitude
toward it.

A character’s perspective can be determined by their personal story–their upbringing,

Considering your character’s worldview when deciding their morals and actions will
make your characters and story feel more authentic. 

While you outline your book and story’s plot, characters, and setting, don’t forget to
consider everything else we’ve covered.

These elements work together to tell a complete and engaging story.