Using the Literary

Conventions of a Genre
in Writing
KEY WORDS

Topic , Thesis Statement , Literary

Conventions of a Genre
Vocabulary List
1. Topic is the theme , subject , and matter of
any
fiction or nonfiction materials.
2. Thesis Statement is the most important
expression/
communication of a literary or non-literary
work.
3. Literary Conventions of a Genre is a type of
writing
that uses literary styles and techniques to
create narratives.ocabulary
 Short Story Tips: 10 Hacks to
Improve Your Creative Writing
Writing short stories means beginning as close to the
climax as possible —everything else is a distraction. A
novel can take a more meandering path but should still
start with a scene that sets the tone for the whole book.
A short story conserves characters and scenes, typically
by focusing on just one conflict, and drives towards a
sudden, unexpected revelation. Go easy on the
exposition and talky backstory — your reader doesn’t
need to know everything that you know about your
characters.
1. Get Started: Emergency Tips
Drawing on your own real-life experiences, such as
winning the big game, bouncing back after an illness or
injury, or dealing with the death of a loved one, are
attractive choices for students who are looking for a
“personal essay” topic. But simply listing the emotions you
experienced (“It was exciting” “I’ve never been so scared
in all my life” “I miss her so much”) is not the same thing
as generating emotions for your readers to experience
2. Write a Catchy First Paragraph
In today’s fast-moving world, the first sentence of
your
narrative should catch your reader’s attention with
the
unusual, the unexpected, an action, or a conflict.
Begin
with tension and immediacy. Remember that short
stories
need to start close to their end.
3. Developing Characters
In order to develop a living, breathing, multi-
faceted
character, it is important to know way more about
the
character than you will ever use in the
story.Imagining
all these details will help you get to know your
character,
but your reader probably won’t need to know
much more
than the most important things in four areas:
 b) Action. Show the reader what kind of person your
character is, by describing actions rather than
simply listing adjectives.
c) Speech. Develop the character as a person —
don’t
merely have your character announce
important
plot details.
d) Thought. Bring the reader into your character’s
mind, to
show them your character’s unexpressed
memories, fears, and hopes.
4. Choose a Point of View
Point of view is the narration of the story from the
perspective of first, second, or third person. As a
writer,
you need to determine who is going to tell the story
and
how much information is available for the narrator
to
reveal in the short story. The narrator can be directly
involved in the action subjectively, or the narrator
might
only report the action objectively.
5. Write meaningful dialogue.
Dialogue is what your characters say to each other (or
to
themselves). Each speaker gets his/her own
paragraph, and
the paragraph includes whatever you wish to say
about what
the character is doing when speaking.

6. Use setting and context.

a) Setting includes the time, location, context, and
atmosphere where the plot takes place. Remember to
combine
 b) Include enough detail to let your readers
picture the
scene but only details that add something to the
story.
(For example, do not describe Mary locking the
front
door, walking across the yard, opening the garage
door,
putting air in her bicycle tires, getting on her
bicycle–
none of these details matter except that she rode
out
of the driveway without looking down the street.)
 c) Use two or more senses in your descriptions
of
setting.
d) Rather than feed your readers information
about
the weather, population statistics, or how far it
is to
the grocery store, substitute descriptive details
so
your reader can experience the location the
way your
characters do
7. Set Up the Plot
Plot is what happens, the storyline, the action.
Jerome
Stern says it is how you set up the situation,
where the
turning points of the story are, and what the
characters do at the end of the
story.Understanding
these story elements for developing actions and
their
end results will help you plot your next short
story.
a) Explosion or “Hook.” A thrilling, gripping, stirring
c) Exposition. Background information required for
seeing the
characters in context.
d) Complication. One or more problems that keep a
character
from their intended goal.
e) Transition. Image, symbol, dialogue that joins
paragraphs and
scenes together.
f) Flashback. Remembering something that happened
before
g) Climax. When the rising action of the story
reaches the
peak.
h) Falling Action. Releasing the action of the story
after
the climax.
i) Resolution. When the internal or external
conflict is
resolved.
8. Create conflict and tension.
Conflict produces tension that makes the story
begin. Tension is created by opposition between
the character or characters and internal or external
forces or conditions. By balancing the opposing
forces of the conflict, you keep readers glued to
 Yourke’s Conflict Checklist
a) Mystery. Explain just enough to tease readers. Never
give
everything away.
b) Empowerment. Give both sides options.
c) Progression. Keep intensifying the number and type
of
obstacles the protagonist faces.
d) Causality. Hold fictional characters more accountable
than
real people. Characters who make mistakes
frequently pay, and, at least in fiction.
commendable folks often reap rewards.
e) Surprise. Provide enough complexity to prevent
readers
predicting events too far in advance.
f) Empathy. Encourage reader identification with
characters
and scenarios that pleasantly or
(unpleasantly)
resonate with their own sweet dreams .(or
night
sweats).
g) Insight. Reveal something about human nature.
h) Universality. Present a struggle that most readers
find
i) High Stakes. Convince readers that the outcome
matters
because someone they care about could
lose
something precious.Trivial clashes often
produce
trivial fiction.
9. Build to a Crisis or Climax
This is the turning point of the story–the most
exciting or
dramatic moment.While a good story needs a
crisis, a
random event such as a car crash or a sudden
illness is
10.Find a Resolution
The solution to the conflict. In short fiction, it is
difficult to provide a complete resolution and you
often
need to just show that characters are beginning
to
change in some way or starting to see things
differently.
Yourke examines some of the options for ending a
story.
a) Open. Readers determine the meaning.
Brendan’s eyes looked away from the priest
and
b) Resolved. Clear-cut outcome.
While John watched in despair, Helen loaded up
the car
with her belongings and drove away.
c) Parallel to Beginning. Like the beginning situation or
image.
They were driving their 1964 Chevrolet Impala
down the
highway while the wind blew through their hair.
Her
father drove up in a new 1964 Chevrolet Impala, a
replacement for the one that burned up.
d) Monologue. Character comments.
I wish Tom could have known Sister Dalbec’s
prickly
guidance before the dust devils of Sin City
battered
his soul.
e) Dialogue. Characters converse.
f) Literal Image. Setting or aspect of setting resolves
the plot.
The aqueducts were empty now and the sun
was
shining once more.
g) Symbolic Image. Details represent a meaning
beyond the