Elements of Fiction
Ernest Hemingway's Nobel Prize winning book 'The Old Man and the Sea', is based on the theme of allegory where the old fisherman Santiago symbolizes the central role of Jesus Christ in the Christian mythology. We find true images of the sea, where the old man voyages for 84 days without catching a fish, and on the 85th day, catches a big marlin. For three days and three nights, he protects it from sharks that are attracted to the blood from its wounds. At the end he reaches the shore with the skeleton of the marlin. The story reveals his bravery and optimism shown in the harsh old age. The novel has a well-structured plot, lively characters, imagery of the sea, town and shack of the old man, with numerous points of view. Moral of this story is "A man can be destroyed but not defeated".
Wondering how a writer creates a story that holds your curiosity throughout play or drama? Well, fiction is one of the types of literature that includes novels, prose, poems, short stories and dramas. Fiction is defined as a narrative that is based on imagination. A complete work involves how an author organizes his ideas, the points he covers, has he used any techniques such as foreshadowing method (e.g. Shakespearean dramas like Hamlet, King Lear, Othello) to keep the interest of the reader or audience throughout the play? How does the poetic deviation method make Wordsworth's poem a melody? Yes, there are lots of factors that help decide the flow of the whole story. These factors are specific methods used in literary language. A successful fiction story may make a reader feel strongly identified with one of its interesting characters even in real life, too. Let's respond to the above questions with the help of the elements of fiction...
Elements of Fiction
Plot
The story revolves around the plot. A plot contains incidents composed of many parts. The sequence begins with an exposition (background), blooms in the conflict (rising actions, between two forces, protagonist or antagonist), climax (peak of the story in the middle) and resolution (victory, defeat, sad ending or happy ending). Plato's concept of plot is based on place, time and manner.
Setting
The actual place where the story takes place is the setting. Basically, the setting depends on the theme and choice of the places as the author's story may require such as a house, jungle, palace, or workplace. It can be different places according to the sequence of events in the plot.
Theme
What the author wants to convey is the central idea of the story and is known as the 'theme'. Sometimes, the theme may be more than one. The main theme supports the subject and the moral of the narrative, which the reader indirectly comes across in a play. Love, revenge, historic, political, picturesque and allegory are some of the themes used in romantic poem such as Robert Burns' - 'My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose' - has love as a theme.
Character
Writer presents his characters in two ways. Direct presentation follows in theatrical plays. Second way is an indirect presentation where the character's words, actions and feelings are shown in indirect way with the support of imagery and soliloquy. A narrative fiction will generally have round, flat, dynamic and static characters. Sometimes there are two opposite characters, such as protagonist and antagonist.
Imagery, Symbolism and Structure
"One image opens with lots of ideas" - This technique is the easiest way to express more than what you have said, e.g. 'red color' can be a symbol of love and in contrast, it reflects danger and strong passion as well. Imagery of horror, war or festival in the book develops the true picture of the location (in the plot) in the reader's mind.
Point of View
The story presents the point of view of the narrator. Who is the narrator of the story? Is it writer himself or the character introduces others in the story? The point of view can be presented in different forms:
First-person point of view: I, me, we - like the author or a character within the story.
Second-person point of view: You - that includes readers. This form is rarely used.
Third-person point of view: He, she, it or Imaginary (or omniscient figures, god-like persons, fairytale creatures.)
There are some more types found that are objective, subjective and multiple-person narrative mode point of view.
Language Diction
Language diction refers to the choice of wording used by the author. Every culture, all over the world, has its own literature. An author can use simple, ornamental, foregrounding, rustic language, figures of speech or amalgams of various languages in the narrative. In poetry, rhyme, rhythm, tone (rising and falling), deviation and exaggeration methods are followed to form it into a melodic stanza.
Audience or Readers
The passive listener/audience (in a drama) or readers (in a novel, poem or short story) are important factors in a narration, as the entire story unfolds. The true success of an author's work can be considered the attention or influence or impact it leaves on a reader. In the same way, active participation of the audience indicates the success of author's play.
Fictional literature is the narration that should be well-structured, planned sequentially, and at the same time appealing enough for readers. Types of fiction - drama, poem, novel and short stories are totally different from nonfiction literature like biography, essay, diary and journal. The elements of fiction, when used by the author to his story's best advantage, succeed in getting unending appreciation of his/her readers.
