How to Write a Fiction Story
By Eugene Orlando
Getting the idea
Description
Place
(setting)
How
much?
Enough to make it come alive in your mind.
What
is the character noticing?
Familiarity
Someplace
you know better than you need to describe
Character
Feelings
(Emotion)
Indicate
feelings through speech
Indicate
feelings through actions
Tell
about feelings
Physical
(What they look like)
What
is important to the story?
Believability
Can
a reader believe what the character feels, believes, acts, etc.?
Motivations
Language
(How the character speaks)
Repetitive
unique phrase
Movement
(Blocking)
In
dialogue
In
description
Senses
Sight
Hear
Smell
Touch
Taste
Plot
Believability
Beginning
Middle
End
Voice
(Who’s telling the story?)
Point
of View
First
Person
Second
Person
Third
Person
All-knowing
view (Narrator knows everything)
Camera
eye view (Narrator knows only what is seen)
Focused
all-knowing view (Narrator knows only what one character knows)
Research (Getting it right)
Accuracy
Historical
Language
use
Lifestyle
Correct
historical events
Correct
technology
Conflict (The obstacle
causing the action)
Foreshadowing (What is to
come)
Genre
To
write about
Contemporary
Historical
Science
Fiction/Fantasy
Mystery/Suspense
Horror
Ethnic
Romance
Children’s
Literature
Picture
books
Juvenile
Young
adult
Theme
Message
(What is the book trying to tell us?)
Must
be subtle
Form
Flashback