Elements of a story

In practice

The elements of a story are a checklist, not a formula. Every story has characters, a setting, a plot, a conflict and a theme, but knowing the list does not make a story work. What makes it work is how the elements press on each other: a character whose want collides with the setting, a conflict that tests the theme.

The list is most useful in revision. When a draft is not working, check each element in turn. A flat middle is often a conflict problem; a forgettable story is often a theme problem; a confusing one is often a plot or point-of-view problem.

Screenplays make the elements visible on the page. Scene headings carry the setting, character cues and action carry the characters, and the order of scenes is the plot. Plot keeps those parts structured so you can see where an element is missing.

Five elements in one short scene

The setting is the lamp room in a storm. The character is Elsie, defined by what she does with her hands. The conflict is double: the ship in danger and the letter that makes her unnecessary. The plot is the next minute: will the light hold? The theme, whether people are still needed when machines can do the work, arrives without anyone stating it.

The five elements of a story

Most teachers and writing guides name five elements. Character is who the story is about: the protagonist, the people who help or oppose them and how they change. Setting is where and when it happens, along with the world and mood around it.

Plot is what happens: the sequence of events, connected by cause and effect, from the beginning through the climax to the resolution. Conflict is what stands in the way: the struggle between what a character wants and what opposes it, whether another person, society, nature or themselves.

Theme is what the story means: the idea about life it explores, such as the cost of ambition or the power of forgiveness. Taken together, the five answer basic questions any reader brings to a story: who, where and when, what happens, what is at stake and why it matters.

Seven, ten or twelve elements

Longer lists split or add elements. A list of seven usually adds point of view, the perspective a story is told from, and tone or style, the attitude of the telling. Some lists add plot structure separately from plot, or name the protagonist and antagonist as their own elements.

Lists of ten or twelve, common in classrooms, often break plot into its parts: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. Others add dialogue, mood, symbolism or pacing.

None of these lists is official. They are teaching tools, and they all describe the same thing at different levels of detail. A writer can start with five and add the others when a draft needs closer diagnosis.

The elements in order

When teachers ask for the elements of a story in order, they usually mean the parts of the plot: exposition, which introduces the characters and setting; the inciting incident, which starts the conflict; rising action, as complications build; the climax, where the conflict peaks; falling action; and the resolution.

This is the shape described by Freytag's pyramid and, in film, by three-act structure. Character, setting and theme do not happen in order; they run through the whole story, introduced early and developed to the end.

In a screenplay, the opening pages carry most of the setup: a reader meets the protagonist and the setting, and senses the theme, before the inciting incident arrives.

How the elements work together

The elements are not separate parts to assemble. Each one shapes the others. In Finding Nemo, the setting, the whole ocean, is exactly what makes the conflict hard for a father who fears everything; the plot is a journey through it; and the theme, letting go of someone you love, is tested by every danger.

When an element is weak, the others usually feel it. A protagonist with no clear want makes conflict impossible, and a plot without conflict becomes a list of events. A setting that could be anywhere gives the conflict nothing to push against.

Strong stories often begin with one element and grow the others from it: a character, an image of a place or an idea about life. Wherever you start, check that the other four answer to it.

Using the elements to revise a draft

Read the draft once for each element. For character: what does the protagonist want, and do they change? For setting: does the place matter, or could the story happen anywhere? For plot: does each scene cause the next?

For conflict: is there something in the way in every scene, and does it get harder? For theme: can you say in one sentence what the story is about, and does the ending argue for it? Note the weakest element and fix that first, because it usually drags the others down.

Finally, check point of view and tone. Is the audience with the right character at the right time, and does the telling keep a consistent attitude? These two are often the difference between a story that is correct and one that is alive.