CONCEPT PAPER

THE ELEMENTS OF FICTION

First of all, before this paper discussed what is the elements of fiction, let this

paper discuss first what is a Fiction, which is where this Elements of Fiction is being

used. Fiction, is a literature in a form of prose, especially short stories or novels that

describes an imaginary events or people. It’s a make-believe, invented stories—the

characters may be based from real persons, however the characters are imaginary, as well

the happenings and experiences they face. And, in writing a fiction, there are six main

elements to check out for. It became what it is through the dynamic interaction of these

six elements: plot, characters, point of view, setting, conflict and theme.

In order to write a fiction, one of the six elements—Characters, must be present.

Characters are the people, animals, or any out worldly creatures that are in action in the

story. An element in which made the story possible, either an antagonist or protagonist.

Antagonist is the character that is the main foe of the protagonist, they go against the

protagonist, and is an adversary. Meanwhile, the Protagonist is the character that is the

center of the story, pursues the ultimate goal, makes the key decision, and experiences the

aftermath of those decisions. The readers can know the characters based on what they do,

what they say, and what they think. Readers can also be inclined in the story based on

how the author structured his or her characters, and how they develop in the course of the

story. So, and English novelist called E. M. Foster, identified the characters to be either

round or flat.
 Flat Characters are the characters that do not play major roles in the story, since

they are often have one or two traits only with little description about them. They are also

the characters with a little to no complex emotions, motivation, or personality. A Flat

Character might be a stock character, a character that doesn’t undergo changes, a

stereotypical figure that the readers can easily recognize, like an evil stepmother or

stepsister.

However, a Round Character is the character that have an important role to play

in the course of the story, they are often the lead roles in the stories. They are complex,

well-developed, and dimensional—deep and layered character. The story is about them;

thus, the course of the story revolves around them, their adventure, the people around

them, and the rest of the plot. They often face the change, the author of the story prepared

for them by going through a life-changing experience as the story unfolds its points.

When it comes to discussing the story to other readers and authors through an

analysis, the fictional characters can be described as either static or developing. Static

Character means they didn’t undergo change, they stayed the same from the beginning

to the end of the story. Therefore, a Developing Character (or Dynamic Character) is a

character that changes over time, and these changes may impact the characters life,

beliefs, attitudes, and actions—whatever it is, big or small change.

place, and usually introduced during the exposition of the story, along with the

characters. The setting may also include the environment of the story, which is made up

of the location, climate, weather, time of the year, historical period, and geographical

location, or even the social and cultural surrounding. Setting can function as a main force

that the characters encounter, such as tornado or flood. It can also be a setting that can

play a minor role such as setting the mode. There are instances that the setting can reveal

something about the main character s (s)he functions in the place and time period.

There are two types of setting and each of them have its own purpose. The first

one is the Backdrop Setting, its where its difficult to figure out what time period the

story is written and where it is, that’s because the story is timeless and can happen in any

point in history or anywhere. The focus of this story that have this kind of setting is

mainly focused on delivering a lesson, or message. The other one is the Integral Setting

where time and place are essential to the story. For instance, a story dealing with a

historical setting will have a direct impact to the plot. Whether it’s on early 1800s that

doesn’t have any technologies, cannot travel long distances within a day—things such as

that. It’s important in this kind of setting that the information being used should match

the time, period, or place.

The plot is the order of events in the story, defined as the way in which the events on the

story is arranged. If in real life, the series of events are arranged and connected to each

other through the virtue of time, in fictional plot, causality is more important than

chronology. What’s more important is the plots that causes something, order of events

like day by day, month by month, or year by year—doesn’t matter, because causality is

what matters. The plot usually follows a particular structure that is called “Freytag’s

Pyramid”, by Gustav Freytag, a German Playwright in the year 1800s. This structure has

five parts namely: Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Denouement

(or Resolution).

Exposition is the introductory part of the story where the characters, time, and the

problem is presented. It’s the opening part where the readers are introduced to the

characters and their situation. Like in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the readers learn

the main character are lovers from the two feuding families, the Capulets and the

Montagues, in Verona, Italy. We see this through a feuding street fight between the

Capulet and Montague Family. At the time the point where the exposition moves into the

rising action, a problem or inciting incident occurs for the main character to handle and

solve it—thus creates the beginning of the story.

builds the conflict. This includes the events that the main character encounters, and each

event that are developed in separate scenes, makes the problem more complex. One of the

major plot points before the climax. This presents and develops the major conflict in the

text, but one must take note that the minor conflicts may also arise during the rising

action. For instance, the Disney Film, The Lion King—the rising action includes all of the

moments before Simba returns to Pride Rock. So, rising action exists in order to pique the

reader’s interest, at the same time develop conflict and characters before the climax.

Climax, it’s the turning point of the story and is usually a single event with the

greatest intensity and uncertainty which the main character must resist with the problem

at this point. It’s also the highest point of tension in the narrative’s plot, just like in the

novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, a story of a boy named Pi who loses his entire family in

a shipwreck and must survive in a lifeboat with wild animals. The climax of this story is

when his boat, at last, lands in Mexico and is rescued.

The Falling Action, on the other hand, includes the events that unfolds after the

climax and usually creates an emotional response from the readers. It occurs right after

the climax, when the main problem is resolved, and wraps up the narrative, ties up all

loose ends, thus leads towards the closure. For example, The Fault in our Stars by John

Green, a story revolves around two teenage lovers who are cancer patients. Their

whirling romance comes to a halt and the falling action follows with their return to
Indianapolis, where Hazel (the Female Protagonist) decided to take care of him and be

with him. However, deep down she is aware of this reality that he has not mush time to

live. Augustus (the Male Protagonist), on the other hand, remembers that he had planned

to write Hazel’s Eulogy, but the situation reverses instead.

Lastly, Denouement provides closure to the story and ties up all the loose ends. It

can be defined as the resolution of the issue of the complicated plot in a fiction. It’s

usually driven by the climax. It’s the denouement that provides the readers a chance to

breathe a sigh of relief after the climax. It places everything in their own proper order,

and allows the central theme or sentiments to resonate. Despite being at the end, it still

needs to be written well because a poorly written denouement can destroy the overall

story. Take the Romeo and Juliet of Shakespeare as an example, the denouement of this

story is when the Capulets and Montagues see their beloved children committing suicide

at the tomb. The heads of the family realized what had happened and decided to end their

rivalry to avoid further tragedy in the future.

Fourth of the six elements of fiction are the Conflict, the struggle between two

entities or opposing forces. It’s what the characters must act to confront, then the conflict

is born. If there is nothing to overcome, then there’s no story, because it’s what creates

and drives the plot forward. It’s also what keep the viewers engaged and create an

emotional response. There are six kinds of conflict, and they are: Character vs.

Character, Character vs. Nature or Natural forces, Character vs. Society or Culture,
Character vs. Machine or technology, Character vs. God, and Character vs. Himself of

Herself.

Character vs. Character, also known as man vs. man, involves two characters

struggling against each other that can manifest from physical altercation to irreconcilable

differences in morals or beliefs. This type of conflict places the characters in a situation

wherein their motivations and beliefs are tested. This conflict is an external conflict

which the characters face resistance from a force outside themselves. Character vs.

Nature or Natural Forces, brings a character face to face with Mother Nature’s power.

Once the character takes action, they lay bare their deepest values, motivations, and fears

—which leads to a rich, character-driven story. This can mean the weather, the

wilderness, or a natural disaster. The conflict Character vs. Society is the type of

conflict in which one or more character, rebels against the expected behaviors or codified

structures of the society. The characters in this type of conflict may be motivated to take

action against their society by a need to survive, a moral sense of right and wrong, or a

desire for happiness, freedom, justice, or love. Meanwhile, the Character vs.

Technology conflict is the trademark of science fictions which explores the problems that

arises when technology grows beyond its intended use. It raises moving questions for the

characters and readers alike about what it means to be human, and what sets us apart

from machines. The Character vs. God conflict is when the characters face a religious

conflict in literature. This conflict can stem from a character’s inner turmoil with religion

or an eternal clash with organized religion or an actual god (as often seen in Greek

Mythology).
 The Character vs. Self, is another type of conflict that takes place inside a

character’s mind. It usually involves the main character’s inner struggle with self-

doubt’s, a moral dilemma, or their own nature. It’s the type of conflict between a

character and their own thoughts and actions.

The fifth or the six elements of fiction is the Point of View, and is the eye through

which the author is telling a story. The Point of View have two types: The First-person

point of view and Third-person point of view.

The First-person point of view means that one of the characters in the story will

narrate the story. The narrator may be the protagonist, the main character, relaying their

experiences or a peripheral character telling the protagonist’s story. Writing in the first

point of view brings the readers close to the story, since they can read it as if they are the

character because the personal pronounce like I, me, my, we, our, and us are used. It gives

readers an intimate view of the characters and a front row seat to the action. There are

two types of First-person point of view, and they are the: First-person central and the

First-person peripheral. The First-person central is where the narrator is also the

protagonist at the heart of the plot. The First-person peripheral, on the other hand, is

where the narrator is a witness to the story but she or he is not the main character.
 On the flip side, the Third-person point of view is where the narrator is not in

the story, and it means that (s)he is not a character. It follows multiple characters and

narrative arcs, zooming in and out of a story just like the way a camera does in movies.

The author is the narrator of the story about the characters, referring to them by their

names, or using the third-person pronouns like he, she, and they. The narrator in this type

of point of view can be all-knowing, aware of every character’s thoughts and feelings—or

limited, which is focused on a single character, or aware only what certain characters say

and do. There are three types of Third-person point of view, and they are: Third-person

omniscient point of view, Third-person limited omniscient, and Third-person objective

point of view.

Third-person omniscient point of view is where the narrator knows everything

about the story and its characters. This narrator can enter anyone’s mind, move freely

through time, and give the readers their own opinions and observations as well as those of

the characters. Third-person limited omniscient is the type of Third-person point of

view that is often called close third, it is when the author sticks closely to one character

but remains in third person. The narrator can do this for the entire novel, or switch

between characters for different chapters or sections. The author allows to limit a reader’s

perspective and control what information the reader knows. It’s used to build interest and

heighten suspense. The Third-person objective is the type of point of view that has a

neutral narration that is not privy to character’s thoughts or feelings. The narrator
presents the story with an observational tone, and thus puts the reader in the position of

an onlooker, eavesdropping on a scene or story.

And the last one of the six elements of the fiction is the Theme, an ingredient that

stands above the rest, propelling works from commercial stardom to critical success and

classic status. Theme is the main idea or underlying meaning the author explores in the

course of the novel, short story, and other literary works. The theme can be conveyed

using the characters, setting, dialogue, plot, or a combination of all these elements. It is

not the plot of the story and can be universal, meaning they are understood by readers no

matter what culture of country the readers are in. Some common themes include coming

of age, prejudice, good vs. evil, beating the odds, and many others.

To wrap it all up, in order to write a fiction, the six elements should be present.

With that said, the said six elements of fiction are: Characters, Setting, Plot, Point of

view, Conflict, and Theme. The Characters are the heart of the story, whereas the Setting

is the element that refers to the place and time of the story. When evaluating the setting,

one should look for where the action takes place and when. The Conflict, however, is the

story’s problem. The main character should be challenged in some way or the story will

go nowhere. The Plot is where the events that made up the story is presented. It is also

known as the foundation of the story, around which the characters and settings are built.

It also meant to organize information and events in a logical order. Then, the Point of

view is the angle of considering things, which shows us the opinion or feelings of the
individuals involved in a situation. This is the mode of narration that an author employs

to let the readers hear and see what takes place in a story. Lastly, the Theme of which is

the main idea or an underlying meaning of a literary work, which may be stated directly

or indirectly.

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