Writing Lessons & Advice: Story Elements and Plot

In my writing experiences, my stories tend to start with a few ideas. For instance, I want to:

set a story in a magical Christmas town.
throw modern characters into the nineteen-eighties .
create my own local folklore being and connect it to a mystery.
write a story from the perspective of a character in a life-simulation video game.

The ideas are often not whole stories in themselves, but rather integral parts of them. Interesting ideas are necessary for story-telling but transforming an idea into a full-fledged story can be tricky sometimes.

Your ideas are likely one or more of the typical story elements:

Setting- the physical space in which the story happens. In simplest terms, setting relates to the time, place, and/or atmosphere/mood (Lessons & Advice focused on setting in this post.)
Characters- the participants in the story; the important ones you need are a hero/protagonist, a villain/antagonist, and sometimes a sidekick or side character(s) (Writing good characters is discussed at length in another lesson.)
Plot- the pattern, sequence, or structure of events within the story; conflict and resolution are key points in the plot. (More on plot in a moment and in its own lesson!)
Theme- a general message, moral, or practical lesson expressed through the story. (More discussion on theme in its own lesson too!)

My above ideas on their own make either good settings or characters. However, to make them more full-fledged stories, I need to give the settings some characters and the characters a setting. Maybe they could use a theme, but they definitely need a plotline.

Just like essays have different styles, formats, and organization, a plot or plotline can have at least one of seven unique designs that end up defining the kind of story that’s written:

Overcoming the monster- a great evil dominates but the main character overcomes it. (literary/pop culture examples: “Beowulf”, Terminator)

Rags to riches- sometimes called a “Cinderella Story” because this structure mimics the fairy tale: the main character is a low point or state in the beginning of the story but rises above it in the end, getting the things most wanted or the “fairy tale ending”. (literary/pop culture examples: Wreck-It Ralph, “Jane Eyre”, Star Wars: A New Hope)

The quest- as the name implies, the main character--oftentimes with sidekicks or associates--takes on an adventure to find something very desirable. (literary/pop culture examples: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Monty Python and the Holy Grail)

Voyage and return- akin to The Quest; main character ends up in a unique land, experiences some kind of growth or development, and returns home a different person (literary/pop culture examples: “Alice in Wonderland”, The Wizard of Oz)

Comedy- in a nutshell, the central character(s) triumph over adversity in comedy stories; they also tend to have positive endings and romantic themes. (literary/pop culture examples: Much Ado About Nothing, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, Jane Austen’s stories)

Tragedy- the opposite of comedy and overcoming the monster, main character or perspective in tragedies may actually be the villain, and the story is of their defeat or downfall (literary/pop culture examples: Scarface, Gone with the Wind)

Rebirth- the opposite of tragedy, the main character is not in a good place or on a good life path in the beginning, but realizes their errors before it is too late. (literary/pop culture examples: Christmas Carol, Fight Club)

This web page goes much more in-depth with each of the plots: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/TheSevenBasicPlots

The plotlines aren’t strictly cut-and-dry formats, so you don’t have to feel stuck to a single one. You may notice that many of them share characteristics or you can mix-and-match their elements yourself. “Lord of the Rings” uses six out of seven of these plots and my own go-to’s toss up between romantic comedies, quests, and voyage/return.

So, you have some ideas, likely in the form of a few story elements. To develop them into complete stories, you can brainstorm or pre-write with consideration for the plotlines and elements-to-be-determined. You might free-write or outline in some way, use a story prompt, generator, or planning resources. Some of my favorites are from One Stop Shop for Writers and Reedsy:

Hope this gives you some better direction for crafting your story! If you still need more tips for starting or progressing your story, review the lesson for beating writer's block.

If there’s a topic you want me to cover in the future, you’re welcome to reach out to me on the web chat features or socials!