How do good stories start? In the middle of the action? With a slow buildup to the action?
Exposition is a literary term that deals with how to start a story.
In this article, I’ll define exposition, talk about how it fits into the dramatic structure, give examples of expositions from popular novels, plays, and films, and then give a few tips on how to use the exposition best in your writing.
So you want to know how to write a coming of age story?
Coming of age is one of the central themes in all of literature, but it’s also a specific type of story in its own right, one of the nine types of stories that we talk about in The Write Structure plot framework.
It’s also one of the few ways we describe all change in a character, one of the two internal plot types! Which means if a character is growing and maturing in your story, no matter what age they are, you might be telling a coming of age story.
Most great stories, whether they are a Pixar film or a novel by your favorite author, follow a certain dramatic structure.
When you’re getting started with writing, understanding how the structure works is difficult. Even if you go back and analyze your favorite books and films, it can still be hard to structure your own stories. That’s where Freytag’s Pyramid can help.
We often think that to create conflict we need to show spectacular events. For example, a car chase, an argument between lovers, a fistfight, or the threat of a nuclear explosion. Or we think of conflict as some kind of internal suffering: depression, longing, or pain.
But the truth is that if events and emotions were the only elements of conflict in our stories, we’d have some pretty flat stories.
Conflict, in good stories, is not about spectacular events or painful emotions. Good conflict is about values.
How do you create memorable characters? What’s characterization, and how does a writer turn a name on a page into a person so vivid and compelling that you imagine they’re real?
In this article, you’ll learn what characterization is, when it matters, and how to apply it to your characters and stories. You’ll also see some examples of characterization, and explanations of when not to prioritize characterization over other story elements.
