Here Are The Five Basic Elements Of A Short Story
FIVE BASIC – Short stories have at least five basic elements that comprise the entirety of its contents, from the dialogues to the story line itself.
Either to present a lesson, to convey a message or to set a certain mood for the readers, short stories can have serve its functions well despite its text length.
Here are some examples of short stories in Filipino. (Tagalog: ‘Maikling Kwento’)
A short story is a short fiction. A prose – a conventional way of writing or speaking without any set metrical conditions.
Another close example is a Novel. However, novels are a lot longer than short stories. In some cases, short stories can also be quite long.
However, if a short story extends to up to 50 to 100 pages, it can be referred to as a ‘novella’ – a fictional writing that is usually 17,500 to 40,000 words long.
Here are the five basic elements of a short story:
CHARACTER
A character in the narrative (could be an animal or a person) who plays an important role in the story.
SETTING
The setting is the place, period in history or time, and environment where the plot takes place. Oftentimes, this element can be derived from author’s description of scenes, landscapes, structures and season.
PLOT
The actual timeline of events in which the story follows. Basically, a series of significant events in the story that is related to the set conflict.
CONFLICT
A struggle that the main character experiences throughout the conflict. It could be between the main character and another important character, the society, nature or even the character itself/himself/herself.
THEME
This is the whole point of the story. What the author wants to convey to the audience. The central idea or principle the story revolves around.
These are based on an article from http://users.aber.ac.uk.
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