Transcript What Makes Good Writing?

Introduction to Short Fiction
Background
• Fiction writing in its current form barely
200 years old
• Novel and short story considered modern
forms, and are relatively new inventions
• Come from distinct oral traditions
– Myths
– Fairy tales
– Folk tales
– Fables/parables
The Short Story
• No one really knows exact origin of the short story
• Believed to have come from the Italian novella during the
Renaissance
• Novella – Short stories that are long enough to be
published in stand-alone book form (~15,000 words)
• Saw great rise in the early 1800s in the US
– Literary market of newspapers and magazines aimed
at middle class
– Increasing literacy rate among the non-wealthy
– Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, others
• Short story flourished in early 20th century, then declined
in the latter half of the century
Analyzing and Discussion Short
Fiction
• Literary reading falls somewhere between escapist and
didactic reading
– Escapist reading – reading for fun or enjoyment
– Didactic reading – reading for a meaning or lesson (moral)
• Literature must be analyzed and discussed in order to
yield its meaning(s)
• Specific vocabulary / lexicon for doing so
• Several components of a short story work together to
create a unified meaning or theme
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Plot
Characterization
Point of View
Setting
Style
Theme
• Theme – the overall meaning a reader gets from
a work of literature
• Oftentimes not readily apparent
– Can be frustrating
– Different from escapist or didactic reading
• Can be interpreted in multiple ways
– No interpretation is 100% correct, or the only possible
answer
– Some interpretations are more valid than others
– An interpretation only as valid as the supporting
evidence
Plot
• Plot - a series of related events in a work,
arranged in dramatic structure
• Each event connects to the next like a chain
• Events are constructed deliberately to “hook” the
reader’s curiosity and pull them forward in the
story
• Not necessarily chronological, but can be
• No truly original plots; only varied combinations
of plot elements
Dramatic Structure
– Exposition
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The setup of the story
Who, what, when, where
Should “hook” the reader like any good introduction
Examples: “Once upon a time,” in media res (“in the
middle of things”)
– Complication / Rising Action
• Some sort of conflict arises to move the plot
– External Conflict – struggle with an outside force
– Internal Conflict – struggle inside the character’s head
(emotional)
• Building tensions that will be resolved
– Climax / Falling Action
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Climax – The moment of greatest tension in the story
Conflict is resolved in a pivotal scene
Indicates that the story’s tensions will be released
Surprise Ending (O. Henry Ending) – A twist that takes
the reader by surprise
– Resolution / Denouement
• Denouement – French term meaning “to untie a knot”;
the resolution of a story’s conflict
– Closed Denouement – Ties up all story’s loose ends
– Open Denouement – Leaves lingering questions for the
reader
• “Wraps up” the story, though not always completely
Characterization
• Protagonist – the main character of the
work
– Greek term meaning “first debater”
– Not always heroic; often an anti-hero – a
central character who is not a clear, didactic
hero
• Antagonist – Opposing character, often in
conflict with protagonist
• Two main types of characterization
– Round Character – a character that is well-developed and
feels lifelike
• Often the protagonist
• Complex and often contradictory character traits
– Flat Character – a character that is not developed with
much detail
• Usually reduced to a single character trait
• Stock characters – trivial, stereotypical supporting
characters
• Two types of character development
– Static – the character does not grow or change through the
course of the story
– Dynamic – the character grows or changes throughout the
work
Point of View
• Point of View – the voice of narrative
authority in the story
– Three basic kinds: first, second, third person
– Most short fiction will be first or third
• First-Person – the narrator is a participant in
the action of the story
– Point of view is limited
– Unreliable narrator – a narrator whose limited
perspective causes the reader to doubt his or her
account (Poe)
• Third-Person – the narrator is removed from
the action of the story
– Point of view can be limited or unlimited
• Third-person limited – the narrator is detached but
doesn’t know everything
• Third-person unlimited (omniscient) – the narrator is
godlike, and knows everything about everyone in the
story
– Authorial intrusion – the narrator comments upon
the actions and thoughts of the characters
• Point of view should be consistent throughout
the story, with few exceptions
Setting
• Setting – the time and place of the story
– Historical time period
– Physical location
– Atmosphere – the emotional feeling of a setting
• Both specific and general
– Specific setting – the precise time and place
where the story takes place
– General setting – broad sense of the time period
and social backdrop of the story
• Important in placing characters’ and authors’
attitudes and actions in context
Style and Tone
• Style – the characteristics of language use in a work or
body of works
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Diction
Sentence structure
Punctuation
Figurative language
• Tone - The attitude a writer takes toward his or her
subject, characters, and readers
– Can influence the reader’s emotional response to the work
– Created through word choice and details
• Can vary in accordance with work’s intended theme