by Patricia Gilliam

Created on: June 29, 2010   Last Updated: August 05, 2010

In the process of writing short stories or novels, there are several major elements you need to understand in order to develop a high-quality story.  If you take the time to prepare prior to even writing your first chapter, the entire project will flow a lot smoother long-term.  Here are the main elements you need to explore:

1)  Character

If your readers don't care about your characters, even a good plot won't make up for it.  As an author, you need to know your characters on a deeper level than your readers may ever even see.  You can do this through determining their physical and personality traits and at least a very basic background story.  If you're planning on a novel or novel series, I recommend character profiles (either in the form of physical notebooks or Word document files on your computer).  The reason for this is you're going to need a reference for fine details, and trying to memorize everything will lead to mistakes or a limitation on how much detail you can portray.

Your main characters need to be unique but not perfect.  From a story standpoint, characters having internal conflicts also add extra interest to what is usually a much larger external conflict across an entire novel.

2)  Setting

Like your characters, setting needs to draw your reader deeper into the story.  In both cases, long descriptions can bore a reader.  I use the example in writing sci-fi that you don't want to spend so much time describing the futuristic toaster that you lose a reader before your poor character can even have breakfast.  There is a balance to weaving setting and character traits into your story, and avoid doing it in long block of description if at all possible.

Sensory details are vital to your setting as well.  Most writers cover sight and sound very well because they're our dominant senses in most cases.  So when you add smells and tastes to a situation, you add greater realism.  The same is true with touch.  A good exercise is to think creatively on how to convey sensory information, and keep notes on this available for easy reference.

3)  Plot Structure

If you've ever written your story into a corner before, you'll appreciate the need for having an overall plot structure to your story.  This is nothing more than a general road map that will become more defined with each chapter you write.  So writers avoid trying to plan their plot because of the feared loss

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