Whether you’ve been struck with a moment of inspiration or you’ve carried a story inside you for years, you’re here because you want to start writing fiction. From developing flesh-and-bone characters to worlds as real as our own, good fiction is hard to produce, and getting the first words onto the blank page can be daunting.
Daunting, but not impossible. Although writing good fiction takes time, with a few fiction writing tips and your first sentences written, you’ll find that it’s much easier to get your words on the page.
Let’s break down fiction to its essential elements. We’ll investigate the individual components of fiction writing—and how, when they sit down to write, writers turn words into worlds.
Introduction to Fiction Writing: The Six Elements of Fiction
Before we delve into any writing tips, let’s review the essentials of creative writing in fiction. Whether you’re writing flash fiction, short stories, or epic trilogies, most fiction stories require these six components:
- Plot: the “what happens” of your story
- Characters: whose lives are we watching?
- Setting: the world that the story is set in
- Point of View: from whose eyes do we see the story unfold?
- Theme: the “deeper meaning” of the story, or what the story represents
- Style: how you use words to tell the story
It’s important to recognize that all of these elements are intertwined. You can’t build the setting without writing it through a certain point of view; you can’t develop important themes with arbitrary characters, etc. We’ll get into the relationship between these elements later, but for now, let’s explore how to use each element to write your story.
1. Fiction Writing Tip: Developing Fictional Plots
If you don’t know where to start your story, but you have a few story ideas, then start with the conflict. Some novels take their time to introduce characters or explain the world of the piece, but if the conflict that drives the story doesn’t show up within the first 15 pages, then the story loses direction quickly.
That’s not to say you have to be explicit about the conflict. In Harry Potter, Voldemort isn’t introduced as the main antagonist until later in the first book; the series’ conflict begins with the Dursley family hiding Harry from his magical talents. Let the conflict unfold naturally in the story, but start with the story’s impetus, then go from there.
2. Fiction Writing Tip: Creating Characters
Think far back to 9th grade English, and you might remember the basic types of story conflicts: man vs. nature, man vs. man, and man vs. self. The conflicts that occur within stories happen to its characters – there can be no story without its people. Sometimes, your story needs to start there: in the middle of a conversation, a disrupted routine, or simply with what makes your characters special.
3. Fiction Writing Tip: Give Life to Living Worlds
Whether your story is set on Earth or a land far, far away, your setting lives in the same way your characters do. In the same way that we read to get inside the heads of other people, we also read to escape to a world outside of our own. Consider starting the story with what makes your world live: a pulsing city, the whispered susurrus of orchards, hills that roil with unsolved mysteries, etc. Tell us where the conflict is happening, and the story will follow.
4. Fiction Writing Tip: Play With Narration
Maybe you’re stuck starting your story because you’re trying to write it in the wrong person. There are four POVs that authors work with:
- First person – the story is told from the “I” perspective, and that “I” is usually a protagonist or close to the protagonist.
- Second person – the story is told from the “you” perspective. This point of view is rare, but when done effectively, it can create an eeriness or a personalized piece.
- Third person limited – the story is told from the “he/she/they” perspective. The narrator is not directly involved in the lives of the characters; additionally, the narrator usually writes from the perspective of one or two characters.
- Third person omniscient – the story is told from the “he/she/they” perspective. The narrator is not directly involved in the lives of the characters; additionally, the narrator knows what is happening in each character’s heads and in the world at large.
If you can’t find the right words to begin your piece, consider switching up the pronouns you use and the perspective you write from. You might find that the story flows onto the page from a different point of view.
5. Fiction Writing Tip: Use the Story to Investigate Themes
Generally, the themes of the story aren’t explored until after the aforementioned elements are established, and writers don’t always know the themes of their own work until after the work is written. Still, it might help to consider the broader implications of the story you want to write. How does the conflict or story extend into a bigger picture?
Let’s revisit Harry Potter’s opening scenes. When we revisit the Dursleys preventing Harry from knowing about his true nature, several themes are established: the meaning of family, the importance of identity, and the idea of fate can all be explored here. Themes are often a post hoc consideration, but it doesn’t hurt to consider the message of your story from the start.
6. Fiction Writing Tip: Experiment With Words
Style is the last of the six fiction elements, but certainly as important as the others. The words you use to tell your story, the way you structure your sentences, how you alternate between characters, and the sounds of the words you use all contribute to the mood of the work itself.
If you’re struggling to get past the first sentence, try rewriting it. Write it in 10 words or write it in 200 words; write a single word sentence; experiment with metaphors, alliteration, or onomatopoeia. Then, once you’ve found the right words, build from there, and let your first sentence guide the style and mood of the narrative.
Fiction Writing for Beginners: Time to Write A Story!
To write a story or even write a book, fiction writers need these tools first and foremost. Although there’s no comprehensive guide on how to write fiction for beginners, working with these elements will help your story bloom.
All six elements synergize to make a work of fiction, and like most works of art, the sum of these elements is greater than the individual parts. Still, you might find that you struggle with one of these elements, like maybe you’re great at writing characters but not very good with exploring setting. If this is the case, then use your strengths: use characters to explore the setting, or use style to explore themes, etc.
Getting the first draft written is the hardest part, but it deserves to be written. Once you’ve got a working draft of a story or novel and you need an extra set of eyes, the writers.com community is here to give feedback: take a look at our fiction courses, and check out our talented writing community.
Good luck, and happy writing!
Upcoming Fiction Writing Courses
Write Your Novel! The Workshop With Jack
with Jack Smith
January 20th, 2021
Get a good start on a novel in just ten weeks, or revise a novel you’ve already written. Free your imagination, move steadily ahead and count the pages!
Plot Your Novel
with Jack Smith
January 27th, 2021
Over eight weeks, you'll develop a solid basis in the fictional elements—protagonist, setting, secondary characters, point of view, plot, and theme—while you develop the outline of your novel. You'll receive feedback at all stages from your fellow writers and your instructor.
In Your Own Words: Transforming Life Into Memoir and Fiction
with Margo Perin
January 27th, 2021
Learn how to draw inspiration and material from your life experiences or those of people you know, or want to know, to craft compelling, publishable memoirs, personal essays, autobiographical novels and short stories, and/or narrative poetry.
Writing for Children: Create A Picture Book!
with Kelly Bingham
January 27th, 2021
Picture books have changed greatly over the last few decades, and the market is wide open for fresh ideas. Join us in this six-week intensive where we’ll take that idea of yours and turn it into a manuscript!
Poetic Prose: The Prose Poem
with Barbara Henning
February 3rd, 2021
Explore the border between prose poetry and flash fiction. For writers of fiction, poetry, essay and memoir.
The Ongoing Fiction Workshop
with Shelley Singer
February 10th, 2021
Many students have attended this 10-week online fiction workshop with Shelley Singer multiple times, completed novels, and come back to finish more books.
Essentials of Character Development: How to Create Characters that Move and Breathe and Can’t Stop Talking
with Gloria Kempton
February 10th, 2021
Bring your characters to life in this in-depth character development class with Gloria Kempton.
Mastering the Elements of Fiction
with Jack Smith
February 17th, 2021
In this course, you’ll work with the basic elements of fiction--the fundamentals that drive the story and determine the quality of the work.
How to Firm Up the “Mushy Middle” of Any Story
with Jeff Lyons
February 17th, 2021
Ensure a strong middle throughline for any story. Say goodbye to the "mushy middle," and hello to stories that work.
Plan On It: Essential Novel Planning Workshop
with Dennis Foley
February 24th, 2021
Set your novel up for success! In this six-week workshop, instructor Dennis Foley will help you craft a plan to handle the essential demands and choices you'll face as you write your novel.
The “I’ve Always Wanted To Write Fiction” Workshop
with Shelley Singer
February 24th, 2021
Learn the basics of fiction writing and submit weekly writing for feedback from Shelley Singer, author of 13 novels. It's time to start.
The Art of Storytelling
with Gloria Kempton
March 3rd, 2021
It’s an age-old art form—storytelling—and you can learn the craft.
Plumbing the Past: Turning Life Experience into Poetry, Flash and Creative Non-Fiction
with Tina Barry
March 10th, 2021
Dig deep into personal ritual while studying narrative poets, short fiction and non-fiction authors, and food writers.
Crafting the Poetry Novel for Young Adults
with Kelly Bingham
March 17th, 2021
Even if you’ve never written poetry before, you can begin the rewarding process of crafting a poetry novel for Young Adults. Is there a market for novels written in verse? Are they well received? Yes, there is, and yes, they are!
The Watching Eye: Writing Flash Fiction
with Barbara Henning
March 24th, 2021
Write tiny fictions while experimenting with 3rd person point of view and analyzing how that point of view affects the craft of fiction writing. With Barbara Henning.
The Next Fifty Pages of the Novel
with Sandra Novack
March 24th, 2021
So now that you have your opening novel pages, what next? Get detailed, constructive feedback on your work-in-progress, wherever you're at in writing it.
Anatomy of a Premise Line: Story and Premise Development for Writing Success
with Jeff Lyons
April 14th, 2021
The premise line is the only reliable tool that can tell you, BEFORE you start writing, whether or not your story will “work.” In this class participants will learn how to master the process of premise line development—the essential first step in any book or screenplay’s development process.
The Thinking Mind: Writing Flash Fiction
with Barbara Henning
May 5th, 2021
Write tiny fictions while experimenting with 1st person point of view and analyzing how that point of view affects the craft of fiction writing.
From Journal To Poem Or Prose: The Chronology Of Mind
with Barbara Henning
May 12th, 2021
Gather material through writing and experimenting with journaling, researching and taking notes to develop into poems or prose works.
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