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WORDMAP OF ALL LANGUAGE PAGES
complete index of all pages in the language category and featured word lists.
Subcategories of Language Category
LOGOPHILE | WORDS | WRITER | GRAMMAR
BOOK NOOK REFERENCE CORNER
complete index of all pages in the language category and featured word lists.
Subcategories of Language Category
LOGOPHILE | WORDS | WRITER | GRAMMAR
BOOK NOOK REFERENCE CORNER
ASSOCIATED BOOK DOWNLOAD
The Logophile Lexicon - Words About Words
My featured lexicon and guide to the language and words of logophiles, readers, writers and language enthusiasts. The book explores the beauty of creating, using and defining words. This feature presents the beautiful words in this book. It’s free and easy to download.
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www.logophilelexicon.com
Search the Logophile Lexicon from here!
Enter a word below.
My featured lexicon and guide to the language and words of logophiles, readers, writers and language enthusiasts. The book explores the beauty of creating, using and defining words. This feature presents the beautiful words in this book. It’s free and easy to download.
PREVIEW | VIEW ONLINE | DOWNLOAD
www.logophilelexicon.com
Search the Logophile Lexicon from here!
Enter a word below.
THE LOQUACIOUS LITERARY LOGOPHILE: defining logophile and more in this collection of linguistic, literary & writing words.
From the Logophile Lexicon.
WORDS ABOUT WORDS: study of words. Includes word formation, classifications, form, usage, and literary, poetic and rhetorical devices.
THE WRITER’S CRAFT: the celebration of language as demonstrated in storytelling and the poetic expressions of the writer’s craft.
THE GRAMMAR PRIMER: Flashbacks of English class! This primer offers a reboot of the rules and structure of formal writing.
From the Logophile Lexicon.
WORDS ABOUT WORDS: study of words. Includes word formation, classifications, form, usage, and literary, poetic and rhetorical devices.
THE WRITER’S CRAFT: the celebration of language as demonstrated in storytelling and the poetic expressions of the writer’s craft.
THE GRAMMAR PRIMER: Flashbacks of English class! This primer offers a reboot of the rules and structure of formal writing.
THE BOOK NOOK
REFERENCE CENTER
The Characteristics and Elements of Language and Words
Welcome to the Library! The articles will help you better understand the elements of language and words. The content comes from the pages of the Logophile Lexicon - Words About Words
COMPONENTS OF FICTION:
Creating New Worlds From Your Imagination
SEE ALSO:
The Business of Writing and Publishing
Typing the Typeface of Writing Types
The Components of Fiction
Alliteration of Ambiguity - Literary Devices
Elements of Storytelling
Components of Poetry
FEATURED WORD LISTS:
The Writer’s Craft
Grammar Primer
The Business of Writing and Publishing
Typing the Typeface of Writing Types
The Components of Fiction
Alliteration of Ambiguity - Literary Devices
Elements of Storytelling
Components of Poetry
FEATURED WORD LISTS:
The Writer’s Craft
Grammar Primer
DEFINING FICTION
Fiction is a narrative form, in any medium, consisting of people, events, or places that are imaginary—in other words, not based strictly on history or fact. A work of fiction implies the inventive construction of an imaginary world. In its most narrow usage, fiction tells a story and it may be in the form of a short story, novel, novella, screenplay, or drama, which are all types (though not the only types) of fictional writing styles.
The writer works hard to inspire the reader to suspend their disbelief in order to experience the story. This is the intentional avoidance of critical thinking or logic in examining something surreal or abstract in order to believe it, feel it and enjoy it.
TYPES OF FICTION
There are different types of fiction. Genres are typically defined by their tone and subject matter. Genre fiction is storytelling driven by plot, as opposed to literary fiction, which focuses more on theme and character. Genre fiction, or popular fiction, is written to appeal to a large audience and it sells more primarily because it is more commercialized.
Genre fiction: The term “genre fiction” generally includes popular types of fiction within a genre. Literary fiction is a fictional work that holds literary merit. They offer social commentary, political criticism, a morality dilemma or perspectives on the elements and characteristics of life and the human condition.
Literary fiction: describes what we know classic literature to be - a quaa as Lott well formed book with a fully formed narrative and strong characterization that support a specific intention or point that is based on the human experience. These stories are like the ones residing in the literary canon and taught in school and may be up for awards like the Pulitzer Prize. Literary fiction often depicts themes and incorporates a rich use of literary devices.
Historical fiction: has characters based on real people and centers the plot on real-life events that happened in the past. Topics include themes that build the backdrop of the story and strong themes inspire credibility. Generally, many elements of plot or dialogue are created by the author to support the historical facts.
Mystery fiction: plot driven thrillers based around the solving of a crime or other mystery. This genre inspires both creative imagination and a good grasp on logical and analytical thinking. The crimes in the story have to be set up and carried out with meticulous attention to the key plot points. The goal is to unravel details of the mystery slowly over time and not reveal so much detail that readers solve the crime too soon.
Fantasy fiction: Fictional works that explicitly involve supernatural, magical, or scientifically impossible elements are classified under the genre of fantasy, Creators of fantasy introduce imaginary worlds, creatures and beings such as witches, dragons, vampires or fairies. The characters usually follow the standard model of characteristics that has been set for the character type. Like the behavior of vampires, the selfish, duplicitous nature of the Fae or the manner in which a man becomes a wolf. However, authors may choose to deviate from the standard and offer a unique perspective.
Science fiction: uses imaginative storytelling to craft life outside the normal Earthbound one. They employ elements of new and different worlds with settings, characters and plot details that support alien life. New worlds, different kinds of aliens and the use of futuristic technology tonavigate universe, space, dofferent galaxies, planets and stars and maybe even different dimensions. Life in space becomes a setting that is fluid and subjective depending on the writer’s beliefs. Language is a significant area in which one can be the most creative. For example, the creators and writers for Star Trek crafted a fully developed language for the Klingon and Vulcan races that included grammar rules, alphabets, punctuation and a unique vocabulary.
Children’s fiction: storytelling for children that range from picture books that teach reading to stories that help teach lessons for adolescents to the stories that appeal to young adults. The most important element for writing for children is using age appropriate narration that kids can believe in. If you are narrating the voice of a 5 year old then dialogue must align with that age group.
Romance fiction: love stories. Romance novelists center their stories on the relationship (either the steps to get to that status or the dynamics within a relationship). Because the intent is to focus on the emotional dynamics between two people, sex related scenes act in support of relationship development and not as primary plot devices. Making sex the focal point takes a novel from a romance to erotica. Erotica has different intentions and different characteristics.
Erotica: a genre that is heavily influenced by both romance novels and pornography. Stories are not necessarily graphic in nature but they contain scenes of a sexual nature to support the romance driven plot. The sex scenes are usually romance driven, empowering and use literary devices to allude to sexual elements rather than depict action with a hardcore, vulgarity. A key distinction between erotica and porn is creation of strong female characters who inspire and empower and who drive action with control over their own sexuality. This opposes the characterization of women as weak, submissive or subject to degradation ain pornography.
Fanfiction: a genre of fiction in which fans take existing source material from existing franchises (like Star Trek) and then spin the elements off into their own stories. The stories utilize the characters, settings and previous events from the source in order to craft stories with accuracy and authenticity. and tie the elements directly to the movie. Other fans are reading your novel and diehard fans are not forgiving of any plot or character mistakes so accuracy is vitally important.
Fiction is a narrative form, in any medium, consisting of people, events, or places that are imaginary—in other words, not based strictly on history or fact. A work of fiction implies the inventive construction of an imaginary world. In its most narrow usage, fiction tells a story and it may be in the form of a short story, novel, novella, screenplay, or drama, which are all types (though not the only types) of fictional writing styles.
- Short story: commonly fewer than 7, 500 words
- Novella: 17, 500 to 40, 000 words
- Novel: 40, 000 words or more in length
The writer works hard to inspire the reader to suspend their disbelief in order to experience the story. This is the intentional avoidance of critical thinking or logic in examining something surreal or abstract in order to believe it, feel it and enjoy it.
TYPES OF FICTION
There are different types of fiction. Genres are typically defined by their tone and subject matter. Genre fiction is storytelling driven by plot, as opposed to literary fiction, which focuses more on theme and character. Genre fiction, or popular fiction, is written to appeal to a large audience and it sells more primarily because it is more commercialized.
Genre fiction: The term “genre fiction” generally includes popular types of fiction within a genre. Literary fiction is a fictional work that holds literary merit. They offer social commentary, political criticism, a morality dilemma or perspectives on the elements and characteristics of life and the human condition.
Literary fiction: describes what we know classic literature to be - a quaa as Lott well formed book with a fully formed narrative and strong characterization that support a specific intention or point that is based on the human experience. These stories are like the ones residing in the literary canon and taught in school and may be up for awards like the Pulitzer Prize. Literary fiction often depicts themes and incorporates a rich use of literary devices.
Historical fiction: has characters based on real people and centers the plot on real-life events that happened in the past. Topics include themes that build the backdrop of the story and strong themes inspire credibility. Generally, many elements of plot or dialogue are created by the author to support the historical facts.
Mystery fiction: plot driven thrillers based around the solving of a crime or other mystery. This genre inspires both creative imagination and a good grasp on logical and analytical thinking. The crimes in the story have to be set up and carried out with meticulous attention to the key plot points. The goal is to unravel details of the mystery slowly over time and not reveal so much detail that readers solve the crime too soon.
Fantasy fiction: Fictional works that explicitly involve supernatural, magical, or scientifically impossible elements are classified under the genre of fantasy, Creators of fantasy introduce imaginary worlds, creatures and beings such as witches, dragons, vampires or fairies. The characters usually follow the standard model of characteristics that has been set for the character type. Like the behavior of vampires, the selfish, duplicitous nature of the Fae or the manner in which a man becomes a wolf. However, authors may choose to deviate from the standard and offer a unique perspective.
Science fiction: uses imaginative storytelling to craft life outside the normal Earthbound one. They employ elements of new and different worlds with settings, characters and plot details that support alien life. New worlds, different kinds of aliens and the use of futuristic technology tonavigate universe, space, dofferent galaxies, planets and stars and maybe even different dimensions. Life in space becomes a setting that is fluid and subjective depending on the writer’s beliefs. Language is a significant area in which one can be the most creative. For example, the creators and writers for Star Trek crafted a fully developed language for the Klingon and Vulcan races that included grammar rules, alphabets, punctuation and a unique vocabulary.
Children’s fiction: storytelling for children that range from picture books that teach reading to stories that help teach lessons for adolescents to the stories that appeal to young adults. The most important element for writing for children is using age appropriate narration that kids can believe in. If you are narrating the voice of a 5 year old then dialogue must align with that age group.
Romance fiction: love stories. Romance novelists center their stories on the relationship (either the steps to get to that status or the dynamics within a relationship). Because the intent is to focus on the emotional dynamics between two people, sex related scenes act in support of relationship development and not as primary plot devices. Making sex the focal point takes a novel from a romance to erotica. Erotica has different intentions and different characteristics.
Erotica: a genre that is heavily influenced by both romance novels and pornography. Stories are not necessarily graphic in nature but they contain scenes of a sexual nature to support the romance driven plot. The sex scenes are usually romance driven, empowering and use literary devices to allude to sexual elements rather than depict action with a hardcore, vulgarity. A key distinction between erotica and porn is creation of strong female characters who inspire and empower and who drive action with control over their own sexuality. This opposes the characterization of women as weak, submissive or subject to degradation ain pornography.
Fanfiction: a genre of fiction in which fans take existing source material from existing franchises (like Star Trek) and then spin the elements off into their own stories. The stories utilize the characters, settings and previous events from the source in order to craft stories with accuracy and authenticity. and tie the elements directly to the movie. Other fans are reading your novel and diehard fans are not forgiving of any plot or character mistakes so accuracy is vitally important.
Elements of Successful Fiction Writing
The main elements of fiction are:
Character: Novels are driven by characters. Depending on the story line of a novel, you may follow one central character or several major characters. The stories require characterization to be fully developed in order for readers to identify or relate with the hero or emotionally affected by the supporting characters and the villains. Good character development means understanding the backstory and background information that influences your character’s point of view.
Characters may be of several types:
Plot: Plot is a series of events that makes up the narrative action of a story. Plot as an element of fiction generally revolves around rising action, a turning point, a falling action and a denouement at the end of the story. Plot consists of actions and reactions, known as a stimulus and response, and which maintains a format of a beginning, a middle, and an ending. The climax of the novel consists of a single action-packed scene in which the conflict (problem) of the novel is resolved.
Setting: Setting is one of the primary story elements found in fiction. Setting dictates the location and time period of a story. There may be one setting or characters move between multiple settings. Sometimes setting is referred to as milieu, to include a context (such as society) beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. It is basically where and when the story takes place.
Point of view: is the perspective from which you choose to write. The three main POVs in writing are first-person, second-person, and third-person. Most stories are written in third-person point of view or first-person point of view, though second-person is occasionally employed. The point of view affects how a reader processes your story. A third-person narrator may be aloof and objective, whereas the first person is personal and intimate.
Theme: is a message or motif that an author tries to make a point with. Theme is what the author is trying to tell the reader.about life and the world around us. It may be a significant commentary on morality or other lesson. It is what they call the “moral of the story.” Authors don’t spell out the lesson to be learned as much as they create plot devices that reveal the answers.
Style: sets the standard for the manner in which the story is told. It encompasses not only the big-picture, strategic choices such as point of view and choice of narrator, but also functional choices of grammar, punctuation, word usage, sentence and paragraph length and structure, tone, the use of imagery, chapter selection, titles, etc. In the process of creating a story, these choices come together to become the writer's voice. This voice is his or her own unique style. There are no style guides or rules for fiction so writers are encouraged to develop their own unique style.
See the Elements of Fiction for a repeat understanding
Fiction is a duality - a relationship between the writer and the reader. As Stephen King said "description begins in the writer's imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.”
Character: Novels are driven by characters. Depending on the story line of a novel, you may follow one central character or several major characters. The stories require characterization to be fully developed in order for readers to identify or relate with the hero or emotionally affected by the supporting characters and the villains. Good character development means understanding the backstory and background information that influences your character’s point of view.
Characters may be of several types:
- Point-of-view character: the character by whom the story is viewed. The point-of-view character may or may not also be the main character in the story.
- Protagonist: the main character of a story
- Antagonist: the character who stands in opposition to the protagonist
- Minor character: a character that interacts with the protagonist. They help the story move along.
- Foil character: a (usually minor) character who has traits opposed to those of the main character
Plot: Plot is a series of events that makes up the narrative action of a story. Plot as an element of fiction generally revolves around rising action, a turning point, a falling action and a denouement at the end of the story. Plot consists of actions and reactions, known as a stimulus and response, and which maintains a format of a beginning, a middle, and an ending. The climax of the novel consists of a single action-packed scene in which the conflict (problem) of the novel is resolved.
Setting: Setting is one of the primary story elements found in fiction. Setting dictates the location and time period of a story. There may be one setting or characters move between multiple settings. Sometimes setting is referred to as milieu, to include a context (such as society) beyond the immediate surroundings of the story. It is basically where and when the story takes place.
Point of view: is the perspective from which you choose to write. The three main POVs in writing are first-person, second-person, and third-person. Most stories are written in third-person point of view or first-person point of view, though second-person is occasionally employed. The point of view affects how a reader processes your story. A third-person narrator may be aloof and objective, whereas the first person is personal and intimate.
Theme: is a message or motif that an author tries to make a point with. Theme is what the author is trying to tell the reader.about life and the world around us. It may be a significant commentary on morality or other lesson. It is what they call the “moral of the story.” Authors don’t spell out the lesson to be learned as much as they create plot devices that reveal the answers.
Style: sets the standard for the manner in which the story is told. It encompasses not only the big-picture, strategic choices such as point of view and choice of narrator, but also functional choices of grammar, punctuation, word usage, sentence and paragraph length and structure, tone, the use of imagery, chapter selection, titles, etc. In the process of creating a story, these choices come together to become the writer's voice. This voice is his or her own unique style. There are no style guides or rules for fiction so writers are encouraged to develop their own unique style.
See the Elements of Fiction for a repeat understanding
Fiction is a duality - a relationship between the writer and the reader. As Stephen King said "description begins in the writer's imagination, but should finish in the reader’s.”
