The Building Blocks of a Story

Every story is built from the same parts. Learn the parts and you can break down anything from a short story to a novel to a movie.

• ●Plot: the sequence of events. It usually rises to a climax, the highest point of tension, then falls to a resolution.
• ●Character: the people in the story. The protagonist is the main one. The antagonist works against them.
• ●Setting: when and where the story happens, including the time period and the mood of the place.
• ●Conflict: the struggle that drives the story. It can be character against character, against nature, against society, or against themselves.
• ●Theme: the big idea or message about life that the story reveals.

How to find the theme

1. 1Ask what the main character wants and what gets in the way.
2. 2Notice what changes in the character by the end, and what they learn.
3. 3Look for an idea that shows up again and again, like loyalty, freedom, or growing up.
4. 4State the theme as a full sentence about life, not one word. Not loyalty, but true loyalty costs something.