Senior High School Department

CREATIVE WRITING
UNIT 2 – FICTION
“A writer is not a day dreamer, but is a worker with paper and the joy of craft”
FICTION: It is a name for stories not entirely factual, but at least partially shaped, made up, imagined. It
creates illusion of the reality. It portrays imaginary people caught imaginary situations usually read for
pleasures and intended to expand or refine our life and quicken our senses. It comes from the Latin word
“fictio” means to invent or make up.

DIFFERENT FORMS
FLASH FICTION: (also known as short, short stories) These are stories that take pride in their extreme brevity. (50-1,000 words)
SHORT STORY: It is one of the most common forms of writing. It is often used to describe a single event, a
single episode, or a tale of one particular character. (3,500-7,500 words)
NOVELLETTES: It is longer than a short story, but shorter than a novella. In modern times, the term is rarely
used, and are rarely published singly. (7,000-17,000 words)
NOVELLAS: It was first introduced in the early Renaissance (1300s). It is longer than a novelette and is
sometimes called a long short story or a short novel. Novellas are more often focused on one character's
personal and emotional development rather than with large-scale issues. (17,000-40,000 words)
NOVEL: It is often involves multiple major characters, sub-plots, conflicts, points of view, and twists.
(40,000+words)

ELEMENTS OF FICTION
There are essential elements that make up fiction and are all interrelated to make up a unified story.
1. PLOT: This consists of related sequence of events, interrelated actions, and is the framework of fiction.
PLOT OF A SHORT STORY
STAGES FUNCTIONS
- Introduces the character and places them in a setting
Exposition - Establishes a point of view
- Fills in background information
- Introduction of the conflict
Rising Action - Presents incidents of insights that intensify the conflict.
- The tension or uncertainty developing out of the conflict increases.
- Raises the conflict to maximum intensity
Climax - Changes the course of events or the way that the reader understands the story.
Falling Action - Relaxes the conflict to prepare the readers for denouement.
Denouement - Final outcome of the conflict.
(Resolution) - The solving of the problem

EXTERNAL No story will be

FORCE made without INNER
CONFLICT. It is FORCE
a. social the struggle about
conflict (psychological
opposing forces; a
conflict)
b. physical clash of actions,
conflict ideas, desires, or
values.

2. CHARACTERS: These are the persons about whom the story is told.
Flesh out - Make characters come to life.
Complex character – will have many facets to his/her personality.
Foil – A minor character in a plot or defined by plot function.
Foil characters are the alter ego of the protagonist.
Characters classified according to CONFLICT;
1. Protagonist: He is the central character in a conflict whether good or bad and sympathetic or
unsympathetic. The very word her or heroine is used to mean the protagonist.

“Life is short, go and love yourself”

Ms. Ma. Rebecca S. Olorvida, Humanities Department
 2. Antagonist – He is the adversary who opposes the protagonist or forces who struggle against the
protagonist.
Characters classified according to DEVELOPMENT;
1. Flat or Stock character - is the same sort of person at the end of the story as in the beginning.
They tend to be very static and stay the same throughout the story.
2. Round or Developing Character – undergoes a change in some aspect of character, personality or
outlook, be it better or for worse. The characters are very dynamic and often changes – or become
enlightened, grow or deteriorate.
3. POINT OF VEW: The angle of vision from where the story is told. Determined when the author decides
who is going to tell the story.
NARRATOR–The person who tells a story. The author may tell a story directly whereby he usually remains
an anonymous observer who seldom male any references to himself.
KINDS OF POINT OF VIEW/ NARRATOR according to David Starkey
First Person It is told from a character who is participating – sometimes centrally,
sometimes more peripherally – in the action of the story. It can make the story
personal.
Example: “I get in the car, turn on the ignition and drive to the end of Blue Street.”
First Person It turns the narrator to a group of people.
Plural Example: “We get in the car, turn on the ignition and drive to the end of Blue Street.”
Second Person It requires the reader to become a character in the story.
Example: “You get in the car, turn on the ignition and drive to the end of Blue Street.”
Third Person It focuses on one character’s perspective; it looks over the shoulder and
Limited sometimes into the mind, of a single character in the story.
Example: “He get in the car, turn on the ignition and drive to the end of Blue Street,
thinking, I will never come this way again.”
Third Person It allows the narrator to enter the mind and situation of anyone. It gives wider
Omniscient view of the story.
(“all-knowing”) Example:
He get in the car, turn on the ignition and drive to the end of Blue Street, thinking,
“I will never come this way again”.
Standing in the driveway, remembering their night together in that restaurant
near Malate,
She mutters, “Don’t come back.”

DIALOGUE:This generally refers to conversation between two or more characters in a story. Your
characters will reveal themselves not only through what they say but the way they say it.
4. THEME: This is what the story means. It is the underlying main idea of a literary work, a philosophy or
observation of life, a principle of truth which the author wishes to convey to the authors.
Some common examples of universal themes to explore in writing fictional texts are about love,
survival, war, mystery, fate, friendship, good versus evil, justice, prejudice, loss, courage, coming of age,
freedom, loneliness, ambition and spirituality.
TWO TYPES OF THEME
Major This is the most significant message found in any fictional work. This embodies the central
theme idea of the story that can be seen until the very end.
Minor These are the less important ideas found in any story. They may only appear in some
theme parts of the story.
5. SETTING: It refers to the time, place and general environment in which a piece of fiction occurs. The
purpose of setting is to serve as a background or physical context for the action. Another purpose of
setting - it can be used to reveal character or shape events; it may also help create the atmosphere/mood
from which the story evolves.
a. Time and Place
b. Sociological, cultural, political, religious
c. Sensibilities that leads to specific modes

DIFFERENT MODES OF FICTION

1. Use of Active Verbs: “What moves always wins out of what is stagnant”
2. Style: It refers to the individual traits or characteristics of a piece of writing.
3. Setting Tone and Mood: There is a need to develop a special mood or feeling.
4. Grab your reader: A book page must not only read well, it must also look inviting.
5. Using Details: It is an essential element of all good prose. Common sense should govern your use of detail.
6. Symbolism and Motif: any object or action that is used to evoke ideas that go beyond its obvious meaning.
7. Writing with Examples and Revision: A pro is specific. His writing cites an example than general statement.
8. SFX Appeal: Crisp fiction has to emit sound. Let your readers hear what your characters hear.
9. Use fresh similes and metaphors: Way of turning abstract ideas into concrete images by clothing.

“Life is short, go and love yourself”

Ms. Ma. Rebecca S. Olorvida, Humanities Department
10. Create Pictures: Readers want a picture–something to see, not just a paragraph to read – a picture made out of words.

“Life is short, go and love yourself”

Ms. Ma. Rebecca S. Olorvida, Humanities Department