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•First Act : The setup that leads to the life-changing event in a
character’s life.
•Second Act: The middle where the protagonist follows the
journey in the new world.
•Third Act: The final part of the story that presents the final
confrontation of the novel.
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Elements of a plot
•Exposition : It is the beginning of the story and this is what sets
up the mood for the upcoming events. Exposition is where the
main characters of a story are introduced and major conflicts are
revealed.
•Rising action : This is when the main problem or conflict is
addressed by the protagonist. While the rising action always
leads up to the climax of the story, the protagonist ends up
encountering a crisis that creates more tension.
•Turning point : Also known as the climax of the story, a turning
point is when the main character/s decide to deal with the events
occurred previously.
•Falling action : This comes immediately after the climax
and showcases the aftermath of the turning point events.
Depending upon the consequences being good or bad,
falling action sets up the stage for the ending of the story
or novel.
•Resolution : This is where the story ends. The ending
can be happy or sad, it can leave the readers satisfied or
make them ask questions. Goal of the resolution is to
narrate what happens after the conflict has been resolved.
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Protagonist : The hero of the story, around whom the story revolves. In
most first-person novels, they are also the narrator of the story. Majority of
stories have only one protagonist but you can have more than one as well.
Deuteragonist : Also known as the second-in-command character. They
are the closest to the hero and can be called as the sidekicks in the story.
This person is very important, especially for the protagonist.
Antagonist : Mainly known as the villain, Antagonist is someone who
causes all the drama in the hero’s life. Typically antagonists face the
harshness of the world and are ready to take dramatic actions to change
the world.
Love Interest : It’s the person that your protagonist will fall in love
with, even if it’s only temporary.
Mentor : The character who guides the protagonists through their
journey and teaches him/her about the world and new techniques.
However, most mentors die at some point in the story.
Narrator : A narrator is someone who tells the story. It can be the
hero, the sidekick, or even you narrating it in third-person.
Secondary Character : Secondary characters join the protagonist
in his/her journey mid-way. They are a huge part of the story but
the story clearly never revolves around them.
Tertiary Character : These are the characters that play an important
role in the progress of the journey but are the lesser-known ones.
The Professors in Harry Potter are an amazing example of tertiary
characters. They teach harry important things but are never the
center of the story.
Flat Character : These characters usually appear for one scene and
are never seen again throughout the story. They are introduced to
complete a small event or hand something important to one of the
main characters that contributes to the development of the story.
 Here are a few steps you can follow to build strong characters:

•Step 1: Identify your characters and define their roles in the story. You need
to know who your main characters are and which ones will be playing the
supporting roles. This is where understanding the different types of
characters in a novel comes into play.

•Step 2: Know your characters inside out and get inside their head. Asking
character development questions, understanding their motive, and defining
their backbone can be very helpful in understanding your characters better.
Remember that your characters and their motives might change just like real
people.
•Step 3: Research about your character. Look for similar characters, it
will help you build a set of more realistic and relatable characters. If your
character is a therapist then research about that profession and try to
understand the life of a therapist.
•Step 4: Write strong dialogues that resonate with the personas of the
characters that you’ve built. To do this again you have to get in the
shoes of your characters and come up with the correct dialogues. The
key is to show the basic qualities and emotions of your characters with
each dialogue. Consistency with dialogues will help your characters win
the reader over.
•Step 5: While writing a novel, always emphasise on showing rather
than telling. Instead of telling that your character is honest or loyal
towards a certain character, put your characters into situations that
shows these key qualities. Showing over telling is the most common
writing rule but is also the most important one.