What is your

hashtag?
ELEMENTS OF
CREATIVE
NONFICTION
 Plot

What is plot?

Refers to the actual events

that take place within the
bounds of your narrative.
Sequence of Plot
Freytag's Pyramid
 Freytag's Pyramid

A. Exposition: Here, you’re setting the scene, introducing characters, and

preparing the reader for the journey.

B. Rising action: In this part, things start to happen. You (or your
characters) encounter conflict, set out on a journey, meet people, etc.

C. Climax: This is the peak of the action, the main showdown, the central
event toward which your story has been building.
 Freytag's Pyramid

D. Falling action: Now things start to wind down. You (or your
characters) come away from the climactic experience changed—at the very
least, you are wiser for having had that experience.

E. Resolution: Also known as dénouement, this is where all the loose ends

get tied up. The central conflict has been resolved, and everything is back
to normal, but perhaps a bit different.
 Point of View
This is the perspective from which
the story is told. This is a
grammatical phenomenon decides
pronoun use but, more importantly,
it impacts tone, mood, scope, voice,
and plot.
 The narration of a story or a novel can be told in three main ways:

First Person Second Person Third Person

POV POV POV

(I/me/mine or (he/him/his,
(you/you/your)
us/we/ours) she/her/hers,
In
they/they/theirs)
They
second person point of
are told from the view the reader is part of the
perspective of one character The narrator is
story. The narrator describes
who will describe actions. the reader's actions, thoughts, describing the actions of
and background using "you."  characters within the
story.
 The narration of a story or a novel can be told in three main ways:

Omniscient POV

It is a point of view (POV) where the narrator knows everything about the
events, characters, and world in the story. This narrator not only has a “God's
Eye View” of the plot, they can also tell the narrative from multiple character
perspectives.
Characters
Characters bring life to the story.
Keep in mind that while human
characters are most frequently
featured in stories, sometimes there
are non-human characters in a story
such as animals or even the
environment itself.
 Major Characters

Minor Characters

Characters
Characters according to fullness of develop
ment

Characters according to changes undergone

in the story
Major Characters
Protagonist Antagonist

The main or central The counterpart of the

character. He is also protagonist, or the villain.
called hero or heroine
(female) when they
exemplify nobility and
bravery.
 Minor Characters

Confidant Foil Stock Type

The character to whom the A character who portrays a A character who portrays
main character reveals his/her contrasting quality to another national or social identity. They
sentiments, hopes, and character. were quickly recognized and
aspirations. accepted by the reader or
viewer.
Characters according to fullness of
development
Flat Round

A character who portrays A character who is

just one or two traits. complicated or who has
many sides.
Characters according to changes
undergone in the story
Static Dynamic
A character who does not
A character who goes
show any change---
through changes in
he/she has the same
his/her personality.
characteristics from the
beginning up to the end.
Characterization

The development of characters through actions,

descriptions, and dialogue. This is the act or method of
creating a character in writing.
 Two Ways to Accomplish Characterization

Directly Indirectly

Through specific description Through the behaviors, speech,

of the character—What kind
of clothes do they wear?
What do they look, smell,
sound like
and thoughts of the character—
What kind of language, dialect,
or register do they use? What is
the tone, inflection, and timbre
of their voice?
Story Angle

The story angle is the specific viewpoint or

perspective from which a writer tells his or her
story – and often the same story can be told
from a different viewpoint.
 Example of Story Angle

Consider the fairytale of the “Three Little Pigs.” The story traditionally
is told from the perspective of the pigs who are upset with the big bad
wolf for blowing down the first pig’s straw house and the second pig’s
house of sticks. The wolf is unable to destroy the third pig’s house,
made of bricks.
This same story, however, can be told from a different angle. In “The
True Story of the Three Little Pigs” by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith,
the story is told from the wolf’s perspective. 
Setting and atmosphere of the story

The setting of a story is the context in a scene or

story that describes the elements in which a
story is taking place, including time, place, and
environment. Each component in story setting
helps to build the narrative’s mood, plot, and
character development.
Symbols and Symbolism

Symbolism, or using symbols to represent

abstract ideas or qualities, is an important factor
in writing. It adds layers and gives your writing
a more poetic voice.
Example of Symbolism

The color white stands for purity, black represents evil, roses
stand for romance, and a dog can represent loyalty.
Irony

The definition of irony as a literary device is a

situation in which there is a contrast between
expectation and reality. For example, the
difference between what something appears to
mean versus its literal meaning. Irony is
associated with both tragedy and humor.
 Dramatic Irony
Main Comic Irony
Types of
Situational Irony
Irony
Verbal Irony
Dramatic Irony

Also known as tragic irony, this is when a writer

lets their reader know something that a character
does not.
Comic Irony

This is when irony is used as comedic effect—such

as in satire.
Situational Irony

Involving a situation in which actions have an effect

that is opposite from what was intended, so that the
outcome is contrary to what was expected. 
Verbal Irony

This is a statement in which the speaker means

something very different from what he or she is
saying.
Figures of Speech

Alliteration Metaphor
Personification Metonymy
Hyperbole Synecdoche Apostrophe
Simile Onomatopoeia Pun
Alliteration
It is a series of words, which commence with the same letter and consists of the
repetition of a sound or of a letter at the beginning of two or more words.
Examples:
•Dirty dolphins dove across the ocean.

•Purple pandas painted portraits. 

•She sells seashells.
•Nick needed new notebooks.
•Fred fried frogs’ legs on Friday.
Onomatopoeia
It is the figure of speech where the word is used to describe a sound. When we
explain any action by putting the sounds into language, it is known as
onomatopoeia. It is generally used in fiction or in nursery rhymes, for e.g.- Old
McDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-O. Words like whoosh, splat, buzz, oink, click,
etc., Are used to create this effect. 

Example -
•I could hear the leaves rustling and the wind howling. 
•Bam! He hit the truck at the speed of 80 kmph.
Synecdoche
If a part is represented by a whole or a whole is represented by a part, it is
known as synecdoche.

Examples:

•Colgate – any toothpaste

•Wheels – a car
•Employed people – workers
•The traffic – many vehicles 
Pun
A pun is generally used in plays where one word has two different meanings. It
is used to create humor. Humorous use of words of different meanings or the
words of the same sound but different meanings is known as pun.
Examples:
• A bicycle can’t stand on its own because it is two-tired.
• Where do you find giant snails? On the ends of the giants' fingers.
Apostrophe
In this figure of speech, the writer mentions the absent or inanimate objects as
alive and writes about them.
Examples:
• “O, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”
• “Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how i wonder what you are”
• “Walter, remember when the world was young, and all the girls knew
Walter's name? Walter, isn't it a shame the way our little world has
changed.”
Personification
In personification, non-living things,  abstract ideas or qualities are mentioned as
humans or living things.

Examples:
•Angry clouds surrounded the island.

•Earth was thirsty for water.

•The flowers talked to them in the garden.
•The wind howled that night.
•The snowflakes danced at night.
Simile
In a simile, two things which are completely unlocked are compared with each other.
A simile is introduced by words such as like, so, as etc.
Examples:

•The flower is as pretty as a picture.

•He is as sober as a judge.
•The floor was as slippery as an eel.
•They looked like peas in a pod.
•He eats like a pig.
Hyperbole
Is when you use words to exaggerate what you mean or emphasize a point. It is
used to make something seem bigger or more important than it actually is.

Examples:
•It has been ages since I have had a proper meal.

•Usain bolt runs faster than the wind.

•I could do this forever.
•She’s older than this world.
•Everybody knows me.
Figures of Speech

Metonymy - it is a word substitution by

another term which has a similar meaning.

Example: Crown (King)

“We will swear loyalty to the crown.”
Dialogue

Is a communication between two or more

characters.
Scene

A scene is a contained narrative unit that

takes place within a larger narrative.
Scenes are the building blocks of stories.
Most stories are made up of a series of
scenes that vary in setting and advance
the plot.
Tone

The emotional register of the story’s language.

• What emotional state does the narrator of the

story seem to be in? What emotions shown in
the writing?
Mood

The emotional register a reader experiences.

• What emotions do you want your reader to

experience? Are they the same feelings you
experience at the time?
Moral

The call towards having a good

behavior; this could be in the form
of a maxim, or a saying.
Allusion

This is a literary technique in which the

subject is being referred to a historical or
literary figure.
Flashback

A literary technique in which

there is a reminiscence or
recollection of the past events. In
short, it is going back to the past.
Foreshadowing

A counterpart of flashback as it utilizes hints or

clues indicative of what will happen next in the
story.
Imagery

Another technique in which the characters or even

the setting or anything in the story is described very
well as if you are creating a mental image on your
mind. This is successfully done through the use of
vivid adjectives.
Suspense

The feeling of excitement, tension or even

pressure by the reader as he/she gets involved
in the story to know the outcome of a
particular conflict. Oftentimes even when we
watch movies, we get thrilled by how the story
reveals something about a character or an
event—it might be the revelation of the
character as an illegitimate child or the like.