Literary Elements
Literary elements are the fundamental building blocks that form the foundation of every personal story. Think of them as the ingredients required for a recipe. Without them, you simply don’t have a story.
These essential elements include your plot (the sequence of events), characters (the people driving the action), settings (when and where everything happens), point of view (which is you, obviously), theme (the underlying message), conflicts (tensions to be resolved), tone (your attitude), and style (your distinctive voice).
Every personal story will contain these foundational components, as together they’ll form the structural framework upon which all stories are built, by creating the skeleton that gives shape and substance to every impactful narrative.
Plot
1The sequence of events that make up a story, from the opening to closing scenes. A well-structured plot helps to maintain an audience’s interest and will provide a clear progression of events from your perspective.
While plots are usually presented in chronological order, they can also occur in reverse order, or moving between past, present, and future. In any event, the plot conveys where in time each scene resides.
Character
2In personal stories, the storyteller (you) is always the main character, but other people are often included. And while they may be important in some respects your stories are primarily about you and your experiences.
In some stories, animals are characters. Even inanimate objects, such as a building, river, or car, can play a role, but every story that you tell will focus on your thoughts, emotions, and actions.
Setting
3Settings define the time and place in which your story occurs, whether that’s inside a room, outdoor area, in the air, on the water, or somewhere in a city. Settings give context to your narrative.
A vivid setting can create a backdrop that will enhance the mood and tone of the narrative, and in doing so, influence how an audience perceives the events that take place in a particular location.
Theme
4A story’s theme is the central idea, subject, or message that the narrative explores. With personal stories, they often address complex issues from either an emotional or intellectual perspective.
Rather than being stated explicitly, themes are implied by the sequence of events which transpire and the collective storyline that unfolds. At times multiple themes may be dealt with, but there’s typically a primary theme.
Conflict
5Conflict is often thought of as a struggle between two opposing forces, and in that light, it occurs internally (within ourselves) and externally (between ourselves and circumstances we encounter).
In storytelling, the nature of this ‘struggle’ helps drive the narrative forward and engages the audience, as they can reflect on what they would do in a similar situation. Plus, conflict reveals your true nature to the audience.
Point of View
6With personal storytelling, the point of view is always yours. And your point of view shapes how audiences connect with the story being shared, as you’re revealing what happened to you, in your own words.
In addition, you’re sharing your innermost thoughts and emotions connected to those experiences, which opens your story in an intimate, and often vulnerable way. Any lessons learned will emanate from this place.
Tone
7The tone used when telling a personal story speaks to your feelings about the story’s subject matter and the feeling you wish to convey to the audience. For example, formal or informal, happy or sad, optimistic or ominous.
The tone of a talk can also shift based on the reason why that story is being shared at a certain time — possibly in context to recent a event — or to a particular audience, based on their specific location.
Mood
8Mood refers to the emotional atmosphere someone experiences while listening to a story. It’s shaped by the storyteller’s tone, word choice, and use of imagery when describing characters, settings or events.
Moods are created through the careful selection of story details, intentional word choice, and sentence structure, as well as the tone and pacing in the speaker’s voice. It’s often true that a story’s mood shifts over time.
Style
9Style refers to the unique way in which you tell your story, how you express your thoughts and emotions within a particular narrative, and is mainly based on the interplay of syntax, sentence structure, and word choice.
As a result of the style in which the story is told, the folks receiving your story will gain a sense of your personalty, and possibly the reason you decided to share your story. Unique styles help create bonds with an audience.
Structure
10The structure of a story becomes a map that guides the audience through the events that the storyteller has decided to share in their narrative. The way a story is structured changes how the story’s message is received.
Narratives can be linear from a time perspective, or they can touch on specific time periods out of sequence, and still convey the intent of the storyteller and deliver their message in a more impactful way.
As you craft your personal story, reflect on these literary elements as a way to fine-tune your narrative. Remember that words matter most, so the individual words you select, and how you decide to order them, will affect the way in which your audience perceives your story.