Storytelling Unit - What is a story?

''...A  story is first of all a chain of events that begins at one place and ends at another - without any essential interruption... ''

Other definitions of a story:

• A detailed description of a situation/event.
• Fiction/Non-fiction 
• Sequence
• Point of View/Perspective

What are the Ingredients of a story?

Theme >> Plot >> Story structure >> Characters >> Setting >> Style and Tone >> Goal, Change & Problem >> Climax

A theme is an important message the story is passing across to it's readers. It is effective it will touch an aspect of the reader's life in an emotional and thoughtful sense and in it's own small but sweet way help out in the lives of many.

The plot of a story can be considered as the detailed ins and outs of the journey that starts with the main character at the beginning and draws to a close at the end. The plot will consist mainly of conflict against other characters or a personal struggle. Throughout this journey, the character will grow and learn many things alongside the audience. This little piece of wisdom the character will earn when it is most vital can also be recognised as the over all theme of the film.

Story structure is all the methods used to piece all the ingredients together. Is the story in present tense or past tense? Does the use of first person narrative sell the story more? or does third person narrative allow your readers dig deeper into the characters as though to play God? Will the story be told in the eyes of one character or all characters? The choices made here will determine the outcome of the story.

Characters are who the stories are all about. Perhaps the main character who could be either an antagonist - the villain of the story, or the protagonist - the hero or main person of the story, has an obstacle to overcome, a goal to achieve or both. The build up of a character depends on your creative capacity as a writer somewhere between safe and spontaneous is always good it adds to the element of surprise in a story. A perfect character rarely ever works well in fiction, most times they have a flaw or weakness they overcome by the end.

Stories should be set in places and times that will be interesting or familiar. This contributes a lot to context - these are other events or issues that frame/influence the meaning of the story given that they happened during the same period of time.

Style and Tone are important when writing. If it's an intense drama some use of emotive language should be in effect to really capture the hearts of avid readers, if it's a thriller an in-depth but ambiguous telling of opinions might be a good way to show deception and lack of truth or confusion amongst characters. Plain or complex language can be used depending on the nature of the story and its characters. 

Goal, Problem and Change these are the various challenges the characters will face throughout the course of the story. Reflection of real life issues in narrative is a good way to draw in an audience as it is easy to relate to and understand.