The 5 Elements Of Story

The 5 Elements Of Story

Writers Write is your one-stop resource for writers. In this post, we share the five elements of story using the premise that a character needs five things.

What are the five elements of a story? This post offers an interesting way to look at the layers of a story.

Many writers believe that stories begin with characters and the plot develops from them. This chart says that for a story to work, a character needs five things.

The 5 Elements Of Story

He or she needs something:

  1. To care about.
  2. To want.
  3. To dread.
  4. To suffer.
  5. To learn.

The remainder of the story will develop from these needs.

Original Source: @DanielSchwabauer, www.oneyearnovel.com

If you enjoyed this post, read these:

  1. The 4 Main Characters As Literary Devices
  2. 15 Questions Authors Should Ask Characters
  3. Torture your Character – The 3 Most Effective Types of Inner Conflict
  4. Character Development Checklist
  5. Universal Needs – Creating Characters

Top Tip: If you want to learn how to write a book, sign up for our online course or join our course in Johannesburg.

Posted on: 25th February 2014
(95,152 views)

1 thought on “The 5 Elements Of Story”

  1. Please send us a link , Elie. All we can find are seven character types, which have nothing to do with this post.

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