Short Story Boot Camp - Vocabulary

Character Description

Included the way a character looks, dresses, talks, walks, thinks and more. It usually goes beyond physical description.

Dialogue and Inner Thoughts

A character's speech style and patters which show their culture, socioeconomic status, values, intelligence and more.

Character Behavior

A characters actions. “actions speak louder than words.”

Perspective

The feeling and outlook of the narrator as a person.

Motivation

The drive behind a character actions.

Exposition

Introduction of the main conflict of the work.

Flashback

Interruptions in the standard order of plot of events wherein the writer inserts scenes of past events.

In Media Res “In the midst of things”

A story beginning in a critical situation in the middle of the plot.

Stream of Consciousness

A literary style in which a characters thoughts, feelings, and reactions are depicted in a continuous flow.

Narrative Pacing

The speed at which the author wants you to read suspenseful or intense moments are meant to be read faster while introductory or explanatory information will be slower.