25 Words You Should Absolutely Know Before Writing Fiction
Essential Vocabulary for Writers - 5 Part Series
Before you start your bestseller, learn the vocabulary that will help you shape stronger plots, deeper characters, and more intentional and effective prose. And no, this isn’t about sounding fancy or well read. Mastering craft language helps you take ownership of your stories, and talk about your work with confidence.
Story Structure & Plot
Protagonist – The central character driving the story’s action.
Antagonist – The character or force that creates conflict for the Protagonist.
Inciting Incident – An event that sets the main plot in motion.
Rising Action – Events or Dialogue that builds tension, leading toward climax.
Climax – The turning point, or peak moment of conflict.
Falling Action – What unfolds after the climax as tension releases and leads towards resolution.
Denouement – The resolution where things settle or conclusions.
Character & Voice
Point of View (POV) – The perspective from which the story is told. Think about this like a camera angle. (1st-I-internal, 2nd-you-external, or 3rd-he/she-external)
Voice – The distinct tone and style of the writer or narrator. Usually a combination of: Diction, Tone, Syntax, POV preferences, Level of omniscience, Supported Themes and Subtext, and the poetry of the thing that can not be named.
Archetype – A universal character type (hero, mentor, rebel, etc.) related to tropes.
Foil – A character who contrasts with another to highlight key traits, for effective juxtaposition.
Character Arc – The transformation or internal journey of a character. (Flat= character ends the story the same as s/he arrived. Round=there is a change in character.)
Style & Technique
Dialogue – Spoken interactions between characters. (Dialogue Tags: S/he said, or Action Tags: “I give up.” She zipped up her dress, and left the gun sitting on the mantle.
Pacing – The speed at which the story unfolds. Some of your tools here are: sentence length, dialogue, action, tone, showing vs. telling, intentional passive voice, and economy of words.
Tone – The writer’s emotional attitude in the piece, determined by diction, mood/atmosphere, scope, etc.
Diction: The choice between words.
Theme – The deeper message or overall ideas beneath the story. But Papa, don’t preach.
Motif – A recurring element that supports the theme, symbolism.
Foreshadowing – Clues or hints about what’s to come, often used for suspension of disbelief or as a red-herring.
Flashback – A jump to the past to provide context. (These are typically frowned upon today by most scholars, but people still use them with success?)
Subtext – The meaning beneath what’s said or shown: reading between the lines, irony, or purposely excluding the reader until a twist, so they can look back on it.
Syntax:
* Sentence structure and rhythm.
* The Rhythm of a sentence, and its structure.
* The Structure of a sentence—its rhythm.
Trope – A recognizable storytelling device (like “the chosen one”). Used to not exclude the reader and to present a set of ideas without excessive exposition.
Exposition - Explaining an idea or describing beyond imagery, beware of info-dumps!
Worldbuilding – Creating the rules, setting, culture and logic of your fictional universe.
Did I Miss Anything? Or is there a writing term you wish you’d learned sooner? Lets hear it in the comments.
Coming Next Week:
“22 Words You Should Absolutely Know Before Writing Poetry”
This is a 5-Part Series: All links will be updated & banked here once posted.
20 Words You Should Know Before Submitting to a Publisher.
This is so good!