Acclaimed science fiction movies have garnered popularity in the past years. More and more books are under massive production relative to the thought-provoking genre of speculative fiction. Science fiction stories follow a straightforward sequence of events. All authors, not just in sci-fi, make their stories revolve around the five elements of a plot. One recently published sci-fi book, Moon Luck by Harral — captures the intricacies of building a narrative. It explores a futuristic possibility of life on the moon and a thrilling crime that happened there.
Author Learning Center, an author mentorship website mentioned, your story cannot exist without a plot. However, an existing storyline is not enough — it has to be well-thought-out. And for it to be exceptional, you have to be aware of what are these five elements. It is equally important to note what should be in each one, too!
Exposition: Hook Them Right Away
This part of the storyline must contain a compelling introduction. It is in this part of the story that you establish the characters. You do not have to introduce all the characters in this part; it might confuse your readers. It is essential to plan which significant characters are worth mentioning. In this part — you set a glimpse of the mood, the setting, and the vital backstory that your readers can easily follow.
Rising Action: Compel Them To Flip The Pages
This part of the story is consequential because it is your preface to the climax. In this part, you should play it around with thrill and enthusiasm. You can slowly build the tension as the central conflict grows, creatively develop the plot by coming up with an enticing incident that can draw your readers to follow and flip the pages in excitement. Some authors play around with rising action, which in most cases, makes it the longest part of all the elements in a plot. Your rising action must end in a climax.
Climax: Leave No Room To Gasp
The climax is defined as your story’s central turning point—the moment of peak tension or conflict—which all the preceding plot developments have been leading up to. It is this part when the protagonist clashes with the villain. However, that is not always the case — your story always has the artistic freedom to present a non-conventional climax. Some authors have encounters with anticlimax in their storylines. Anticlimax is a type of climax which approaches a disappointing end to the rising action. In some cases, anticlimaxes can be accidental, or in some, they can be intentional. It depends on what kind of author you are.
Falling Action: Begin The Resolution
The falling action is where the excitement appeases. It is the part where the resolution is gradually presented. For most storylines, the falling action starts at the end of the climax. However, some stories introduce a new conflict in this element of the plot. In that case, authors do that to keep the audience engaged until the narrative resolves. On some accounts, authors do not use a falling action in their outline. However, every story has a de-escalation section wherein the intensity of the plot mellows from the climax. And the importance of that is to re-establish the lives of the remaining characters of the story. Most importantly, the protagonist.
Resolution: End In Satisfaction
The finale of every story. This part of the story is when all the conflicts arrive at a resolution. The resolution also shows the character arc. A character arc is a character transformation throughout the story. And that part is essential because it is when the audience or the reader comes up with a moral lesson. Some endings purposefully do not satisfy. Instead, they intend to end with a cliffhanger. And you have the artistic expression to do so if you wishfully follow.
Writing novels, fiction, or any other story requires a structured arrangement of events. And for you to successfully create a good one, you have to go back and re-learn the five elements of a plot. Good narratives do not just come by — it demands successive immersion in writing. Your creative fictional world might be the next favorite science fiction of all time!
Dare to write!
Oliver’s Twist 