Approaches to telling your story

Write what you know or write what you don't know

Aristotle's Classic Narrative- possible guideline

What is Fiction?
not real, something made-up, fantasy worlds, something fake made to seem real
Fiction can reveal truths that reality obscures ex. Emotion, feelings
allow ppl to explore truths about humanity

What sustains Fiction?

suspension of disbelief
Term coined in 1817 by poet and philosopher Samuel T. Coleridge
Coleridge said: If a writer could infuse her story with human interest and a semblance of truth then a reader would be willing to
suspend judgement concerning the plausibility of the story
as readers we CHOOSE to ignore the fact that what we are reading isn't true and this is an absolute gift to writer...it gives us permission to
lie...so then the question is How far can you push a readers suspension of disbelief.

The template that you give the reader must be loose enough to allow them to imagine but also have some constraints that will guide them
as well.
You don't have to hold the readers hand and drag them through the story
Moral of the story is to allow them to imagine to fill in the gaps of the story.

Deeper into the definition of Fiction:

Fiction is the examination of what people do and why they do it.

As readers we care about the

human side of the story
What the character learn and how this affects them

"The goal is to hit the human heart and the tear ducts and the nape of the neck and to make a person feel something about the characters are
going through and to experience the moral paradoxes and struggles of being human."

Does writing about the human experience mean drawing from your own human experience?
Write about what you know???
You draw from personal experiences and much more
When writing fiction, use this "write what you know" to your advantage, but remember you can draw from research, your
imagination and your won creativity.
Dont be limited by your own experiences.

*"A writer must always use the time of a stranger in such a way that he or she feels it has not been wasted."

Love Stories:
A modern day love story...

"A tale shall accomplish something and arrive somewhere."- Mark Twain
How do we accomplish a meaningful story?
Aristotle: A whole has a beginning, middle and an end.

Classic Narrative Paradigm

Climax

Rising action Falling Action

Inciting Action

Resolution/Denouement

Transformation
Exposition/Introduction
Protagonist
the main character of a story
A major character in a story be it a novel, a short story, a movie, to any other fictional text.
Meet the protagonist in the exposition/introduction

Writing Exercise: Protagonist

Who are they? Name, age, job
Where are they? Location, as well as situation in life
What is their frame of mind? Satisfied or dissatisfied?
What do they desire?

Who are they? Havin, 20, Soldier

Where are they? Battlegrounds, high ranking leader
Frame or Mind?
Satisfied? Yes

Inciting Incident/Catalytic Event

Before this, everything is peaceful, status quo
Something happens that changes the normal course of the protagonist's life
Protagonist is forced to do something

Writing Excercise: Catalytic Event

What happens to your character that shakes them up?

Some angel some to him wanting him for a higher purpose.

Conflict
Part 1: The protagonist's struggle towards a goal.
Part 2: An antagonistic force.
Antagonist- the adversary of the protagonist
This doesn't have to mean a "villain" type out of a superhero comic.
Rising action as we head towards the climax.

Writing Exercise: Conflict

Building on the inciting incident, what drives the protagonist in the pursuit of their objectives and desires?
What forces oppose them.

Havin is so tight with his job and he is about to be promoted and to leave would mean that he would loose that placing.

Climax
whatever happens in the climbs then leads to an outcome and a resolution of some kind "hopefully not and they lived happily ever after."

The protagonist will have undergone some kind of change. He's learned something or it not, the reader will feel a sense of discovery, a
sense that the journey was for a reason and that there is...meaning to the story.

Writing Exercise: Short Treatment of the Story

Havin is a soldier in the galactic fighting force, he started as a cadet student when he was 14 and studied for four years alongside going out
on missions with other infantry members. By the time he was 18, he officially joined the force from a higher rank due to his studies and
outstanding performance in missions. Now after two years, he had finally worked really hard to get a special high ranking from his superiors
when something extraordinary happens. A real angel in existence came down from heaven as God sent for him, seeing his true heartedness
and his kindness towards those around him. Only once in every couple hundred years does God look out for a handful of around 5 humans
from all different places and lives be transformed into a lower angel to help him connect close with the humans and for him to understand
better of the interaction that happens between them.

So there are lots of ways you could write a story. But keep in mid the idea that something should happen in your story, that there should be
some element of tension/conflict.
Keep in mind the length of the story..since it is a short story.
With endings...you don't need to wrap up the story with this whole description of its meaning, and refrain from doing so.