Although both memoirs and autobiographies tell stories about the author’s lives, the time the story covers makes them distinctive genres. In spite of these differences, the two genres have many elements of style and purpose in common, including focus, honesty and the use of narrative devices.

Simply put, a biography is the life history of an individual, written by someone else. An autobiography is the story of a person’s life, written by that person. And a memoir is a collection of memories written by the person themselves.

One similarity between an Autobiography and a Biography is that they both write about a person’s life. Also, the historical facts in the person’s life have to be accurate and they are normally written in chronological time.

There are four main types of writing: expository, persuasive, narrative, and descriptive.

The 8 elements of a story are: character, setting, plot, conflict, theme, point-of-view, tone and style. These story elements form the backbone of any good novel or short story. If you know the 8 elements, you can write and analyze stories more effectively.

Character Development. Some people will tell you that character development is the most important element of novel writing. And they wouldn’t necessarily be wrong. Characters are the things through which you propel your narrative forward, and they are vehicles through which you explore your theme….

8 Elements of a Story Explained

• Setting.
• Character.
• Plot.
• Conflict.
• Theme.
• Point-of-view.
• Tone.
• Style.

Here are 10 of the most common literary devices:

• Simile.
• Metaphor.
• Imagery.
• Symbolism.
• Flashbacks.
• Foreshadowing.
• Motif.
• Allegory.

While hundreds of literary devices have been created, some of the most common are:

• Allusion.
• Diction.
• Epigraph.
• Euphemism.
• Foreshadowing.
• Imagery.
• Metaphor/Simile.
• Personification.

#1: Language. The most important literary element is language. Language is defined as a system of communicating ideas and feelings through signs, sounds, gestures, and/or marks. Language is the way we share ideas with one another, whether it’s through speech, text, or even performance!…

A literary device is any specific aspect of literature, or a particular work, which we can recognize, identify, interpret and/or analyze. Literary techniques are specific, deliberate constructions of language which an author uses to convey meaning.

What are Literary Devices? Metaphors, similes, imagery, personification, allusion, alliteration. What do they have in common? They are all forms of comparison—a way of perceiving and interpreting the world by examining an object’s relationship to other objects….

A literary element refers to components of a literary work (character, setting, plot, theme, frame, exposition, ending/denouement, motif, titling, narrative point-‐of-‐view). These are technical terms for the “what” of a work.

The Seven Elements:

• Plot.
• Setting.
• Atmosphere.
• Characterization.
• Theme.
• Point of View.
• Figurative Language &Literary Devices.

A story has five basic but important elements. These five components are: the characters, the setting, the plot, the conflict, and the resolution. These essential elements keep the story running smoothly and allow the action to develop in a logical way that the reader can follow.

All conflict falls into two categories: internal and external. Internal conflict is when a character struggles with their own opposing desires or beliefs. It happens within them, and it drives their development as a character. External conflict sets a character against something or someone beyond their control….

The six major elements of fiction are character, plot, point of view, setting, style, and theme.

The point of view has two parts: The way in which the story is told, and the perspective of the story. The narrative voice is the character telling the story, whereas the point of view is the vantage point from which the story is told….

Flash fiction stories share a number of common characteristics.

• Brevity. Flash fiction compresses an entire story into the space of a few paragraphs.
• A complete plot. A flash fiction story is indeed a story, with a beginning, middle, and end.
• Surprise.

Famous for her very short stories, Lydia Davis is the modern master of packing a lot of emotion and meaning into a few words. Her 423-word work, “Everyone Cried,” is an example of an effective flash fiction story. Often, people cry when they are unhappy.

Here are seven examples of flash fiction (for a total of 21 minutes or less) that are totally worth your time.

• “Chapter V,” Ernest Hemingway.
• “Widow’s First Year,” Joyce Carol Oates.
• “Give It Up!” Franz Kafka.
• “Sticks,” George Saunders.
• “Taylor Swift,” Hugh Behm-Steinberg.
• “Untitled,” Adhiraj Singh.

Flash fiction is the same as a short story and also a novel or novella. Again, the only difference is length. Stories that are considered flash fiction are typically about 100 to about 1,000 words in length. With that said, most flash fiction (depending on the length) will have well-thought-out plots and characters.

novella