The importance of narrative part 2

This is a continuation of narrative and the tools we use to tell a story.  There are many tools to use to form a cohesive narrative.  Last time i talked about the importance of writing in a orderly and chronological fashion, i also talked about the importance of knowing your audience.  Now i will talk about some other tools that are used to from a narrative.  The first is when a writer changes to a story from another time in the middle of the story already being told.  This is, if going back in time a flashback, or going forward in time a flash forward.  These can be used to help add depth to the story, in a way that going forward in one direction cannot.  Flashbacks and flash forwards are useful but they can also be confusing without a proper setup.  This brings me to my second tool, transitions.  Transitions are ways to tell your reader when something changes so that they are not confused.  Transitions are necessary to form a coherent story, and they help greatly with things like flashbacks.


Now i am going to talk about structural elements found in narratives.  Most narratives have the same elements, these are plot, characters, setting, theme.  These elements interact with each other and create the story.  Character influence the plot and theme,  the plot influences the theme and characters, the setting influences all of these.  All of these elements combine together to make a solid narrative, and these are what make stories unique from each other.