The Narrator

The narrator is an important decision for a writer. Make the choice for narrator prior to a single syllable being written. Why? The story is told from the point-of-view character. He/she opens the door according to an one sided view, and that view is from the character telling the story. The stance covered in your work of fiction depends on which character is narrating.

It's paramount to complete a profile for characters before you start writing. You can always go back and nip and tuck information. A character's story can't be told well if you don't know him/her. The narrator's voice arrives with his/her unique experiences, attitude and culture. The educational level swirls into his/her speech pattern. These details and any others you'd like to add constitutes a character's profile. 

When a character slides into the narrator's spot, he/she is engaging. The character stirs-up the emotions of sadness, anger, happiness or fear in readers. It leads to a connection. It's why a person cheers, yells, frowns or poo-poos a character. The ability of a character to spark some emotion is why readers look for more writing projects from the writer.

I'm referring to the first person narrator. The character is limited to what he/she knows, finds out or witnesses. The story unfolds through his/her eyes. The reader identifies, cares, hates, the point-of-view character. The writer sprinkles in the right ingredients for the fit with his/her vision.

The first person, I, narrator is a mixture. The character is formed from a writer's experiences. Each writer is different with many and varied experiences. Writers are influenced by what they see, feel, hear and read. There's no limit to where writers gather writing ideas.

What if the narrator is a liar and the protagonist? The story is usually written around the protagonist. It's the writer's job to expose the character. How? Let the character's lies be uncovered. The character is left with no choice but the truth. Readers will get suspicious of the "tall tales." They will reason if the character is fibbing here, he/she could be lying about A and B. After all, they're just taking his word. Hmm. Some will watch the character more carefully. They'll pay close attention to what and how the character speaks. Readers will be looking for inconsistencies. Some other people will go along with the character to use him/her for their own purposes.

In the end, a narrator is selected based on which character best fit and the vision a writer has.

Purpose Of Plot

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How To Write A Story

Stories have plots, and they
are steps to an exciting new
world for readers. The steps
to a new world discovers
what's happening to whom,
when, where and why it's
happening.

The short story, in fiction,
dramatizes one issue,
situation. The one issue,
situation, is the one factor
that makes it different from
novels.

Short stories starts with an
interesting character in some
place, and involved in a
serious issue, situation.

The main character, protagonist,
is in the middle of an issue,
situation. The issue, situation,
suspends disbelief and takes
the reader to a believable world.

The story must move forward,
or readers will toss it aside
for the next writer's work.
The main character is thrown
into complications that gives
insight to his/her character
and issue, situation.

The main character's aunt,
uncle, brother, mother or
father can't solve it. Or,
he/she can't walk away from
the issue, situation.

The protagonist grows at the
end of a story. The last
effort at resolving an issue
pushes a protagonist to sources
that he/she wouldn't have
considered before, or didn't
know existed.

Story development must resemble
life. Good fiction creates
illusions of real people trying
to correct an issue, problem.

The middle increases pressure
on the protagonist to resolve
the issue, problem. The pressure
is conflict.

Conflict shows a character's
involvement, and his/her life
depends on the success/failure
of resolving an issue, problem.

Surround the main character with
a cast of characters that have
a stake in it.

Conflicts, setting and characters
help bring the plot to a conclusion.

The beginning and middle are
developed. The story comes to an
end.

The main character works to fix
the issue, problem, at least,
three times.

One more try, and all the stops
are pulled out. Every nook and
cranny is examined to help the
main character with an issue.

The main character's solution
surprises everyone. Still, the
ending is foreshadowed by
preceding actions. Every action/
reaction leads to this moment.

The mixture of circumstances and
effect brings a story to its
climax.

In conclusion, plot is how a
story unfolds into a unique world.
Conflict is poured in to move the
story forward, and it's up to the
protagonist to resolve an issue,
situation.

Source: http://hubpages.com/hub/How-To-Write-A-Successful-Story