ALLUSION - A reference to someone or something that is known from history, literature, religion, politics, sports, science, or some other branch of culture. These are more common with philosophical fiction, but I love it when people do use them. It forces people to read other pieces of literature, so all the authors win out.

AMBIGUITY - A technique by which a writer deliberately suggests two or more different, and sometimes conflicting, meanings in a work. I know you're thinking "Ambiguously Gay Duo," but this is more along the lines of "What the hell is gonna happen next?" train of thought. Basically, it's used to confuse the reader into thinking one thing, then expecting something completely opposite, and what really happens is neither possibility.

ANTHROPOMORPHISM - Attributing human characteristics to an animal or inanimate object. Really, it's just a different form of personification, except the human characteristics are emotional or mental, rather than actual actions.

CHARACTER - An individual in a story or a play. It's a big'un.

ANTAGONIST - The opponent who struggles against or blocks the hero, or protagonist, in a story. An antagonist nowadays is usually supported with a "noble motivation" which, of course, is really just some twisted delusion that makes the antagonist think that all the murder and destruction (or whatever he's doing) seem like a good deed.

PROTAGONIST - The central character in a story, the one who initiates or drives the action. An interesting fact is that the most popular protagonists are really dark, destructive character. Interesting.

FOIL CHARACTER - A character who acts as a contrast to another character. How can I explain this any easier... Heroes and Villains. Liberalists and Conservatists. Communists and Capitalists. Etc., etc., etc.

STATIC CHARACTER - Character who does not change within the course of the story. I don't like to use these, but sometimes they're unavoidable (in most cases, they either die or are meant to move along another character's motivation for the continuation of the plot).

DYNAMIC CHARACTER - Character who changes in some important way as a result of the story's action. Almost all protagonists are dynamic characters. Sometimes antagonists are as well, but they're more likely to change their reasons for doing "bad things."

FLAT CHARACTER - One dimensional characters, with only one or two personality traits, who can be summed up by a single phrase. If you've ever read Stephen King or Dean Koontz or Michael Chrichton (the big sellers these days), these characters are the ones who die about three pages after being introduced.

ROUND CHARACTER - Complex, multidimensional characters with personalities like real people have. Most writers striving for realism like to have all of their characters Round Characters. Although this isn't always possible, it is something that many have tried for.

 

CHARACTERIZATION - The process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character in a story. There's a tutorial on this, so I'm not going to explain much here.

DIRECT CHARACTERIZATION - Method where the writer tells the reader initially what a character's personality is like. Bland characterization, usually in short stories.

INDIRECT CHARACTERIZATION - Method where the writer reveals a character's personality through clues based on the character's look, dress, speech, thoughts, how that character acts, and interaction with other characters. Good, detailed characterization. Any Creative Writing teacher will tell you to expand on your ability to use indirect characterization.

REVERSE CHARACTERIZATION - Variation of Indirect Characterization where the writer hints at the character's personality traits, but that character's outside appearance is in contrast to the character's own personality. Very fun method of creating a character to add suspense to your plots.

 

CLIMAX - The point in a plot that creates the greatest intensity, suspense, or interest. Nuff' said.

COMEDY - In general, a story that ends with a happy resolution of the conflicts faced by the main character or characters. The two most used types of Comedy are satire and farce. Satire requires more intelligence to write, so of course I like that more. Farce is just wierd, usually.

CONFLICT - The struggle between opposing forces or characters in a story. I'm sure I shouldn't need to explain this...

INTERNAL CONFLICT - A conflict of person vs. self. An internal conflict is usually involving someone's current insanity or waning emotional instability.

EXTERNAL CONFLICT - A conflict of person vs. person, person vs. nature, or person vs. society. Basically, every physical conflict within any story.

CONNOTATION - The associations and emotional overtones that have become attached to a word or phrase, in addition to its strict dictionary definition.

DENOUMENT - The conclusion (or resolution) of a story. I think that's about it...yup, that's it.

DIALECT - A way of speaking that is characteristic of a certain social group or of the inhabitants of a certain geographical area. This is really important, although not too many people can find a use for it. A good example is with John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath. They use a lot of Southern accents in there, since the main characters all live in the South.

EPITHET - A descriptive word or phrase that is frequently used to characterize a person or thing. Kind of like Thomas Blackbull's Indian name, Bear's Brother, in When Legends Die.

FARCE - A type of comedy in which ridiculous and often stereotyped characters are involved in silly, far-fetched situations. Like I said earlier...these are just...wierd.

FIGURE OF SPEECH - A word or phrase that describes one thing in terms of another and that is not meant to be taken literally. Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle...

FLASHBACK - A scene that interrupts the normal chronological sequence of events in a story to depict something that happened at an earlier time. Kind of an old trick that's recently become more popular. Now it's an often-used method of starting your story at the middle, then going to the beginning, then back to the middle, and on to the end.

FORESHADOWING - The use of hints and clues to suggest what will happen later in a plot. I'd say a lot of J.R.R.Tolkien's books had foreshadowing, namely The Hobbit.

HYPERBOLE - A figure of speech that uses an incredible exaggeration, or overstatement, for effect.

IMAGERY - The use of language to evoke a picture or a concrete sensation of a person, a thing, a place, or an experience. Every Creative Writing teacher will tell you to learn to use imagery with perfection. I'll have a tutorial involving imagery and settings later.

INCONGRUITY - The deliberate joining of opposites or of elemtns that are not appropriate to each other.

IRONY - In general, a discrepency between appearances and reality.

LOCAL COLOR - A term applied to fiction or poetry which tends to place special emphasis on a particular setting, including its customs, clothing, dialect, and landscape. A good example is with (what else) color. White is good and civilization, Black is evil or mystery, Green is primal or lack of civilization, Red is death or violence, Blue is secretive or dark, etc.

METAPHOR - A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without the use of such specific words of comparison as like, as, than, or resembles.

DIRECTLY STATED METAPHOR - States the comparison explicitely.

IMPLIED METAPHOR - Does not state explicitely the two terms of the comparison.

EXTENDED METAPHOR - Metaphor extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it.

DEAD METAPHOR - Metaphor that has been used so often that the comparison is no longer vivid.

MIXED METAPHOR - Metaphor that mixes its terms so that they are visually or imaginatively incompatible.

MOTIVATION - The reasons for a character's behavior. Every character needs motivation. This will be a part of the Characterization tutorial.

ONOMATOPOEIA - The use of sounds that echo their sense. Only a word like Onomatopoeia could be used to describe this.

OXYMORON - A figure of speech that combines opposite or contradictory terms in a brief phrase.

PARABLE - A relatively short story that teaches a moral, or lesson, about how to lead a good life. My favorite parable is the introduction to Richard Bach's transcendentalist novel, Illusions.

PARADOX - A statement that appears self-contradictory, but reveals a kind of truth.

PARODY - A work that makes fun of another work by imitating some aspect of the writer's style. The best and most often revered parodies usually came from Monty Python.

PLOT - The series of related events in a story or play, sometimes called the storyline. In a novel, the plot is much more complex, and follows a pyramid order consisting of the RISING ACTION, TURNING POINT (CRISIS), CLIMAX, and FALLING ACTION. All plots consist of these four elements. I'll have a tutorial regarding this, but these are the basics.

EXPOSITION - Introduces the characters and their conflict.

COMPLICATIONS - Obstacles that arise as the characters take steps to resolve their conflicts.

CLIMAX

RESOLUTION - The story's problems are all resolved.

 

POINT OF VIEW - The vantage point from which the writer tells a story.

FIRST PERSON POV - One of the characters in the story is the narrator, who explains the events that take place. Limited control for the author, but it greatly concentrates characterization skills.

THIRD PERSON LIMITED POV - An unknown narrator tells the story, but focuses only on the thoughts of one character. Limited control for the author, but not nearly as limited as First Person. You can still concentrate on the main character.

OMNISCIENT POV - An omniscient narrator tells the story, and reveals the thoughts and actions of all characters. Complete control for the author, but this makes it more difficult to have unique storylines.

PUN - A "play on words" based on the multiple meanings of a single word or on words that sound alike but mean different things.

ROMANCE - In general, a story in which an idealized hero or heroine undertakes a quest and is successful. You know all those "Knight in Shining Armor" stories you used to read when you were little? Well, that's romance. Not quite the girl porn it is today, right?

SATIRE - A type of writing that ridicules the shortcomings of people or institutions in an attempt to bring about a change. I love this stuff (although some people seem to take it too seriously).

SETTING - The time and location where a story takes place. I'll have a tutorial that will dive into this a bit more.

SIMILE - A figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two unlike things, using a wrd such as like, as, than, or resembles.

STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS - A style of writing that portrays the inner (and often chaotic) workings of a character's mind. This is the fun stuff. I can't even begin to describe the difficulty it takes describing everything that's going on within the minds of a fictional character. I'm currently practicing this technique in Dreaming of Crimson Clouds.

STYLE - The distinctive way in which a writer uses language. Everyone has a different style. It's all dependent on the way the writer thinks, where the writer is coming from, and what the writer wishes to tell the viewer.

SUSPENSE - A feeling of uncertainty and curiosity about what will happen next in a story. Ooh, scary. Yeah.

SYMBOL - A person, place, thing, or event that has meaning in itself and that also stands for something more than itself. Symbolism is extremely important, and is a great way to make a story more in-depth. Here's the trick though: You can't consciously make symbols. A symbol occurs subconsciously, and is as natural as walking. While a writer is writing, most likely the writer won't notice the symbols until rereading it. Once the writer finds the symbol, though, the writer can expand on it and make it a more important part of the story.

THEME - The insight about human life that is revealed in a literary work. Uh... yeah, you've got to have one of these. There really isn't much point to writing something that doesn't teach anything. That's pointless.

TONE - The attitude a writer takes toward the subject of a work, the characters in it, or the audience. This is a vital part of foreshadowing, setting development, symbolization, etc. Tone can't really be concentrated on though. It should happen naturally.

TRAGEDY - In general, a story in which a heroic character either dies or comes to some unhappy end. It seems I write a lot of tragedy. Damn.

VERNACULAR - The language spoken by the people in a particular locality. This is basically a term for dialect that concentrates on local color.