Characters: the people or animals who take part in the story

Characterization: ways of showing what a character is like. The way a character acts, looks, or talks. The character’s name, sex, nationality, race, appearance, traits, age, relationship to others, occupation, religion, opinions, problems, background, personality, importance, emotions, and values are other examples.

Character goal: what the character is trying to accomplish in the story; what the character wants to do.

Setting: where and when the action takes place in a story. The setting includes the sounds, smells, sights, and tastes a character in the story might be experiencing. Details for a setting may be about the interior and exterior furnishings of a building, the type of government in a country, the food and drink commonly available, the climate, and the landscape.

Plot: the action of the story; the main events of the story including the problem and the solution.

1. The story begins and the characters are introduced and the setting is described. The action begins and the conflict is established.

2. The conflict develops and becomes more complex. Events that complicate the problem occur.

3. The action comes to a turning point. An event occurs to change the course of the action. The conflict reaches a climax.

4. Events lead to a conclusion.

5. The problem is solved and the main events in the story reach their logical end.

Problem/Conflict: what goes wrong in the story; a fight or difference of opinion. A struggle between opposing forces. In a story, there may be a conflict between a character and nature, a conflict in the mind of a character, a conflict between a character and society or a conflict between characters.

Solution/Resolution: the problem has been solved. The events in the story reach their reasonable end.

Theme: a lesson learned about life; the main lesson or moral of the story, or an issue or lesson that a story brings to the readers’ consciousness. Themes may be implied, implicit, or not actually stated in the story. Some themes, however, are explicit or stated directly in the story.

See a story map structure by clicking here.