CRAFT TALK
These are the elements of a "traditional" story. My advice to beginning writers is to learn the basics before you experiment, just as Picasso painted in a realist style before fusing women with guitars. Know the rules before you break them—otherwise, there won't be any creative reason driving your artistic crimes.
Know the rules before you break them.
These informal rules are lectured on far and wide for many reasons, with clarity being the most prominent. If you have questions about any of these elements, do a search; many appear frequently in the guides, and new guides are added all the time.
A traditional story...
Is a narrative that typically prioritizes overarching arrangement, or "macro" storytelling concerns over “micro” sentence or line-level arrangement (as compared to poetry)
Features clear characters with goals, conflicts, and vulnerabilities
Features a single (or series of) internal and external transformations; something has to change between the first page and the last
Places objects and people in settings, managing their movement with clear language
Makes use of specifics—related to scenes, characters, descriptions, settings, bodily sensations—to make the story-world come alive for the reader
Features a general structure in the shape of a triangle or mountain that peaks at a high point/climax and leans to the right
Engages the senses, especially in key scenes such as the climax
Makes conscious and deliberate use of narrative modes (Summary, Scene, Reflection) to reveal itself
Makes conscious and deliberate use of temporal modes (Present, Habitual, Flashback) to give a clear sense of time and to reveal chains of events
Typically focuses less on physical form (i.e. the way the words look on the page) than narrative content
Has a “beating heart” that colors its plot line and figurative-language choices
Has both an “outer story” of actions and occurrences and an “inner story” reflecting its characters' emotional, psychological, and/or private journeys
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