Essential Components of Narrative Storytelling

Understanding Narrative Characters

By character, we mean any entity that voluntarily or accidentally takes actions that advance the plot. This entity is not necessarily a person, animal, or even an object; it can simply be anything that moves the narrative from an initial situation to a new one.

Types of Characters

• Protagonist: The central figure driving the action.
• Antagonist: The character who opposes the protagonist.
• Supporting Characters: Characters who accompany or assist the protagonist and antagonist, contributing to the story.

Characterization Methods

• Description: The author uses physical and psychological descriptions to portray the character, allowing us to visualize them.
• Actions: What the character does at every moment, their behavior, and reactions reveal their nature.
• Dialogue: A character's distinctive features also emerge through their own words. What they say in conversations with others reveals their ideas and intentions.

Narrative Time

To analyze narrative time, it's important to distinguish between story time and discourse time (or narrative time).

Story Time

The narrator frequently provides specific or less specific indications of time, for example: "I did something yesterday..." or "last year...". In other cases, you can deduce the time from details like character attire or setting. If there is no explicit reference to time, the story may aim for universal validity. Establishing the chronology of events helps understand the duration of the plot and its historical context.

Discourse Time

In a linear narrative, events are recounted in the order they occurred. However, the narrator can alter this order using various techniques, influencing the narrative's pacing.

• Fast-Paced Narratives: These include many events in little space. The narrator summarizes occurrences, jumps through time, or omits details from periods deemed unimportant.
• Slow-Paced Narratives: Conversely, these stories expand on events that lasted a short time in reality. The narrator extends the discourse with extensive detail, inserting descriptions, thoughts, or explanations.

Narrative Space

Narrative space refers to the locations where the story's events unfold, as described by the narrator. Narrative spaces can vary:

• Some stories confine actions to a single location.
• Others span multiple settings.

Some spaces are merely indicated, for example: "Luis found his friend at the bus stop." The narrative space significantly contributes to establishing the story's atmosphere and environment.