Style, Plot or Narration: Which is the Most Important Aspect?

chillibreeze writer — Sripriya Sambathkumar

Every finished product is a result of many elements coming together in a harmonious and meaningful manner. Our human body is made up of small cells; a house is constructed of bricks and mortar; a delicious dish is made from good ingredients. Similarly, a good story (or any piece of writing) should be a combination of style, plot, and narration. When these three aspects are taken care of sufficiently, writing is genuine and classy. Though each of these three elements are important, writers have their own take on which one is more crucial than the others.

Though style, plot, and narration need to collectively culminate into that striking piece of literature, the element of narration takes precedence over style and plot for me. The plot deals with the sequence of events in the story. The style is the usage of language and presentation by the author. Narration can be explained as the way in which the writer makes the reader understand the story. We cannot deny the fact that for a story to be interesting, the plot should be good and the style perfect. Though these two are important, narration has the ability to make even a story with mediocre plot and style go from okay to great!

Let us, for instance, assume that a story has a very weak plot. If the author has narrated the story in an interesting way, the weakness of the plot becomes largely invisible and the reader begins to enjoy the narration itself. Narration is the technique through which the writer takes readers through the story. If the writer is a good narrator, the reader not only goes through the pages, but also actually visits the various places and meets the characters in the story.

Almost every reader reads a book to either discover something new or to escape into a different world. A good narration helps the reader to do just that. A good style is also important to make the story sound good. Even here, though the author uses exact words and sentences in the prompt places, if he is not good at how to use the words, then he cannot be a successful story teller.

If we see why narration becomes so important, we can understand that in a story there may be some places where everything has to be explained in detail and places where usage of words should be so minimal and crisp that the idea which the writer wants to convey should be left to the imagination of the reader. Effective narration draws the reader into the story and compels him to give his opinion.

Narration has the capability to make the book sound interesting and appealing. A good narration tempts the reader to turn the page and it never allows the reader to get struck in the same page.

In some cases, the journey becomes more interesting than the destination itself. Similarly, an extraordinary narration can even uplift a weak plot or a dull style. If we see the story as a flower and the style as its soft petals, then narration is the invisible fragrance which adds the appealing power to the flower. On the outset, like the fragrance of the flower, the importance of narration may not be visible, but it has the power to draw attention and the charm to keep the reader glued to the book.

Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in March, 2010. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

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—About our writer:

Sripriya says, "I am a graduate in English literature. I am an upcoming freelance writer. I have a flair for all kinds of writing and have experience in feature writing, technical writing and report writing. I am keenly interested in writing for children and creative writing. I enjoy writing and I take writing not as a work but as an experience where I feel the satisfaction of giving and taking at the same time."

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