There are five elements of a short story. Fictional and non fictional stories have the same basic elements. These basic elements are plot, characters, point of view, setting, and theme.

The plot is the writer's arrangement of events to dramatize the conflict or theme. Most plots develop in five stages. The first stage is the exposition, which is background information. This sets the scene for the conflict that follows. Second is the rising action which helps develop the conflict. Third is the climax and this is the point of interest in the story. Next comes the falling action and this shows what happened to the characters after the climax. Last is the resolution and this shows how the conflict was resolved.

Next are the characters. Character is the person or persons in the story. Short stories usually just have a few of characters. Most of the time there will be one main character and this character is vital to the story with all main events having some significance to them.

Another important element in short stories is the point of view. The point of view can be first or third person. First person point of view is when the writer is a character in the story. Third person point of view is not a character but an observer of the story. Point of view can give a story a bias, or it can limit what the audience knows until the end.

Setting is another important element in a short story. The setting is time and location in which the story takes place. The setting helps create the mood in the story. The setting can also be the weather, culture, and historical period.

The theme is the insight into human life that the writer conveys through the narrative. The theme is the author's underlying meaning or main idea that they are trying to express.