As a big lover of both checklists and challenges, I thought it would be fun to make a kind of bucket list for creative writers. A list of all the different types of stories one could write, including everything from length and genre to point of view and non-literary media.
Here is a list that I’ve come up with so far:
Lengths
- 6 Word Story
- Micro-Fiction (<100 words)
- Flash Fiction (100-1000 words)
- Short Story (1000-7500 words)
- Novelette (7500-20000 words)
- Novella (20000-50000 words)
- Novel (50000-110000 words)
- Epic (>110000 words)
Audience
- Board Book (0-3)
- Picture Book (3-8)
- Early Reader (5-9)
- Chapter Book (6-9/7-10)
- Middle Grades (8-12)
- Tween (12-15)
- Young Adult (12+/14+)
- New Adult (18+, 18-30 protag)
- Adult (18+)
Structure
- Linear
- Nonlinear
- Interactive (Choose Your Own Adventure)
- Framed (Story Within a Story)
- Circular
- Parallel (Multiple Storylines)
- Tandem
- Multiple Protagonist
- Double Journey
- Consecutive
- Fractured
Poetry
- Haiku
- Limmerick
- Sonnet
- Ode
- Blank Verse
- Rhymed Verse
- Free Verse
- Narrative Poem
- Pastoral Poem
- Lyric Poem
- Elegy
- Ballad
- Soliloquy
- Villanelle
Genres
- Chick Lit
- Crime
- Epistolary
- Fairy Tale
- Fantasy
- Historical
- Horror
- Inspirational
- Literary
- Mystery
- Romance
- Science Fiction
- Thriller
- Western
- Women’s Fiction
(There are toooo many to list here. Find more on Wikipedia.)
Narration
- 1st Person
- 2nd Person
- 3rd Person, Limited
- 3rd Person, Omniscient
- Past Tense
- Present Tense
- Future Tense
- Single Point of View
- Multiple Points of View
- Unreliable Narrator
- Non-Human Point of View
- Foreign Language Point of View
Non-Literary Media
- Graphic Novel
- Comic Book
- Short Film
- Web Series
- TV Pilot
- Feature Film
- One-Act Play
- Stage Play
- Radio Play
- Video Game
- Card Game
- Tabletop Game
- Fictional Blog
- Fictional Social Media
- Fictional Website
- Song
How many of those have you tried?
So far, I’ve done several of the lengths, a few of the genres, a couple of audiences and narrations. I’ve mostly written linear story structure and I haven’t dabbled in poetry since college. But I am definitely interested in many of the non-literary media!
Everything I’ve listed is basically a technical choice. If you need some inspiration on the creative side, I highly recommend James Harris’s The Periodic Table of Storytelling!
Between my list here and the options on the table, you could create infinite stories.
If you think of any technical choices I’ve missed or new categories I should add, drop them in comments below. And If you’d like me to create a printable PDF version, let me know!
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