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Form, feature and structure are key components of any body of writing as it enables the human brain to recognise the work as a complete narrative. It is the presence of these things that allows the readers to connect scenes together, forming a cohesive body of work that would otherwise be a collection of paragraphs shoved together. Without form, features or structure, we are left simply with words on a page.

Form;
There are a variety of forms within the literary genre, including visual means, such as graphics and films, auditory means, including radio plays and monologue, and perhaps what we are most familiar with - the physical literary means, the most prevalent of which are full-length novels, short stories and poetry. Each form has distinctive features that make it what it is. For the purpose of this lecture, I will primarily be focussing on the literary mediums. So what, then, is the difference between them? What makes a poem a poem, and a novel a novel? Whats the difference between a novel and a short story, a short story and a one-shot? The answer, my friends, is features.

Features;
Each form has a set criteria. In literary forms, the key difference is length. In order to be classified as a novel (or a short story, for that matter) must fall within a certain word count.
- a novel must have 40 000 words or over
- a novella has 17 500 - 39 999 words
- a novellette has 7500 - 16 499 words
- a short story has fewer than 7500 words
Anything shorter than this becomes flash fiction, which typically includes one-shots, sudden fiction (750 words), drabbles (100 words) and dribbles (50 words).

A novel can be broken down into four basic features; plot, characters, setting and length. In a novel, the plot is typically complex, with several side plots accompanying the main storyline, the characters are rich and developed, the setting is intricate and well thought out, and the length appropriate to both the genre and the storyline. Fitting all this into a singular piece of writing, and fitting it well, relies not only on the skill of the writer, but on structure. No matter the plot line, every piece of writing follows one of two prime structures - the Seven Points or the Hero's Journey. Any further features are ultimately dependant on genre; each genre has a set of distinct guidelines that determine your piece as belonging to any one genre over another, and each of these guidelines dictate a set of distinctive features and ideologies. I could go into more detail, but describing exactly what each and every genre entails would take an entirely seperate crash course. The best way to discover what genre your novel fits into is to research the features of each genre. It is best to work backwards - fit your novel to a genre, rather than forcing a genre to fit your novel. It is important to remember that genres are fluid. They are ever changing, and often adapt in order to reflect contextual concerns. A good example of changing genre (and therefore changing features) is science fiction. As a genre that primarily aims to reflect the concerns of its audience, its form and features changes constantly. While early science fiction novels such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein explore a fear of technological advancement, as prominent in her context, modern science fiction stories such as The Martian celebrate technology and are primarily concerned with exploration.

Structure;
Structure remains relatively constant throughout literary history, but, like all things, can be experimented with. A traditional approach to structure involves character A getting object B to point C before event D happens - it is chronological, linear and provides a consecutive timeline of events. While this structure works - which is why it remains such a prominent structure - it is often boring. If all stories were written in the exact same way, everyone would rapidly loose interest in literature. This, my friends, is where experimentation comes in. A lot of this involves constructing a non-linear or dual structure. Some ways of doing this include;
- flashbacks
- dream sequences
- multiple perspectives
- fragmentation of events
- utilising a variety of mediums within your story (inserting fictional newspaper clippings, or transcripts of your characters speaking)

This fragmentation of structure often creates an interesting way to tell a story, even if variation is simply added through having multiple perspectives, and therefore multiple perspectives of a singular event. Things like flashbacks are incredibly useful for describing events that take place in the past; beginning when your character is twenty and flashing back to the traumatic event that happened when they were nine is much more effective, and interesting, than beginning at nine then inserting a huge time skip to twenty.

Structure is ultimately flexible, and ultimately forgiving. There are no hard-and-fast rules that dictate exactly how you tell your story or portray your characters, but a basic structure is still necessary in order to transform your collection of scenes into a cohesive storyline. The next few lectures will expand on structure in more detail, before we move on to subverting the stereotypical structures.

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