I'm in a creative writing class and I just got my first story back with a grade I'm not happy with. The professor wrote: 'Lovely descriptions, but where's the story?' I'm confused because I thought descriptions WERE the story. I spent pages describing the setting—the old house, the creaky stairs, the afternoon light. I thought I was creating atmosphere.
But apparently nothing actually HAPPENS in my story. No conflict, no change, no point. I've read that narrative writing needs a plot structure with exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, and resolution . I think I skipped all that and just wrote exposition for five pages. How do you balance beautiful writing with actually having a plot? How do you know when you've described enough and it's time for something to happen?
But apparently nothing actually HAPPENS in my story. No conflict, no change, no point. I've read that narrative writing needs a plot structure with exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, and resolution . I think I skipped all that and just wrote exposition for five pages. How do you balance beautiful writing with actually having a plot? How do you know when you've described enough and it's time for something to happen?
