Novel:  A fiction book with a minimum of 50,000 words. 

Novella: A book with a minimum of 10,000–40,000 words.

Novelette:  A book with a minimum of 7,500–17,500 words.

Picture Books: Books for children with a minimum of 500–1,000 words.

Fiction: A genre of stories that are invented by the imagination of the writer. 

Nonfiction: A genre of stories that are written based on facts and real events, people, or concepts.

Literary Fiction: A critical writing style that relies on reality and specific attention to writing technique to tell a story. It is typically a project that is deemed thought-provoking and capable of reshaping societal expectations or norms.  

Plot: The major event or sequence of events in a project. 

Theme: The main topic of the story. The motivating points, principles, or message. 

Character Development: The process of building a unique, three-dimensional character with depth, personality, and clear motivations. Character development can also refer to the changes a character undergoes over the course of a story as a result of their actions and experiences.

Protagonist: The main character or champion of the story. This character is often leading the story as a main/active character.

Antagonist: The main opposition to the champion of the story. 

First-Person Point of View (POV): A written point of view that allows the readers to see and hear from the eyes and ears of the observer. It uses first-person pronouns such as “I” and “me.” 

Second-Person POV: A written point of view that is directed at the reader or a particular character being addressed within the text. It uses the second-person pronoun “you.” 

Third-Person POV: A written point of view that is being told by an unnamed narrator. The narrator exists outside the story’s events, and they use the third-person pronouns “she,” “they,” or “he.”

Third-Person Omniscient: The narrator often feels like an all-seeing voice that knows every character's thoughts, feelings, and motivations, even if they don’t reveal any of those things to the other characters.

Third-Person Limited: The narrator still exists outside the events of the story, but they do not know the motivations or thoughts of all the characters. Rather, one character is the driver of the story, and the reader is given a closer look into that character’s psyche than the others.

Third-Person Objective: The narrator relays the events that take place without knowing the motivations or thoughts of any of the characters. We know little about what drives them until we hear them speak or observe their actions. The resulting tone is often matter-of-fact, not colored by any opinions or commentary, nor of knowledge of what takes place outside the scene.

Dialogue: Words spoken by the characters. 

World-Building: The process of constructing an original world, environment, community, or setting. It is often used in relation to the creation of fictional settings, but can also be used in reference to building a real-world setting. 

Authorial Intrusion: The invasion of the author’s perspective in the story. It is sometimes displayed through blatant thoughts that interrupt a character’s thoughts; while instances of authorial intrusion can be directed at the reader, they can also be subtle. 

Trope: A particular element or plot device that is common in a particular genre or subgenre (e.g., amnesia in romance). 

Fact-Checking: Research done to make sure a story is as accurate as it can be and that there will be no possible issues with the factual accuracy of a project.

Sensitivity Reader: A person who reads your project to check for proper representation, flag potentially sensitive and offensive matters, and improve aspects of unfamiliar concepts within a project.