ceding synopses, the reader must remember that
they are only suggestions, and not for =literal= use. The extent of any
description is to be determined by its place in the composition; by
taste and fitness. It should be added, that in fiction description must
not be carried to excess. A plethora of it leads to dulness, so that it
must ever be balanced by a brisk flow of =Narration=, which we are about
to consider.

Narration

Narration is an account of action, or of successive events, either real
or imagined; and is therefore the basis both of history and of fiction.
To be felicitous and successful, it demands an intelligent exercise of
taste and discrimination; salient points must be selected, and the order
of time and of circumstances must be well maintained. It is deemed
wisest in most cases to give narratives a climactic form; leading from
lesser to greater events, and culminating in that chief incident upon
which the story is primarily founded, or which makes the other parts
important through its own importance. This principle, of course, cannot
be literally followed in all historical and biographical narratives.

Fictional Narration

The essential point of fictional narration is =plot=, which may be
defined as a =sequence of incidents designed to awaken the reader's
interest and curiosity as to the result=. Plots may be simple or
complex; but suspense, and climactic progress from one incident to
another, are essential. Every incident in a fictional work should have
some bearing on the climax or denouement, and any denouement which is
not the inevitable result of the preceding incidents is awkward and
unliterary. No formal course in fiction-writing can equal a close and
observant perusal of the stories of Edgar Allan Poe or Ambrose Bierce.
In these masterpieces one may find that unbroken sequence and linkage of
incident and result which mark the ideal tale. Observe how, in "The Fall
of the House of Usher," each separate event foreshadows and leads up to
the tremendous catastrophe and its hideous suggestion. Poe was an
absolute master of the mechanics of his craft. Observe also how Bierce
can attain the most stirring denouements from a few simple happenings;
denouements which develop purely from these preceding circumstances.

In fictional narration, verisimilitude is absolutely essential. A story
must be consistent and must contain no event glaringly removed from the
usual order of things, unless that event