Narrative Techniques You Must Know

Stream of consciousness: writing that follows the flow of a character's inner thoughts (Joyce, Mansfield).
Irony: when the surface meaning and the deeper meaning are opposite (O. Henry, Poe, Chekhov, Chopin).
Allegory: a story in which characters and events symbolize larger ideas or truths (Forster, Tagore).
Magical realism: a style in which magical events are presented as ordinary (García Márquez).
Frame narrative: a story told within another story, often as a tale being recounted (Hardy, Conrad).
Unreliable narrator: a narrator whose account cannot be fully trusted (Poe).
Free indirect discourse: the narrator adopts the perspective and voice of a character without using direct quotation (Joyce, Mansfield, Chekhov).