Writing a short story, for most writers, is a fairly simple task. Writing a novel is a great effort that takes many hours to complete. Most people can create a simple short story, however that doesn’t mean they are easy to write. You still need to plan your story, create your characters, and tell the story in far fewer words than in a novel. When well written, a short story can be as memorable as any novel.
Probably the best way to learn to write a short story is by reading short stories. A good book to read is 50 great short stories Edited by Milton Crane. Take note of the style and how to write with as few words as possible. Also how the characters are developed, how the dialogue is used and how the plot unfolds.
Ideas can pop into your head at any time, so it’s a good idea to carry a notepad to jot them down wherever you are. Most of the time you will think of a small part of the story, like a location or the names of the characters. Ideas can come from many sources, such as bulletin boards outside a store or something you hear on the street. All this can be integrated into a good story. Sometimes a whole plot will come to mind very quickly, but this happens less often. If you need to write a story for a class or some other occasion and you don’t have good ideas, try looking in a local newspaper or magazine. You can also ask friends and family for help.
There are several steps to a good story, so when you have decided on your idea, these are the steps to follow.
• Introduction. Enter your environment and that of your character.
• Initial Action. The action that initiates the increase in tension.
• Rising Actions These are events that lead you to the climax.
• Climax. This is the turning point of the story. The climax.
• Decreasing shares. The beginning of the conclusion.
• Conclusion. The final part of the story when it all comes together.
Once you’ve decided on your plot, it’s often a good idea to write a plot plan to determine what will happen when.
While a novel can take place over many years, have many subplots and characters, a short story needs to be reduced a lot. No more than two or three main characters and a time limit of days instead of years. Sub-plops should also be avoided. If you can’t write your short story following these rules, you should consider turning your idea into a novella.
There are three points of view to tell a story.
• First person “I”
• Second person “you”
• Third person “He or She”
First person can be limited as you can only tell the story of one character. What they see, feel or hear. The second person is not used very often. The reader becomes a character in the story. The third person is probably the most used, since you can tell your story from multiple points of view.
You should now have your characters and plot figured out and written out for you to follow. The amount of work you’ll have to do to finish your story depends on how much work you’ve put into planning. It may be that you just need to complete the plot in a finished short story. For most it will be much more difficult than that, and a whole story will need to be written.
It is very important to have an interesting and fast start. You need to grab your readers’ attention with the first line if possible. Do not describe the characters or settings in great detail. reveal this slowly throughout your short story. Set goals like how much you’re going to write each day. You will probably have some problems, but don’t let this discourage you. Keep writing even if you decide to throw away that day of writing and rewrite it.
You can decide if you want to change your story and adjust the plot or change it completely. Or you can add or remove a character. It’s his story, so this is not a problem. You can write the story by letting it unfold as you write, or by replanning the plot. It is completely up to you.
When you’ve finished your story, go through it, correcting any mistakes and editing any parts that don’t sound right or just don’t flow. If you have time to put your story aside for a few days before doing this, it gives you a bit of distance from your work and allows you to see it more clearly. You may decide to rewrite parts or even the whole story.
You can ask a friend or family member to read your work, but be sure to get an honest opinion, as often people will tell you what they think you want to hear. Another way to do this is to use a website. You submit your work and other members will read your story and comment on it. Here are a few you can try. short-story.net/ and writing-community.writersworkshop.co.uk/. Remember that you don’t have to follow all the advice given, it’s your job and you should be happy with the final story.
The most important. Don’t give up, writing short stories can be hard. If you find yourself struggling or getting bored, do something different. Watch TV, go somewhere, even do some cleaning. You will find that you can cope better with your task when you return to it. Don’t let rejection from publishers get you down. There are many ways to publish your work and I’ll talk about this soon.