Short Story Writing Tips

Writing short stories is a bit of an art form all unto itself. It involves applying the same principles of novel writing but with a fraction of the content. It is vital to get the reader hooked in a short period of time and to infer the desired emotions with fewer words. Plot, character, point of view, and theme must be established quickly. Yet the lack of space is no reason to hold back. Follow the guidelines that exist and you will do fine.

Think about the time frame you want to discuss. Rather than a lifetime, focus on a period of the character's life. It will allow you to narrow in more precisely on what is going on instead of superflous distractions. Would you like your entire life to be narrowed down to three or four pages? Give your character the same respect and only focus on the span in which you are telling your story.

Often, novice writers are given the following advice on how to set up their short story.

-Put a man up a tree.

-Throw stones at him.

-Get him down.

Sound confusing or do you have no idea what I'm talking about? Keep reading. Start with a situation. Present the problem that must be resolved for your protagonist (the man up the tree). Next, show the problems that occur, be it misunderstandings, lost opportunities, a major catastrophe. It's your story, throw whatever stones you'd like! Finally, solve the problem. Get the man out of the tree one way or another, be it safely or tragically. Your story can end on a positive note showing love conquers all / united we stand / whatever happy moral you'd like. Or, you can throw in a twist.

Be choosy. There is no room for flowery lines or descriptions. Each line and sentence must serve a purpose. If a line doesn't explain the character or advance the plot it isn't necessary. While you might want to paint a picture of the beautiful sunset the characters are watching or describe a rusty old pickup truck, trust that the reader can infer for themselves. Give your reader some credit. They chose to read your story knowing it wasn't a thousand page novel. They either don't have the time or the attention span to be entertained for so long. Direct and to the point statements can be just as effective and your reader will appreciate the consideration.

Watch your characters. It is easy to be tempted to throw in a whole bunch of extra characters to explain some of your protagonist's personality, but you rarely need to describe more than three or four in-depth characters. Also, you don't need to write a biography on each character. A short story just isn't the time or place. Stick only with the characteristics that support your theme. Dialogue can be an effective tool in describing your characters as well, but avoid overusing it. If a conversation between characters does nothing to contribute to revealing your theme, hack it out.

Keep the ending of your story original. If you admired the ending to a story and want to use it in yours, don't. If you've seen the story so have countless others. "It was my evil twin"/"And then I died"/"There were his fangs". These and variation on these endings are tired and will leave your reader feeling cheated. Keep your story original, keep it unique, keep it you.

You know the story writing rules, try to follow them. You learned back in grade school that a story is made of the exposition, conflict, rising action, climax, and resolution. These are the building blocks that will make your story make sense to the reader. True, you have a great idea in your head and may want to jump all over the place, but understand, your readers can't see what is in your head. And as with all writing documents, the first and last sentences should be the most important in your piece. The first sentence leaves the reader dying to read the second, and the last sentence leaves an impression in your reader's mind making it easy to recall your bit of literary genius.

Finally, stop caring so much about the rules. I understand, you came to this page to find a concrete formula to writing a short story. You want to make sure you do everything right but rules are made to be broken. Tell your story as if you were telling your friends. After you finish writing, you can always go back and erase the parts you don't need or add in extra. Stephen King, Danielle King, even William Shakespeare didn't become so well known because their stories were just like everyone else's. Experiment and your story will be genuinely yours.