10 Tips to Writing a Short Story

Writing a novel is not for everyone, and you might prefer something different to novels. Perhaps you would prefer short stories. Many publications pay authors for short stories, including magazines, newspapers, blogs, and anthologies.

Writing short stories can earn you more money per word than writing a novel. Is there anything you can do to ensure a publication or website will accept your short story? I've listed ten tips here.

1. Recognize the difference between a short story and a novel

There are some similarities between novels and short stories. It is essential that they are coherent, grammatically correct, and spelled correctly. They should also tell a story, no matter how long they are.

Therefore, they must both have these elements:

● Inciting incident

● Rising action

● Climax

● Fallout

The two formats are different.

Writers of short stories must stick to the word limit they have set for themselves. Novelists choose the length of their books. They have to reduce their stories to the bare bones, eliminating all fatty details to convey a complete story. Also, problems have to be resolved quickly.

Because of this, short stories are often about one aspect of a person's life or a specific problem or relationship in their life.

2. Try to start as close as possible to the end

It is common for newspapers to include the entirety of a story close to the opening. Why is this? Giving readers the details upfront can help them decide whether to continue reading.

As well as this, the best short story writers sharpen their opening lines and paragraphs to ensure they catch the reader's attention and keep them reading.

Therefore, draw your readers right into the story as it unfolds. We can skip the "before" and related snapshots, as well as the "vaguely interesting thing that also describes the character's life."

It should be obvious what the plot is.

3. Continue to move forward

The pace of short stories needs to be fast. When the hero is in the last conflict, the pace usually picks up. In a short story, the action begins closer to the end. The reader needs to be swept up into the action from the very beginning.

4. Do not use too many characters

The more characters you introduce in a short story, the more difficult it is for a reader to keep them straight.

A compelling short story has only three basic characters - the protagonist, antagonist, and what they know as the wrench or relationship character. Occasionally, the reader will need an antagonist to advance either the protagonist's or the antagonist's character arc.

5. Create a character the reader can root for

A protagonist is essential to every story, and making the reader care about the protagonist is the key. Several techniques can strengthen your protagonist's connection with your reader.

If possible, give your protagonist a passion the reader will relate to. Make them challenging yet determined. Consider giving your character a weakness they can only share with the reader.

Another good approach is to reveal some of your character's psyche. Your reader will relate to your character if you do this.

6. Bring conflict into the world!

There must be a single conflict in every short story. The number of characters required for a short story shouldn't exceed one.

Some kind of dilemma, revelation, or decision should face the character. A good amount of tension should surround this conflict, and these elements keep your readers interested and engaged.

7. Don't give too much information about the backstory

We cannot fully flesh the backstory of a character out. Leaving it out is best. Every word counts. Every extraneous word should be cut.

You must have the backstory worked out in your head, even if you don't describe much of it on paper. To write a compelling story, you must understand a character's motivation.

By engaging your readers' senses and creating tight dialogue, your story will draw them in.

8. Using the five senses

You should not limit your reader's experience to only the visuals. Allow them to experience all the senses in your world through touch, smell, taste, and hearing. Show, don't tell. Let your readers experience the full scope of your world as if they were actually there.

9. Make your story come alive with dialogue

Set scenes briefly since a short story must conclude quickly. Dialogue can really bring characters to life, and therefore bring the story to life as well.

Give your characters work when you put them in a scene, such as washing dishes. However, focus most of your dialogue on advancing the story.

We can only build drama through tight dialogue. I READ IT ALOUD before I type my dialogue, and I have a problem if I don't feel like it's real or seems out of character.

10. Make it painful to edit

There is always a way to make a writer's story more concise and engaging, no matter how good they believe it is. One needs to be a ruthless editor to be an excellent writer.

Here are some ways to achieve this...

● Combining characters when possible.

● Get to the heart of the story and delete all unnecessary scenes.

● Show, don't tell, is the rule.

● Don't repeat yourself.

● Adjectives and adverbs that are unnecessary should be removed.

● Don't waste a single word.

It's now time to evaluate the backstory and determine the extent to which it adds to the story. That a short story is short does not mean it is always easier to write.

Keep it simple. Limit the number of plot lines, the number of characters, and the amount of backstory offered, and make your conflict singular. Practice makes perfect, after all.

Decide to dedicate yourself to your craft. Every month, write a 500- to 1,000-word story. As soon as you master that, try to write one every two weeks. Once that's mastered, try weekly. Finally, try daily.

Your ability to create short stories will improve soon, and you'll be able to write consistently as well.

Make sure you edit your work!

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