How to Write 10 Short Stories in 10 Weeks

I started 2021 doing a final edit of my next novel and preparing to start the daunting task of querying literary agents. I’d been working on this particular novel off and on for almost ten years, so I was exhausted creatively.

Always eager to be writing something, I started to ask myself, “What’s next?” I don’t have another novel in me. Not yet. Besides working on query letters and a novel synopsis, I was eager to at least work on something new.

Around this time, I started reading a collection of short stories by one of my favorite Southern authors, Truman Capote, and it got me to thinking about the short story art form. Back in my college days, I loved reading short stories in my literary classes, and years before, I had filled black and white Mead journals with short stories in grade school.

It had been years since I’d written a short story, so I decided to challenge myself to write ten short stories in ten weeks. One of the reasons I’d probably avoided the short story form is because I can’t think of anything to write about, so I knew this was going to be a very interesting challenge to take on. To get started, I needed a topic.

Around this time, I read a blog post about how to submit short stories to be considered for various Chicken Soup for the Soul books. On their website, they list topics that they are currently accepting stories for, so this was a perfect way to get started. I found two topics that immediately inspired me. This would give me two stories to write! Chicken Soup also has a word limit of 1200 words, so these would be a quick way to knock two stories out of the way and work on the tight short story form at the same time.

While working on these stories, I was constantly watching and listening and thinking about other short story ideas. I started making a list of things that got my attention. Catching up with an old friend via Facebook messenger got me to thinking about how his life had turned out and how he got there. This ended up inspiring two more stories. I watched a documentary about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer where his father was interviewed about his son. His father said something that caught my attention so I researched it and quickly had an idea for another story which you can read here on Vocal.

Sometimes I’d just come across interesting facts that I thought would make a neat story title so I wrote it down. One of these was “An Eclipse of Moths.” I learned a group of moths is called an eclipse and that just created all sorts of imagery in my head. It turned into a short story about two friends playing together during the summer and then losing touch over time as they grow up.

I heard a story on NPR about sex workers being out of work due to quarantine during Covid-19. This got me to thinking about their clients being in isolation, and how this could be emotionally damaging for people who are alone and have no form of human interaction. I started this story very early during my ten weeks. It was the hardest to write and was the last story I finished. I actually finished it with 4 days to spare.

Most of the time I had no idea how the story was going to end. I just sat down with a general idea in mind, starting writing, and then let the characters take over and take me where they wanted to go. As I finished each story, it was quite exhilarating. It felt good to have written and finished something. It was the same intense feeling I get when closing in on the end of a novel, except I was experiencing this feeling almost weekly!

To get organizes, I created a folder on my computer and named it “10 Short Stories in 10 Weeks” to keep me inspired. I kept all the stories and drafts in this folder. Each time I came up with a new idea, I created a new document and saved it in the folder. Sometimes it was just a title or some keywords or a few notes. After I finished each story, I added its number in front of the title which became the file name: 1. Everything Stays the Same, 2. The Night Auditor, 3. An Eclipse of Moths, and so on. This was a quick way to see the progress I was making.

Overall, it was a fun challenge and I’ll probably do it again soon. Having not written short stories in quite some time, it gave me a new mode of thinking for brainstorming and coming up with new ideas and keeping the story tight. And like I said, it was a great feeling each time I finished a story and got closer to my goal.

Here are some quick tips to get you started and keep you focused:

1. Before you start your challenge, do some brainstorming, and open your mind to ideas that interest you. Watch documentaries, read news articles, listen to the radio. Search the web for topics that interest you or that you've always wanted to learn about.

2. Start writing down those ideas. These can be anything from single words you like, new things you learn, or the subjects you’ve come across that interest you. I like to start with a title so sometimes my ideas were what I thought would make a great title.

3. Don’t worry about the middle and the end. Just start writing and let your characters take you there.

4. Don’t stress about word count. Keep writing until you reach the end.

5. If you get stuck in a story, start a new one and come back to that story later.

6. Set a realistic goal. I intended to do one story a week, but sometimes I found I could write two in a week and sometimes it took two weeks just to finish one story.

7. Stay on task. Set a writing schedule and stick to it. My 10 stories in 10 weeks was very manageable once I got organized.

8. Keep track of your progress. Create a file on your desktop or print your stories out and put them in a folder on your desk. Make notes or check off days on the calendar. Seeing your progress helps keep you going!

Find an Audience!

Once you have written your short stories, you should try to find an audience for them. Create a blog and share them on social media. Or look for anthologies or literary magazines that are accepting short story submissions. Search for online contests to enter. Or simply print them out and share them with friends and family. You could also publish them here on Vocal. I recently rewrote two of my short stories from my own challenge to make them work for two Vocal challenges. It can be a very gratifying feeling to put your work out there for readers to enjoy. Writing short stories can be a very creative way to escape from the woes of the world these days. And readers out there sometimes need an escape too!