How To Write Short Stories

Short stories never went out of style. The practical format allows the reader to familiarise themselves with them very quickly, without spending a lot of personal time – before bed, over a cup of morning coffee, on the way to work or at lunchtime.” buy english essays online”

The small volume of the text (usually from 2–3.5 thousand to 20 thousand words) does not constrain the author, but, on the contrary, allows his talent to fully manifest itself. If the invented world and the characters do not fit into the format of a story, but the debutant writer is not yet ready to pore over the whole novel, you can create a collection of stories. The action will take place in approximately the same place and at the same time, the characters will be the same and the stories will remain short and succinct.

Trying his creativity, a novice writer can write any story – from comedic to fantastic. There are no genre, stylistic and thematic restrictions. Stories are equally successfully written by authors of realistic prose, comedians, science fiction writers, storytellers, etc. Mini-works can be kept in a classic style or be experimental, innovative. There are also absolutely many themes.

Getting warm reviews for your writing will surely inspire your creative work to continue. You can continue to hone your skills in small forms, or even swing a whole novel.

Form features

The action in a good story moves rapidly – without lengthy dialogues and lyrical digressions, unnecessary details and descriptions. A quick transition to the point, a minimum of plot lines (as a rule, one, but there are also two or three), sharp plot twists and a spectacular denouement are the main features of this literary form.

The characters’ images should be recognizable, memorable, original and not one-dimensional. A couple of remarks and bright touches to the portrait – and the character becomes understandable and interesting to the reading public. At the same time, he must be alive, feel something and, possibly, somehow change throughout the story.

First, read

Where to start if you decide to try yourself as a storyteller? The first advice that all successful writers give is to read as much as possible.

An unthinkable number of short works in a variety of genres have been created in the world. For a start, it is worth brushing up on the classics, and then getting to know modern storytellers. You can draw inspiration from them, and they will teach you conciseness. “ best website to pay for an essay “.

Don’t overdo it with the number of characters

There should not be many characters in the story. After all, again, this is not a novel. Even in detective stories, there are quite a few suspects, in contrast to voluminous works.

The mass of heroes who do something in different locations of a short story will confuse the reader. And all their conflicts cannot be resolved in a short story. If you cannot cut out unnecessary plot lines that hinder the development of the main idea, and remove unnecessary characters, it is better to immediately take on a story or novel.

In addition, events must be described from one point of view – from the perspective of the main character or a secondary character observing the life of the main character, or from the perspective of the author. It will be difficult to give a look at what is happening through the eyes of an antagonist or another protagonist character in this format.

Amaze with the beginning and ending

It is necessary to start the story with something unbeaten, unusual, sudden. It may be some kind of secret or an interesting problem that requires immediate solution.

By the way, not necessarily the first paragraph will remain the same after you finish your work. Perhaps you will rewrite it when you finish your opus. But in any case, the introduction and the outset should attract attention, intrigue the reader, provoke questions, and also foreshadow future events.

The finale of small literary forms is usually unexpected, awakening the brightest emotions in the reading public. No less important than a spectacular ending is the resolution of the central conflict. Uncertainty is rarely appropriate for the completion of a prose work of any format. However, the ending can also be open, when the reader himself collects all the conclusions. It can also be final (with an understandable outcome) or circular (returning to the beginning of the story through an image or action).

Develop a structure

Before you start creating the text, it is advisable to write an outline of the story. It must include a list of characters, the content of the plot, as well as the approximate beginning and ending of the story – these are the most important parts of the text, its accents.

When composing a future mini-masterpiece, it is necessary to avoid a long introduction. This is not a novel. You need to attract the audience literally from the first lines.

Otherwise, the structure of short and long prose is about the same:

1. Introductory introduction of characters, time and place of action.
2. The plot that serves as the beginning of the main conflict.
3. Development of action.
4. The climax is the peak of the action or a dramatically tense plot twist.
5. The denouement is the aftermath of the climax.
6. The conclusion in which the story ends.
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Of course, you have every right to experiment. There are examples in the literature when a story starts from the end or does not have a clearly expressed conflict.

Edit yourself

A literary debut is almost like a child of my own. Everything about him seems wonderful and perfect.

However, literally every sentence can be improved with careful editing. We just need not to regret “cutting” the masterpiece created with such efforts, with soul and full dedication. Remember – edits will only benefit.

So, the last point in your story does not mean the end of the work. The first ready-made version is far from final.

Before editing the written material, it is worth forgetting about it altogether for a while – for a few days, or better for a week. After the break, you will take a fresh look at your work. This makes it easier to spot logical errors, plot inconsistencies, unnatural dialogues, unnecessary characters, and simply unnecessary or repetitive words. Each line should develop an action or somehow characterise the character. Otherwise, it should be excluded. Best essay writing company BuyEssayOnline.

The main thing is to be objective, strict and even ruthless towards yourself. Tell me honestly – would you like to read such a story yourself, whether it is boring or banal.

How to write a good story

So, let’s summarise. To write your first story, you need:

1. Read a lot and learn from predecessors.
2. Decide on the theme of the work.
3. Create several multifaceted characters that will be interesting to watch.
4. Think over the plot and the ending.
5. Make a plan for the text and, based on it, write your own work.
6. Edit what you have written (several times if necessary). For a control check, read the text aloud.
7. Come up with a creative, intriguing headline. It’s best to write it last, when the full story is in front of your eyes. Usually the title creates intrigue or denotes key characters, themes or objects of the story.
8. Send the manuscript to a literary magazine or a publishing house that specialises in short stories, or submit it to a literary competition. Another way to convey your work to readers is to post it on the Internet (on your blog, on writers’ sites, or in online magazines). First, you need to clarify the requirements for the manuscript in each specific case (subject matter, minimum and maximum volume, etc.).