Writing a Short Story

A short story is a genre of prose, normally composed in a narrative manner, which is smaller than a novel and usually has only one storyline. It also commonly has a limited number of characters and, unlike a novelette or a novel, it revolves around one major problem, conflict, or event.

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Short stories can be written in a variety of styles, whether it is science fiction, fantasy, realism, psychodrama, or any other stylistic preference. It may be written from a first person perspective, or from the perspective of a detached narrator, or from the different perspectives of characters in the story. It may include dialogue, or may be solely based on the author’s words. It can be based on real-life events and experiences, or can be completely fictional.

Steps of Writing a Short Story

1. Any short story starts off with an idea arising from an event, conflict, or situation: in other words, the general vision of the plot.
2. Once you have an interesting idea in mind, think of the general setting where it could take place. Describe the setting for your story, introducing vivid details and specific descriptions, as if you were writing a screenplay and composing a set of instructions for the director and the crew.
3. Think of your main characters. Create a profile for each of your story’s main heroes and/or villains, including information about their personality, typical behavior, looks, style, and manner.
4. Move onto creating a list of supporting characters and their connection to the main characters. You can draw a scheme similar to a family tree in order to visualize the links between the different characters.
5. Once the list of characters is developed, create an outline or plan of events.
6. Now you can start writing your short story by progressively covering the steps created in your outline. Make sure to consult your graphical scheme of characters in order to avoid mixing up their names and relationship to each other.
7. Finish your story, lay it aside and then re-read it a bit later. It often happens that after a break of a week or two, an author is able to look at their story from a more objective and fresh perspective, and comes up with a better ending, or change some events in the plot to make the story more interesting.

Key Points to Consider

• A short story normally focuses on one major event, even though it may describe some minor incidents that lead up to it, and has a limited number of characters. Think of a short story as an intermediate genre of prose, halfway between an essay and a novel.
• When the plot has been invented, decide upon a sequence of events and use specific time-words to guide the reader: at first, before, during, eventually, at once, while, until, suddenly, among others. Make sure to set the scene at the beginning of your story. Check whether your introductory part answers all of these questions: What happened? Where and when did it take place? Who was involved?
• Your description of events, people and their appearance, places, and objects are key since the readers will form their imagination based on your words. The more specific, bright, and unusual your adjectives, adverbs, and nouns are, the more vivid the picture will be in each reader’s mind. You can experiment with various techniques when describing details. For instance, it can be much more elegant to develop a character by describing their favorite objects, the way they look, and what they value, or even what they rave about. Don’t be too hasty and just give the description at the outset. Learn to develop your characters over time as the story evolves so that their actions speak for their personalities.
• There are various techniques for starting and ending a story. You can describe the weather, setting the mood for the events about to happen; you can use direct speech from your main characters, introducing them to readers right away; you can create mystery or suspense by describing someone performing something without saying who it was and then go on to introduce the characters. You can even address the reader directly at the beginning or end of your story and, for example, ask a rhetorical question, such as: “Have you ever been to Prague in April? Seen the sunset over Vltava, or fed the pigeons on the Charles Bridge?”

Do and Don’t

Common Mistakes

• One rather common mistake is not developing the main characters enough. Even though it is a short story, you still need to develop at least the protagonist (main character) significantly so that the reader is able to understand why your protagonist does what he or she does, what he or she thinks and what motivates the character, etc.
• Changing the chronological order and constantly going back and forth in time. If you were writing a more extensive piece, say a book, you could experiment with the sequence all you want. However, with a short story, it is best to describe events either as they occurred, or in reverse order (but choose one option only), so that the reader is able to easily follow the plot and be involved in the story together with the protagonist.
• Rushing into writing and being too ambitious about your speed. Literary writing differs from academic writing in that it requires a lot more time to let your ideas soak, mature, and ripen. You will need to come back to your piece a few times and refine it, rewrite some parts, and perfect your story until it is ready to be presented to a wider readership.

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