published February 28, 2012 - updated March 9, 2017 
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
- Any short story starts off with an idea arising from an event, conflict, or situation: in other words, the general vision of the plot.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Once the list of characters is developed, create an outline or plan of events.
- 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.
- 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.
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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