Writing Short Stories

5 Important Elements of a Short Story

1. Character
2. Setting – time and place
3. Plot – series of events and character actions that relate to the central conflict.
4. Conflict – the struggle
5. Theme – skeleton or framework on which you hang your plot, characters, setting, etc. (central
idea or belief).

Tips in writing a Short Story

Structure

 Put a man up a tree

 Throw stones at him
 Get him down

Short Story Plan

Start with a situation - a problem (conflict) to be resolved for your protagonist (the man up
the tree).
Then present the problems that can occur (throw some stones):
· Misunderstandings / mistaken identity / lost opportunities etc.
The final step is to show how you can solve the problem - get the man down from his leafy
perch - safely.
· Love triumphs / good conquers evil / honesty is the best policy / united we stand ...
When you've finished writing, always (always) proof-read your work to check your spelling,
punctuation and grammar. Don't spoil all your hard work by presenting an unprofessional
image to your reader(s). (Remember not to overuse the (parenthesis ;)!)

Theme

What is the story about? That doesn't mean what is the plot line, the sequence of events or the character's
actions; it
means what is the underlying message or statement behind the words. Get this right and your story will
have more resonance in the minds of your readers.

Time Span

An effective short story covers a very short time span. It may be one single event that proves pivotal in
the life of the character or a single day.

Character

Don't have too many characters. Each new character will bring a new dimension to the story, and for an
effective short story too many diverse dimensions (or directions) will dilute the theme. Have only enough
characters to effectively illustrate the theme.

Point of View
 This is important. Do you want your narrator to interact within your story (1st person), or would you
rather have your narrator be able to speak outside of the action, perhaps providing commentary (3rd
person)? Do you want your reader to be able to “see inside” all of the characters (3rd person omniscient),
or would you rather have your reader focus on one character (1st person or 3rd person limited)? These
are questions that you, as a writer, need to know before you choose your point of view.

Plot

Begin with an arresting first paragraph or lead, enough to grab the reader make them curious
to know what happens next.
Make sure your plot works - there must be a beginning, a middle and an end but don't spend
too much time on the build-up, so that the climax or denouement (as in the twist ending) is
relegated to one sentence, leaving the reader bothered and bemused but sadly not bewitched.
And don't signal the twist ending too soon - try to keep the reader guessing until the last
moment.
If you're telling a fast-moving story, say crime, then keep your paragraphs and sentences
short. It's a trick that sets the pace and adds to the atmosphere you are conveying to the
reader.

Show, Don’t Tell

The reason the “show, don’t tell” is advice given to new writers is because they tend to tell when they
should be showing. For example: you wouldn’t just tell your reader that “Joe made a funny face.” What
funny face did he make? Your reader has no idea what you mean. If you write that “Joe crossed his eyes
and stuck out his tongue,” your reader gets it.

Try to Avoid Adverbs (-ly words) and fillers

Adverbs are terrible, if only because they can almost always be replaced by something more interesting.
The fire was burning quickly? How about the fire was raging? This advice extends to the words very, really,
thing, and issue. It’s really big? It’s enormous. The music was very loud? The music was blaring. Also,
whenever you’re using the words thing or issue, you always mean something else. Be more specific!
They’re placeholder words that aren’t enjoyable; nobody cares if you saw something scary looking at you,
but if you tell them that an angry bull was looking at you with death in its eyes, they might.

Pre-Writing

Gathering Details about the Character(s)

 Character
 Appearance
 Actions
 What the character says
 Thoughts
 Likes
 Dislikes
 Dreams
  Fears
 What others think of the character

Drafting

 Exposition
 Rising Action
 Climax
 Falling Action
 Resolution

1. Create your own plot diagram

2. Fill in the events of your story from the beginning to end
3. Correctly identify which events are the 5 parts of plot
4. Include details from your story