how to write an short story essay

How to Write a Short Story: The Short Story Checklist

Rosemary Tantra Bensko and Sean Glatch  |  May 7, 2024  |  7 Comments

The short story is a fiction writer’s laboratory: here is where you can experiment with characters, plots, and ideas without the heavy lifting of writing a novel. Learning how to write a short story is essential to mastering the art of storytelling . With far fewer words to worry about, storytellers can make many more mistakes—and strokes of genius!—through experimentation and the fun of fiction writing.

Nonetheless, the art of writing short stories is not easy to master. How do you tell a complete story in so few words? What does a story need to have in order to be successful? Whether you’re struggling with how to write a short story outline, or how to fully develop a character in so few words, this guide is your starting point.

Famous authors like Virginia Woolf, Haruki Murakami, and Agatha Christie have used the short story form to play with ideas before turning those stories into novels. Whether you want to master the elements of fiction, experiment with novel ideas, or simply have fun with storytelling, here’s everything you need on how to write a short story step by step.

How to Write a Short Story: Contents

The Core Elements of a Short Story

How to write a short story outline, how to write a short story step by step, how to write a short story: length and setting, how to write a short story: point of view, how to write a short story: protagonist, antagonist, motivation, how to write a short story: characters, how to write a short story: prose, how to write a short story: story structure, how to write a short story: capturing reader interest, where to read and submit short stories.

There’s no secret formula to writing a short story. However, a good short story will have most or all of the following elements:

• A protagonist with a certain desire or need. It is essential for the protagonist to want something they don’t have, otherwise they will not drive the story forward.
• A clear dilemma. We don’t need much backstory to see how the dilemma started; we’re primarily concerned with how the protagonist resolves it.
• A decision. What does the protagonist do to resolve their dilemma?
• A climax. In Freytag’s Pyramid , the climax of a story is when the tension reaches its peak, and the reader discovers the outcome of the protagonist’s decision(s).
• An outcome. How does the climax change the protagonist? Are they a different person? Do they have a different philosophy or outlook on life?

Of course, short stories also utilize the elements of fiction , such as a setting , plot , and point of view . It helps to study these elements and to understand their intricacies. But, when it comes to laying down the skeleton of a short story, the above elements are what you need to get started.

Note: a short story rarely, if ever, has subplots. The focus should be entirely on a single, central storyline. Subplots will either pull focus away from the main story, or else push the story into the territory of novellas and novels.

The shorter the story is, the fewer of these elements are essentials. If you’re interested in writing short-short stories, check out our guide on how to write flash fiction .

Some writers are “pantsers”—they “write by the seat of their pants,” making things up on the go with little more than an idea for a story. Other writers are “plotters,” meaning they decide the story’s structure in advance of writing it.

You don’t need a short story outline to write a good short story. But, if you’d like to give yourself some scaffolding before putting words on the page, this article answers the question of how to write a short story outline:

https://writers.com/how-to-write-a-story-outline

There are many ways to approach the short story craft, but this method is tried-and-tested for writers of all levels. Here’s how to write a short story step-by-step.

1. Start With an Idea

Often, generating an idea is the hardest part. You want to write, but what will you write about?

What’s more, it’s easy to start coming up with ideas and then dismissing them. You want to tell an authentic, original story, but everything you come up with has already been written, it seems.

Here are a few tips:

• Originality presents itself in your storytelling, not in your ideas. For example, the premise of both Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Ostrovsky’s The Snow Maiden are very similar: two men and two women, in intertwining love triangles, sort out their feelings for each other amidst mischievous forest spirits, love potions, and friendship drama. The way each story is written makes them very distinct from one another, to the point where, unless it’s pointed out to you, you might not even notice the similarities.
• An idea is not a final draft. You will find that exploring the possibilities of your story will generate something far different than the idea you started out with. This is a good thing—it means you made the story your own!
• Experiment with genres and tropes. Even if you want to write literary fiction , pay attention to the narrative structures that drive genre stories, and practice your storytelling using those structures. Again, you will naturally make the story your own simply by playing with ideas.

If you’re struggling simply to find ideas, try out this prompt generator , or pull prompts from this Twitter .

2. Outline, OR Conceive Your Characters

If you plan to outline, do so once you’ve generated an idea. You can learn about how to write a short story outline earlier in this article.

If you don’t plan to outline, you should at least start with a character or characters. Certainly, you need a protagonist, but you should also think about any characters that aid or inhibit your protagonist’s journey.

When thinking about character development, ask the following questions:

• What is my character’s background? Where do they come from, how did they get here, where do they want to be?
• What does your character desire the most? This can be both material or conceptual, like “fitting in” or “being loved.”
• What is your character’s fatal flaw? In other words, what limitation prevents the protagonist from achieving their desire? Often, this flaw is a blind spot that directly counters their desire. For example, self hatred stands in the way of a protagonist searching for love.
• How does your character think and speak? Think of examples, both fictional and in the real world, who might resemble your character.

In short stories, there are rarely more characters than a protagonist, an antagonist (if relevant), and a small group of supporting characters. The more characters you include, the longer your story will be. Focus on making only one or two characters complex: it is absolutely okay to have the rest of the cast be flat characters that move the story along.

Learn more about character development here:

https://writers.com/character-development-definition

3. Write Scenes Around Conflict

Once you have an outline or some characters, start building scenes around conflict. Every part of your story, including the opening sentence, should in some way relate to the protagonist’s conflict.

Conflict is the lifeblood of storytelling: without it, the reader doesn’t have a clear reason to keep reading. Loveable characters are not enough, as the story has to give the reader something to root for.

Take, for example, Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story The Cask of Amontillado . We start at the conflict: the narrator has been slighted by Fortunato, and plans to exact revenge. Every scene in the story builds tension and follows the protagonist as he exacts this revenge.

In your story, start writing scenes around conflict, and make sure each paragraph and piece of dialogue relates, in some way, to your protagonist’s unmet desires.

Read more about writing effective conflict here:

What is Conflict in a Story? Definition and Examples

4. Write Your First Draft

The scenes you build around conflict will eventually be stitched into a complete story. Make sure as the story progresses that each scene heightens the story’s tension, and that this tension remains unbroken until the climax resolves whether or not your protagonist meets their desires.

Don’t stress too hard on writing a perfect story. Rather, take Anne Lamott’s advice, and “write a shitty first draft.” The goal is not to pen a complete story at first draft; rather, it’s to set ideas down on paper. You are simply, as Shannon Hale suggests, “shoveling sand into a box so that later [you] can build castles.”

5. Step Away, Breathe, Revise

Whenever Stephen King finishes a novel, he puts it in a drawer and doesn’t think about it for 6 weeks. With short stories, you probably don’t need to take as long of a break. But, the idea itself is true: when you’ve finished your first draft, set it aside for a while. Let yourself come back to the story with fresh eyes, so that you can confidently revise, revise, revise .

In revision, you want to make sure each word has an essential place in the story, that each scene ramps up tension, and that each character is clearly defined. The culmination of these elements allows a story to explore complex themes and ideas, giving the reader something to think about after the story has ended.

6. Compare Against Our Short Story Checklist

Does your story have everything it needs to succeed? Compare it against this short story checklist, as written by our instructor Rosemary Tantra Bensko.

Below is a collection of practical short story writing tips by Writers.com instructor Rosemary Tantra Bensko . Each paragraph is its own checklist item: a core element of short story writing advice to follow unless you have clear reasons to the contrary. We hope it’s a helpful resource in your own writing.

Update 9/1/2020: We’ve now made a summary of Rosemary’s short story checklist available as a PDF download . Enjoy!

Click to download

Your short story is 1000 to 7500 words in length.

The story takes place in one time period, not spread out or with gaps other than to drive someplace, sleep, etc. If there are those gaps, there is a space between the paragraphs, the new paragraph beginning flush left, to indicate a new scene.

Each scene takes place in one location, or in continual transit, such as driving a truck or flying in a plane.

Unless it’s a very lengthy Romance story, in which there may be two Point of View (POV) characters, there is one POV character. If we are told what any character secretly thinks, it will only be the POV character. The degree to which we are privy to the unexpressed thoughts, memories and hopes of the POV character remains consistent throughout the story.

You avoid head-hopping by only having one POV character per scene, even in a Romance. You avoid straying into even brief moments of telling us what other characters think other than the POV character. You use words like “apparently,” “obviously,” or “supposedly” to suggest how non-POV-characters think rather than stating it.

Your short story has one clear protagonist who is usually the character changing most.

Your story has a clear antagonist, who generally makes the protagonist change by thwarting his goals.

(Possible exception to the two short story writing tips above: In some types of Mystery and Action stories, particularly in a series, etc., the protagonist doesn’t necessarily grow personally, but instead his change relates to understanding the antagonist enough to arrest or kill him.)

The protagonist changes with an Arc arising out of how he is stuck in his Flaw at the beginning of the story, which makes the reader bond with him as a human, and feel the pain of his problems he causes himself. (Or if it’s the non-personal growth type plot: he’s presented at the beginning of the story with a high-stakes problem that requires him to prevent or punish a crime.)

The protagonist usually is shown to Want something, because that’s what people normally do, defining their personalities and behavior patterns, pushing them onward from day to day. This may be obvious from the beginning of the story, though it may not become heightened until the Inciting Incident , which happens near the beginning of Act 1. The Want is usually something the reader sort of wants the character to succeed in, while at the same time, knows the Want is not in his authentic best interests. This mixed feeling in the reader creates tension.

The protagonist is usually shown to Need something valid and beneficial, but at first, he doesn’t recognize it, admit it, honor it, integrate it with his Want, or let the Want go so he can achieve the Need instead. Ideally, the Want and Need can be combined in a satisfying way toward the end for the sake of continuity of forward momentum of victoriously achieving the goals set out from the beginning. It’s the encounters with the antagonist that forcibly teach the protagonist to prioritize his Needs correctly and overcome his Flaw so he can defeat the obstacles put in his path.

The protagonist in a personal growth plot needs to change his Flaw/Want but like most people, doesn’t automatically do that when faced with the problem. He tries the easy way, which doesn’t work. Only when the Crisis takes him to a low point does he boldly change enough to become victorious over himself and the external situation. What he learns becomes the Theme.

Each scene shows its main character’s goal at its beginning, which aligns in a significant way with the protagonist’s overall goal for the story. The scene has a “charge,” showing either progress toward the goal or regression away from the goal by the ending. Most scenes end with a negative charge, because a story is about not obtaining one’s goals easily, until the end, in which the scene/s end with a positive charge.

The protagonist’s goal of the story becomes triggered until the Inciting Incident near the beginning, when something happens to shake up his life. This is the only major thing in the story that is allowed to be a random event that occurs to him.

Your characters speak differently from one another, and their dialogue suggests subtext, what they are really thinking but not saying: subtle passive-aggressive jibes, their underlying emotions, etc.

Your characters are not illustrative of ideas and beliefs you are pushing for, but come across as real people.

Your language is succinct, fresh and exciting, specific, colorful, avoiding clichés and platitudes. Sentence structures vary. In Genre stories, the language is simple, the symbolism is direct, and words are well-known, and sentences are relatively short. In Literary stories , you are freer to use more sophisticated ideas, words, sentence structures, styles , and underlying metaphors and implied motifs.

Your plot elements occur in the proper places according to classical Three Act Structure (or Freytag’s Pyramid ) so the reader feels he has vicariously gone through a harrowing trial with the protagonist and won, raising his sense of hope and possibility. Literary short stories may be more subtle, with lower stakes, experimenting beyond classical structures like the Hero’s Journey. They can be more like vignettes sometimes, or even slice-of-life, though these types are hard to place in publications.

In Genre stories, all the questions are answered, threads are tied up, problems are solved, though the results of carnage may be spread over the landscape. In Literary short stories, you are free to explore uncertainty, ambiguity, and inchoate, realistic endings that suggest multiple interpretations, and unresolved issues.

Some Literary stories may be nonrealistic, such as with Surrealism, Absurdism, New Wave Fabulism, Weird and Magical Realism . If this is what you write, they still need their own internal logic and they should not be bewildering as to the what the reader is meant to experience, whether it’s a nuanced, unnameable mood or a trip into the subconscious.

Literary stories may also go beyond any label other than Experimental. For example, a story could be a list of To Do items on a paper held by a magnet to a refrigerator for the housemate to read. The person writing the list may grow more passive-aggressive and manipulative as the list grows, and we learn about the relationship between the housemates through the implied threats and cajoling.

Your short story is suspenseful, meaning readers hope the protagonist will achieve his best goal, his Need, by the Climax battle against the antagonist.

Your story entertains. This is especially necessary for Genre short stories.

The story captivates readers at the very beginning with a Hook, which can be a puzzling mystery to solve, an amazing character’s or narrator’s Voice, an astounding location, humor, a startling image, or a world the reader wants to become immersed in.

Expository prose (telling, like an essay) takes up very, very little space in your short story, and it does not appear near the beginning. The story is in Narrative format instead, in which one action follows the next. You’ve removed every unnecessary instance of Expository prose and replaced it with showing Narrative. Distancing words like “used to,” “he would often,” “over the years, he,” “each morning, he” indicate that you are reporting on a lengthy time period, summing it up, rather than sticking to Narrative format, in which immediacy makes the story engaging.

You’ve earned the right to include Expository Backstory by making the reader yearn for knowing what happened in the past to solve a mystery. This can’t possibly happen at the beginning, obviously. Expository Backstory does not take place in the first pages of your story.

Your reader cares what happens and there are high stakes (especially important in Genre stories). Your reader worries until the end, when the protagonist survives, succeeds in his quest to help the community, gets the girl, solves or prevents the crime, achieves new scientific developments, takes over rule of his realm, etc.

Every sentence is compelling enough to urge the reader to read the next one—because he really, really wants to—instead of doing something else he could be doing. Your story is not going to be assigned to people to analyze in school like the ones you studied, so you have found a way from the beginning to intrigue strangers to want to spend their time with your words.

Whether you’re looking for inspiration or want to publish your own stories, you’ll find great literary journals for writers of all backgrounds at this article:

https://writers.com/short-story-submissions

Learn How to Write a Short Story at Writers.com

The short story takes an hour to learn and a lifetime to master. Learn how to write a short story with Writers.com. Our upcoming fiction courses will give you the ropes to tell authentic, original short stories that captivate and entrance your readers.

Rosemary – Is there any chance you could add a little something to your checklist? I’d love to know the best places to submit our short stories for publication. Thanks so much.

Hi, Kim Hanson,

Some good places to find publications specific to your story are NewPages, Poets and Writers, Duotrope, and The Submission Grinder.

“ In Genre stories, all the questions are answered, threads are tied up, problems are solved, though the results of carnage may be spread over the landscape.”

Not just no but NO.

See for example the work of MacArthur Fellow Kelly Link.

[…] How to Write a Short Story: The Short Story Checklist […]

Thank you for these directions and tips. It’s very encouraging to someone like me, just NOW taking up writing.

[…] Writers.com. A great intro to writing. https://writers.com/how-to-write-a-short-story […]

Hello: I started to write seriously in the late 70’s. I loved to write in High School in the early 60’s but life got in the way. Around the 00’s many of the obstacles disappeared. Since then I have been writing more, and some of my work was vanilla transgender stories. Here in 2024 transgender stories have become tiresome because I really don’t have much in common with that mind set.

The glare of an editor that could potentially pay me is quite daunting, so I would like to start out unpaid to see where that goes. I am not sure if a writer’s agent would be a good fit for me. My work life was in the Trades, not as some sort of Academic. That alone causes timidity, but I did read about a fiction writer who had been a house painter.

This is my first effort to publish since the late 70’s. My pseudonym would perhaps include Ahabidah.

Gwen Boucher.

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How to Write a Short Story (Ultimate Guide + Templates)

Writing a short story is like crafting a tiny universe—every word counts. Over the past 20+ years, I’ve penned dozens of tales, each a unique journey.

Here’s a quick answer to how to write a short story:

Write a short story by sparking an idea, outlining your plot, creating characters, setting the scene, and building conflict. Use dialogue for character depth, choose a consistent POV, and end with a satisfying resolution. Keep your prose clear, concise, and engaging.

Keep reading to learn everything you need to know — with examples!

What Is a Short Story?

Table of Contents

A short story is a brief narrative that typically focuses on a single plot, character, or theme. Unlike novels, short stories aim to deliver a powerful punch in a limited number of words.

They range from a few hundred to several thousand words, making them perfect for readers with limited time.

Key Features of a Short Story:

• Brevity: Short stories are concise, packing a lot of meaning into fewer words.
• Single Plot: They revolve around one main plot, unlike novels which can have multiple subplots.
• Limited Characters: Usually, there are fewer characters, allowing for deeper development within a short span.
• Focused Theme: They often explore a single theme or idea, providing a focused narrative.

Elements of a Short Story

Every great short story contains several essential elements.

These components work together to create a compelling narrative that engages readers from start to finish.

The plot is the backbone of your story. It’s the sequence of events that unfold, driving the narrative forward.

A strong plot will have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Focus on creating a narrative arc that builds tension and leads to a satisfying resolution. Think about what your characters want and what obstacles stand in their way.

Characters are the heart of your story.

They should be well-developed and relatable, even in a short format. Your protagonist should face challenges that drive the plot forward. Give your characters distinct voices and personalities to make them memorable. Remember, even minor characters can have a significant impact on the story.

The setting establishes the time and place of your story. It provides context and can greatly influence the mood and atmosphere.

Use vivid descriptions to paint a picture for your readers, making them feel immersed in the story. The setting can also reflect the internal state of your characters, adding depth to your narrative.

Conflict is what makes your story interesting. It can be internal (inside a character) or external (outside characters, with other characters, or even forces).

Without conflict, there’s no story. Identify the main conflict early and build your plot around it.

The resolution of the conflict should lead to character development or a change in the situation.

The theme is the underlying message or insight your story conveys.

It’s what readers take away from your narrative. Consider what you want your readers to learn or feel after reading your story. A strong theme will resonate and give your story a deeper meaning beyond the surface events.

Point of View (POV)

The POV determines from whose perspective the story is told. First person, second person, or third person—all offer different advantages and limitations. Choose the POV that best fits the story you want to tell.

Consistency in POV is crucial to avoid confusing your readers.

Dialogue brings your characters to life.

It should sound natural and reveal something about the characters or plot. Use dialogue to show rather than tell, letting characters’ words and interactions convey their personalities and emotions.

Be mindful of pacing—dialogue can speed up or slow down the narrative.

Your writing style is your unique voice. It includes word choice, sentence structure, and overall tone.

It’s what makes your writing distinctive.

Experiment with different styles to find what works best for you and your story. A consistent style helps create a cohesive and engaging narrative.

How to Write a Short Story (Blockbuster Blueprint)

Crafting a short story is a thrilling adventure, and with the right blueprint, you can create a compelling narrative that captivates readers.

Here’s your high-level overview for how to write a short story, from idea to final draft.

1. Spark the Idea (Idea Ignition)

Every story begins with a spark of inspiration. This could be a striking image, an intriguing character, or a compelling situation. Keep a journal to jot down ideas whenever they strike. Remember, the best ideas often come from the most unexpected places.

2. Frame the Blueprint (Plot Planning)

Once you have your idea, it’s time to outline your plot.

Think of this as designing the blueprint of your story. Outline the key events and structure them into a clear beginning, middle, and end. Use a plot diagram to visualize the rise and fall of action, ensuring your story has a satisfying arc.

3. Character Crafting (Hero Forge)

Characters are the heart of your story. Develop your protagonist and other key players with detailed profiles. What are their desires, fears, and motivations? Crafting multidimensional characters will make your story more relatable and engaging.

4. World Building (Setting the Stage)

Set the scene for your story. Whether it’s a bustling city, a quiet village, or an alien planet, your setting should be vivid and immersive. Use sensory details to transport your readers to the world you’ve created. The setting should complement and enhance the narrative.

5. Conflict Creation (Trouble Brewing)

Conflict is the engine of your story. It drives the plot and challenges your characters. Identify the central conflict early on and develop it throughout the story. This could be an internal struggle, a clash between characters, or an external obstacle.

6. Theme Weaving (Message in a Bottle)

Every great story has a deeper message. Determine the theme of your story—what do you want your readers to take away from it? Weave this theme subtly into your narrative, so it resonates without overshadowing the plot.

7. POV Selection (Narrative Lens)

Choose the perspective from which to tell your story. First person, second person, or third person—each offers different advantages. The POV will shape how readers connect with your characters and perceive the events.

8. Dialogue Design (Chatterbox)

Dialogue breathes life into your characters. Craft conversations that sound natural and reveal character traits and plot points. Good dialogue moves the story forward and provides insight into your characters’ minds.

9. Descriptive Detailing (Paint the Picture)

Use descriptive language to create vivid images in your readers’ minds. Focus on sensory details to make scenes come alive. Balanced description adds depth to your narrative without overwhelming the reader.

10. Scene Crafting (Moment Makers)

Identify and write the key scenes that form the backbone of your story. Each scene should have a purpose, whether it’s to advance the plot, develop characters, or highlight the theme. Ensure that every scene is engaging and drives the story forward.

11. The Grand Opening (First Impressions)

Your story’s beginning sets the tone and hooks your readers. Start with a compelling scene or intriguing line that draws readers in. Establish your setting, characters, and conflict early to build interest.

12. The Big Finish (Closing Curtain)

A strong ending leaves a lasting impression. Wrap up your plot and resolve the central conflict. The ending should be satisfying and resonate with the theme of your story.

13. Perfecting the Length (Word Count Wizardry)

Short stories have limited word count, so every word must count. Aim for conciseness and clarity. Edit ruthlessly to trim unnecessary words and tighten your prose.

14. Polishing the Draft (Final Flourish)

The final step is revising and editing. Check for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Refine your language and ensure consistency in tone and style. A polished draft elevates your story from good to great.

This blueprint sets the stage for a captivating short story. Next, we’ll dive deeper into each step, exploring techniques and tips to help you master the art of short story writing.

Watch this good video about how to write a short story:

Short Story Structure (5 Creative Templates/Story Beats)

Structuring your short story is crucial to maintaining reader engagement.

Here are five creative templates to help you organize your narrative effectively:

1. The Classic Three-Act Structure

Act 1: Setup – Introduce your characters, setting, and central conflict. Hook the reader with an intriguing opening.

Act 2: Confrontation – Develop the conflict and build tension. Your protagonist faces challenges and obstacles.

Act 3: Resolution – Resolve the conflict and wrap up loose ends. Provide a satisfying conclusion that resonates with the theme.

2. The Hero’s Journey

• The Ordinary World – Establish the protagonist’s normal life.
• The Call to Adventure – Something disrupts the status quo, prompting action.
• Crossing the Threshold – The protagonist enters a new, unknown world.
• Trials and Tribulations – The hero faces tests and gains allies.
• The Climax – The protagonist confronts the greatest challenge.
• The Return – The hero returns transformed, bringing newfound wisdom or change.

3. In Medias Res

• Begin in the Middle – Start your story in the midst of action, grabbing the reader’s attention.
• Flashback – Gradually reveal the events leading up to the present situation.
• Climax – Reach the story’s peak conflict.
• Resolution – Conclude by addressing the fallout and tying up loose ends.

4. The Kishōtenketsu Structure

• Introduction (Ki) – Introduce characters and setting without conflict.
• Development (Shō) – Develop the situation, showing normal life.
• Twist (Ten) – Introduce an unexpected twist or turn of events.
• Conclusion (Ketsu) – Resolve the twist, bringing the story to a satisfying close.

5. The Fichtean Curve

• Inciting Incident – Start with a conflict that propels the story.
• Rising Action – Build tension through a series of complications and crises.
• Climax – Reach the highest point of tension and conflict.
• Falling Action – Address the aftermath of the climax, resolving conflicts.
• Denouement – Tie up loose ends, providing closure for the reader.

These templates provide flexible frameworks for structuring your short story, ensuring a coherent and engaging narrative flow.

Checklist for Writing a Short Story (Based on The Fichtean Curve)

How to Come Up With Good Ideas for Short Stories

Generating ideas for short stories can be challenging, but with the right techniques, inspiration can strike at any moment.

Here are some methods to spark your creativity:

1. Observe the World Around You

Pay attention to your surroundings. Everyday situations and interactions can inspire compelling stories. Eavesdrop on conversations, notice peculiar behaviors, and observe how people react to different situations.

2. Tap into Personal Experiences

Reflect on your own life experiences. Personal anecdotes, memories, and emotions can provide a rich foundation for your stories. Authenticity often resonates with readers, making your stories more relatable.

3. Use Writing Prompts

Writing prompts are excellent tools for kickstarting your creativity. They provide a starting point and can lead to unexpected and exciting storylines. Challenge yourself with prompts that push you out of your comfort zone.

4. Explore “What If” Scenarios

Ask yourself “what if” questions to explore different possibilities. What if a character had a unique ability? What if a mundane event took a surprising turn? This approach can lead to imaginative and original stories.

5. Draw from Myths and Folklore

Myths, legends, and folklore are treasure troves of story ideas. Adapt and modernize these timeless tales, or use them as inspiration for your own unique narratives. This can add depth and universality to your stories.

6. Combine Genres

Mixing genres can create fresh and exciting stories. Combine elements of science fiction with romance, or blend mystery with fantasy. Genre mash-ups can lead to innovative and intriguing plots.

7. Freewriting

Set a timer and write continuously for a set period without worrying about grammar or coherence. Freewriting can help unlock hidden ideas and break through writer’s block. Let your thoughts flow and see where they take you.

8. Engage in Creative Activities

Engage in activities that stimulate your creativity, such as drawing, music, or even taking a walk. These activities can help clear your mind and make space for new ideas to emerge.

9. Read Widely

Read a variety of genres, authors, and styles. Exposure to different voices and perspectives can inspire new ideas and approaches to storytelling. Take note of what resonates with you and why.

10. Collaborate with Others

Discuss story ideas with friends, join writing groups, or participate in workshops. Collaboration can provide fresh perspectives and spark new ideas. Feedback from others can also help refine your concepts.

How to Write a Short Story Title

Crafting a short story title is a crucial step in the writing process.

A compelling title can grab a reader’s attention, hint at the story’s content, and set the tone for the narrative. Here’s how to write a short story title that stands out:

1. Reflect the Theme

Your title should encapsulate the essence of your story. Reflect on the central theme or message and try to convey it succinctly. For example, if your story explores the theme of sacrifice, a title like “The Price of Love” might resonate.

A thematic title gives readers a hint of what to expect and sets the stage for the narrative.

2. Evoke Emotion

A good title evokes an emotional response.

Think about the emotions you want your readers to feel and choose words that trigger those feelings. Titles like “Silent Tears” or “The Last Goodbye” immediately evoke a sense of melancholy or loss. Emotional resonance can make your title memorable and intriguing.

3. Be Specific and Unique

Avoid generic titles that could apply to any story.

Specificity adds uniqueness and intrigue. Instead of a broad title like “Adventure,” opt for something more detailed like “The Forgotten Temple.” This specificity not only piques interest but also gives a clearer indication of the story’s content.

4. Use Literary Devices

Incorporate literary devices such as alliteration, metaphors, or irony to add flair to your title.

Titles like “Whispers in the Wind” use alliteration to create a poetic rhythm, while “A Bitter Sweet Symphony” employs irony and juxtaposition. These techniques can make your title more engaging and memorable.

5. Keep It Short and Sweet

While it’s important to be descriptive, brevity is also key.

Aim for a title that is concise yet impactful. Long titles can be cumbersome and difficult to remember. Short, punchy titles like “Gone” or “Echoes” are often more effective.

6. Test Different Options

Don’t settle on the first title that comes to mind. Create a list of potential titles and test them out.

Share them with friends or writing groups to get feedback. Sometimes, an outside perspective can highlight the strengths or weaknesses of a title you might have overlooked.

7. Consider Your Audience

Think about who your readers are and what might appeal to them.

A title that works for a sci-fi audience might not be as effective for romance readers. Tailoring your title to your target audience can increase its appeal and relevance.

How to Craft a Short Story Outline

An outline is a roadmap for your short story.

It helps organize your thoughts, ensures a logical flow, and keeps you on track. Here’s how to write a short story outline that is comprehensive and compelling:

1. Start with a Summary

Begin with a brief summary of your story. This doesn’t have to be detailed, but it should capture the essence of the plot. Summarize the main conflict, key events, and the resolution. This overview will guide you as you flesh out the details.

2. Define Your Characters

Create profiles for your main characters. Include their names, physical descriptions, motivations, and key personality traits. Understanding your characters deeply will help you write consistent and believable interactions.

Consider how each character’s goals and conflicts will drive the story forward.

3. Establish the Setting

Outline the key settings of your story. Describe the time and place where your story unfolds. Consider how the setting influences the mood and tone. Details about the environment can also provide context for your characters’ actions and interactions.

4. Plot the Major Events

Identify the major events that form the backbone of your story.

Break down the plot into key scenes or chapters. Each event should build on the previous one, leading to the climax. Ensure that there’s a logical progression and that each event serves a purpose in advancing the plot or developing characters.

5. Develop the Conflict

Clearly define the central conflict of your story. This is the driving force behind the plot and what keeps readers engaged.

Outline how the conflict is introduced, escalated, and ultimately resolved.

Consider both external conflicts (between characters or forces) and internal conflicts (within a character).

6. Plan the Climax

The climax is the peak of your story’s tension. Outline the events leading up to the climax and detail how it unfolds. This is where the main conflict reaches its highest point. Ensure that the climax is impactful and provides a turning point in the narrative.

7. Outline the Resolution

Plan how you will resolve the conflict and wrap up the story. This doesn’t mean everything has to end neatly, but there should be a sense of closure. Detail the aftermath of the climax and how the characters and setting have changed.

8. Review and Adjust

Once you’ve completed your outline, review it for coherence and flow.

Make adjustments as needed to ensure a logical progression and that each element serves the story. An outline is a flexible tool—don’t be afraid to revise it as your story evolves.

How to Create an Original Premise for a Short Story

An original premise is the foundation of a compelling short story.

It’s what sets your story apart and grabs the reader’s attention. Here’s how to develop a unique and engaging premise that includes character, setting, conflict, consequences, and a ticking clock.

1. Start with a Question

Begin by asking a thought-provoking question that combines character, setting, and conflict.

For example, “What if a reclusive inventor living in a floating city discovers a plot to sink the entire city within 24 hours?”

This question sets up a character (reclusive inventor), a setting (floating city), a conflict (plot to sink the city), consequences (destruction of the city), and a ticking clock (24 hours).

2. Combine Familiar Elements in New Ways

Take elements from different genres or known stories and combine them in unexpected ways, ensuring you include all key components.

For instance, imagine a young botanist (character) on a desert planet (setting) who finds a rare plant that could save the dying ecosystem but only has three days to replicate its conditions (conflict and ticking clock).

The consequence is the planet’s survival or demise.

3. Draw from Real Life

Real-life events, experiences, and news stories can inspire original premises.

Look for interesting or unusual occurrences in the world around you and weave them into a complete premise.

For example, a journalist (character) in a war-torn country (setting) discovers a conspiracy that could end the war but only has 48 hours before their source is compromised (conflict, consequences, and ticking clock).

4. Focus on a Unique Character

Develop a character with unique traits, backgrounds, or abilities and create a premise around their journey.

Ensure the setting, conflict, and ticking clock are included.

For instance, a deaf musician (character) in a future metropolis (setting) uncovers a government plan to control citizens’ minds and must stop it before the next full moon (conflict, consequences, and ticking clock).

5. Explore Universal Themes with a Twist

Identify universal themes such as love, loss, or betrayal and explore them in a novel way, integrating all key components.

For example, a betrayed scientist (character) in a secret underwater lab (setting) has to find an antidote to a deadly virus released by their former partner before it spreads to the surface world in 48 hours (conflict, consequences, and ticking clock).

6. Use Setting as a Catalyst

Sometimes, a unique setting can be the basis for an original premise that includes character, conflict, consequences, and a ticking clock. Imagine a premise like this: a hacker (character) in a cyberpunk city (setting) discovers an AI plan to eradicate human governance and has 72 hours to stop it (conflict, consequences, and ticking clock).

7. Experiment with Genre

Play with different genres to find a unique angle, making sure to include all essential components.

Consider a supernatural premise: a ghost hunter (character) in a haunted Victorian mansion (setting) must exorcise a vengeful spirit before midnight on Halloween to save a trapped soul (conflict, consequences, and ticking clock).

8. Reflect on Personal Passions and Interests

Draw inspiration from your own passions and interests, and incorporate character, setting, conflict, consequences, and a ticking clock.

For example, if you’re passionate about space, create a story about an astronaut (character) on a distant planet (setting) who must repair their damaged ship before the planet’s deadly storm cycle begins in 24 hours (conflict, consequences, and ticking clock).

9. Brainstorm and Freewrite

Set aside time for brainstorming sessions that include all key elements.

Write down every idea, no matter how outlandish it seems.

For instance, a premise like a time-traveling historian (character) in medieval Europe (setting) who must prevent a critical assassination within 48 hours to save future timelines (conflict, consequences, and ticking clock).

10. Test and Refine

Once you have a few potential premises, test them out by ensuring they include character, setting, conflict, consequences, and a ticking clock.

Write a short summary or pitch for each idea and see how they hold up.

Refine your favorite ideas, adding depth and detail until you have a solid and original premise.

Creating an original premise is about combining creativity with curiosity.

By ensuring you include all essential components—character, setting, conflict, consequences, and a ticking clock—you can develop a foundation for a story that stands out and captivates readers.

How to Write the Setting in a Short Story

The setting of your short story provides the backdrop against which your narrative unfolds.

It’s more than just a physical location—it’s the atmosphere, the time period, and the world your characters inhabit.

Here’s how to craft a vivid and immersive setting:

1. Use Sensory Details

Engage all five senses to create a rich and immersive setting.

Don’t just describe what the place looks like—include sounds, smells, textures, and even tastes.

For example, if your story is set in a bustling market, describe the vibrant colors of the stalls, the cacophony of voices, the scent of spices in the air, the rough texture of wooden crates, and the taste of freshly baked bread samples.

2. Integrate the Setting with the Plot

The setting should influence the events of your story.

Use it to create obstacles or opportunities for your characters. For instance, a story set in a snowbound cabin might revolve around the characters’ struggle to survive and find warmth.

The setting becomes an active participant in the narrative, shaping the plot and the characters’ actions.

3. Reflect the Characters’ Emotions

Use the setting to mirror or contrast with the characters’ emotional states.

A character going through a turbulent time might find themselves in a stormy landscape, while a serene character might be surrounded by calm and peaceful scenery.

This technique can subtly enhance the emotional impact of your story.

4. Show the Passage of Time

Use the setting to indicate changes over time.

This can be done through the progression of seasons, changes in weather, or the transformation of a place.

For example, describing a garden blooming in spring and withering in autumn can symbolize the growth and decay of a relationship within your story.

5. Incorporate Historical and Cultural Context

If your story is set in a specific historical period or culture, include details that accurately reflect that context.

Research historical events, social norms, and cultural practices to add authenticity.

For example, a story set in Victorian England might include details about the fashion, architecture, and social etiquette of the time.

6. Use Unique and Unexpected Settings

Choose settings that are unique or have an unexpected twist.

Instead of a generic small town, place your story in a floating city or an underground labyrinth. Unique settings can make your story stand out and provide fresh challenges and opportunities for your characters.

7. Create a Map

For more complex settings, especially in fantasy or science fiction stories, creating a map can help you visualize and consistently describe the geography of your world.

A map can also provide inspiration for plot developments based on the terrain and locations within your setting.

If your short story is set in a haunted house, you might describe the creaky wooden floors that echo with every step, the musty smell of old furniture, the flickering candlelight casting eerie shadows, the cold drafts that make characters shiver, and the taste of dust in the air.

These details immerse the reader and make the setting come alive.

How to Build Short Story Characters

Characters are the driving force of your short story.

Well-developed characters can transform a simple plot into a compelling narrative. Here’s how to build memorable and engaging characters.

1. Develop Detailed Backgrounds

Even if you don’t include all the details in your story, knowing your characters’ backgrounds helps you write them more convincingly.

Consider their past experiences, family, education, and personal history. For example, a character who grew up in a strict household might have a different worldview than one who was raised with more freedom.

2. Define Clear Goals and Motivations

Understand what drives your characters.

What are their desires, fears, and goals? Clear motivations make characters’ actions more believable and their struggles more engaging. For instance, a character motivated by revenge will behave differently from one driven by love or ambition.

3. Create Flaws and Strengths

Nobody is perfect, and your characters shouldn’t be either.

Give them a mix of strengths and flaws to make them more relatable and realistic. A character who is brave but impulsive, or intelligent but socially awkward, can create interesting dynamics and conflicts.

4. Show Growth and Change

Characters should evolve throughout the story. They might learn from their experiences, overcome their flaws, or change their goals.

This growth can be a key part of your narrative arc.

For example, a selfish character might learn the value of empathy and selflessness by the end of the story.

5. Use Dialogue to Reveal Character

Dialogue is a powerful tool for character development.

How your characters speak— their tone, vocabulary, and speech patterns—can reveal a lot about their personality, background, and emotional state.

A character who uses formal language might be educated or reserved, while one with slang might be more casual or rebellious.

6. Show, Don’t Tell

Instead of directly stating a character’s traits, show them through actions and interactions. Rather than saying “John was brave,” show John stepping into a dangerous situation to help someone. This makes your characters’ traits more vivid and believable.

7. Create Conflicts and Relationships

Characters’ interactions with others can reveal their traits and create tension. Develop relationships—friendships, rivalries, romances—that add depth to your characters. Conflicts can arise from these relationships, driving the plot forward.

8. Give Them Unique Physical Traits and Habits

Distinctive physical features and habits can make characters more memorable.

A character might have a noticeable scar, a unique fashion sense, or a quirky habit like always carrying a notebook. These details add layers to their personality.

Consider a character named Maria, who is a dedicated scientist (strength) but is socially awkward (flaw). Her motivation is to discover a cure for a rare disease that affected her family (background and goal). Throughout the story, Maria learns to collaborate with others (growth), revealed through her hesitant yet determined dialogues and interactions.

How to Choose the POV for a Short Story

The point of view (POV) from which you tell your story can significantly impact how readers perceive and engage with it.

Here’s how to choose the best POV for your short story.

1. Understand the Types of POV

• First Person: The story is narrated by a character within the story, using “I” or “we.” This point of view lets us see what the narrator is thinking and feeling.
• Second Person: The narrator addresses the reader as “you,” making the reader a character in the story. This POV is less common but can create an immersive experience.
• Third Person Limited: The narrator is outside the story but focuses on the thoughts and experiences of a single character, using “he,” “she,” or “they.”
• Third Person Omniscient: The narrator knows everything about all the characters and events, providing a broad perspective.

2. Consider Your Story’s Needs

Think about what your story requires.

Do you need to delve deeply into one character’s mind, or do you want to show multiple perspectives?

A first-person POV can create a deep connection with the protagonist, while third person omniscient allows for a broader view of the world and multiple characters.

3. Match POV to Character Development

If character development is a key focus, a first person or third person limited POV might be more effective.

These POVs allow readers to closely follow a character’s internal journey and growth. For instance, a story about a personal transformation might benefit from first-person narration.

4. Consider the Level of Intimacy

Decide how close you want the reader to feel to the characters.

First person and second person POVs offer high intimacy, making readers feel like they are experiencing the events themselves. Third person limited offers moderate intimacy, while third person omniscient provides a more detached view.

5. Reflect on the Story’s Tone

The POV can influence the tone of your story.

First person can create a conversational and immediate tone, while third person can be more formal or distant.

Second person can add a unique, immersive tone, making readers feel directly involved.

6. Test Different POVs

Write a few scenes from your story using different POVs to see which feels most natural and effective. Sometimes, switching the POV can reveal new aspects of the story and characters that you hadn’t considered.

7. Think About Narrative Reliability

Consider whether you want your narrator to be reliable or unreliable.

First person narrators can be unreliable, adding layers of complexity and intrigue. An unreliable narrator might have biases, incomplete information, or personal motivations that color their narration.

8. Use POV Shifts Carefully

If you decide to use multiple POVs, ensure that shifts are clear and purposeful.

Each POV should add something unique to the story. Avoid confusing readers by clearly indicating whose perspective is being presented at any given time.

In a story about a detective solving a mystery, a first person POV can provide a deep dive into the detective’s thought process and personal stakes.

Alternatively, a third person omniscient POV can show the actions and thoughts of multiple characters, including suspects, creating a broader, more intricate web of suspense.

How to Write Short Story Dialogue

Dialogue is a powerful tool in short stories.

It brings characters to life, reveals their personalities, and advances the plot. Writing effective dialogue involves crafting realistic speech and using internal dialogue to deepen character development.

Let’s explore how to master short story dialogue.

1. Make It Realistic and Natural

Dialogue should sound like real speech but with purpose.

People often speak in fragments, use contractions, and interrupt each other. Mimic these patterns to make your dialogue more natural. Avoid overly formal or grammatically perfect speech unless it fits the character.

Tip: Read your dialogue out loud. If it sounds unnatural or stiff, revise it to sound more like everyday conversation.

2. Keep It Concise

In a short story, every word counts. Dialogue should be concise and to the point.

Avoid long-winded speeches or unnecessary small talk.

Each line of dialogue should either reveal something about the character or advance the plot.

Example: Instead of: “I was thinking that maybe we should consider going to the store because we’re out of milk and I noticed that you prefer having milk with your breakfast.” Use: “We’re out of milk. Let’s go to the store.”

3. Show Character Through Dialogue

Let your characters’ speech reveal their personalities, backgrounds, and relationships.

Different characters should have distinct voices, reflecting their unique traits and experiences. Pay attention to word choice, tone, and rhythm.

Example: A professor might say, “Indeed, the hypothesis was confirmed.” A teenager might say, “Yeah, totally nailed it.”

4. Use Subtext

Subtext is what characters mean but don’t say directly.

It adds depth and tension to dialogue. Characters might say one thing but mean another, revealing their true feelings or intentions subtly.

Example: Character A: “Nice job on the project.” Character B: “Thanks, considering the short deadline.”

5. Integrate Internal Dialogue

Internal dialogue reveals a character’s thoughts and emotions.

Use it to show their inner conflicts, doubts, and motivations. It can provide insight into their true feelings, especially when they’re not being honest in their speech.

Example: John said, “I’m fine.” Internally, he thought, “I’m falling apart, but I can’t let them see it.”

6. Use Dialogue Tags Sparingly

Dialogue tags (he said, she asked) are necessary to clarify who is speaking but should be used sparingly.

Overusing them can clutter your dialogue. Instead, use action beats to show who is speaking and add context.

Example: “Are you coming?” Jane asked. She glanced at her watch, tapping her foot impatiently. “Give me a minute,” Tom replied, tying his shoes.

7. Break Up Dialogue with Action

Avoid long blocks of dialogue.

Break it up with actions, descriptions, or internal thoughts to keep the narrative dynamic and engaging.

This also helps to set the scene and show characters’ emotions and reactions.

Example: “Do you think we’ll make it?” Sarah asked, looking out the window at the storm. “I hope so,” Mark said, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

How to Write Short Story Description

Description is essential in short stories for setting the scene, creating atmosphere, and developing characters.

Effective description balances narrative detail with action, making the story vivid without slowing the pace.

1. Use Vivid and Specific Details

Instead of general descriptions, use specific details to create a clear and vivid picture.

This helps readers visualize the scene and makes the setting and characters more memorable.

Example: General: The garden was beautiful. Specific: The garden was a riot of colors, with tulips, daffodils, and roses blooming in vibrant hues, their sweet scent mingling in the air.

2. Show, Don’t Tell

Show readers what’s happening through descriptive action rather than just telling them.

This technique makes the story more engaging and immersive.

Example: Telling: John was nervous. Showing: John’s hands trembled as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, his heart pounding in his chest.

3. Balance Narrative Description and Action

Too much narrative description can slow down your story. Balance it with action to keep the pace dynamic.

Use description to enhance action scenes and to provide context and atmosphere.

Example: Narrative: The abandoned house stood at the end of the street, its windows boarded up, and the paint peeling from the walls. Action: As they approached the abandoned house, Tim’s flashlight flickered over the boarded-up windows and the peeling paint, casting eerie shadows.

4. Use All Five Senses

Engage all five senses to create a rich and immersive experience.

Describe not only what characters see but also what they hear, smell, taste, and feel. Sensory details make the story more vivid and realistic.

Example: She entered the bakery, the warm scent of fresh bread and pastries enveloping her. The sound of clinking utensils and soft chatter filled the air as she brushed past the rough wooden counter.

5. Create Atmosphere and Mood

Description sets the tone and mood of your story. Use it to create atmosphere and evoke emotions.

The choice of words and details can make a setting feel eerie, joyful, tense, or peaceful.

Example: The forest was silent, the only sound the crunch of leaves underfoot. A thick fog curled around the trees, casting ghostly shapes in the dim light, sending a shiver down her spine.

6. Use Metaphors and Similes

Metaphors and similes can add depth and creativity to your descriptions.

They help readers understand and visualize the scene more vividly by comparing it to something familiar.

Example: The sun set like a fiery ball sinking into the ocean, painting the sky with shades of orange and pink.

7. Avoid Overloading with Adjectives

While adjectives are important, overloading your sentences with them can make your writing feel cluttered.

Choose the most impactful adjectives and use them sparingly for greater effect.

Example: Instead of: The old, creaky, dark, and dusty house stood ominously at the end of the long, narrow, deserted road. Use: The creaky, dusty house stood ominously at the end of the deserted road.

5 Pivotal Short Story Scenes

Certain scenes are pivotal in a short story, driving the plot and character development.

Here are five essential scenes, why they’re important, and how to write them.

1. The Inciting Incident

What it is: The event that sets the story in motion and disrupts the protagonist’s normal life.

Why it’s important: It introduces the central conflict and hooks the reader’s interest.

How to write it:

• Start with a bang—make it surprising or dramatic.
• Clearly show how this event changes the protagonist’s situation.
• Ensure it leads directly to the main plot of the story.

Example: A detective receives a mysterious letter hinting at a hidden treasure, launching a high-stakes adventure.

2. The Turning Point

What it is: A moment of significant change or decision that alters the course of the story.

Why it’s important: It deepens the conflict and propels the story towards the climax.

• Build tension leading up to this moment.
• Show the protagonist facing a difficult choice or discovering crucial information.
• Ensure the consequences of this moment are clear and impactful.

Example: The protagonist discovers a trusted friend is actually the antagonist, forcing them to rethink their strategy.

3. The Climax

What it is: The most intense and exciting part of the story, where the main conflict reaches its peak.

Why it’s important: It’s the turning point of the narrative and provides the emotional high point.

• Increase the stakes and tension.
• Focus on the protagonist’s actions and decisions.
• Make it clear that this is the decisive moment for resolving the conflict.

Example: In a sci-fi story, the protagonist confronts the alien invaders in a final battle to save humanity.

4. The Falling Action

What it is: The events that follow the climax and start to resolve the story’s conflicts.

Why it’s important: It provides a transition from the climax to the resolution, showing the aftermath and consequences.

• Show the immediate effects of the climax.
• Tie up loose ends and address remaining subplots.
• Prepare the reader for the story’s conclusion.

Example: After defeating the antagonist, the protagonist helps rebuild their community and reconcile with their friends.

5. The Resolution

What it is: The final part of the story where the conflict is resolved, and the story concludes.

Why it’s important: It provides closure and leaves the reader with a final impression.

• Ensure all major conflicts and questions are resolved.
• Reflect on the protagonist’s journey and growth.
• End with a strong, memorable line or image.

Example: The protagonist stands on a hill, looking out at the sunrise, hopeful for the future after overcoming their challenges.

How to Write the Beginning of a Short Story

The beginning of your short story is crucial—it sets the tone, introduces key elements, and hooks the reader.

Here’s how to craft an engaging opening.

1. Start with a Hook

Grab your reader’s attention from the first sentence. An intriguing or dramatic opening line can create immediate interest. Think of it as a promise to the reader that something exciting or important is about to happen.

Example: Instead of: “It was a sunny day in the city.” Use: “By the time John heard the explosion, it was already too late.”

2. Introduce the Main Character

Introduce your protagonist early on, providing just enough detail to make them interesting and relatable.

Readers should quickly understand who the story is about and begin to form a connection with the character.

Tip: Focus on a distinctive trait, action, or piece of dialogue to introduce your character memorably.

3. Set the Scene

Establish the setting to ground your readers in the story’s world.

Use vivid, sensory details to create a clear picture of the time and place. The setting should enhance the mood and give context to the unfolding events.

Example: “The alley reeked of stale beer and rotting food, dimly lit by a flickering streetlamp. Shadows danced on the graffiti-covered walls as Sam hurried through the narrow passage.”

4. Introduce the Conflict

Hint at or introduce the central conflict early on.

This sets the stage for the story’s main plot and engages readers by presenting a problem or tension that needs resolution.

Example: “Sara’s heart sank when she read the eviction notice—she had just seven days to come up with the money or lose her home.”

5. Use Active and Engaging Language

Choose strong, active verbs and vivid descriptions to make your writing dynamic and engaging.

Avoid passive constructions and unnecessary exposition.

Your goal is to draw readers in and make them want to keep reading.

Example: Instead of: “The car was driven by Mark.” Use: “Mark sped down the highway, his knuckles white on the steering wheel.”

6. Create a Sense of Urgency or Curiosity

Give readers a reason to keep turning the pages.

This can be a sense of urgency, curiosity, or suspense. Pose a question, introduce a mystery, or present an immediate challenge that compels the reader to find out what happens next.

Example: “Emily knew she shouldn’t open the door, but the knocking wouldn’t stop.”

7. Establish the Tone and Style

The beginning of your story should establish the tone and style that will carry through the rest of the narrative.

Whether it’s dark and suspenseful, light-hearted and humorous, or somber and reflective, make sure the tone is consistent from the start.

Example: For a humorous story: “Kevin’s day went from bad to worse when he accidentally sent his boss a picture of his cat wearing a party hat.”

How to Write the End of a Short Story

How your story ends is just as important as how it begins.

It provides closure and leaves a lasting impression on the reader. Below, I’ve shared some tips on how to write a short story

1. Resolve the Main Conflict

Ensure that the primary conflict introduced in the story is resolved. The resolution doesn’t have to be happy, but it should be satisfying and logical based on the story’s events.

This gives the narrative a sense of completeness.

Example: After a fierce battle, the protagonist defeats the antagonist, bringing peace to the village.

2. Show Character Growth

Reflect on how the protagonist has changed over the course of the story.

This can be a change in perspective, a learned lesson, or personal growth. Highlighting this evolution gives depth to your characters and adds meaning to the story.

Example: Initially selfish and isolated, the protagonist now values community and teamwork, illustrated by their final act of kindness.

3. Tie Up Loose Ends

Address any subplots or secondary characters that need resolution.

This doesn’t mean every question must be answered, but significant threads should be wrapped up.

Readers should feel that the story is complete.

Example: The protagonist reconciles with an estranged friend, or a mystery introduced early on is finally explained.

4. Create a Lasting Impression

End with a strong, memorable line or image that resonates with the reader.

This could be a poignant statement, a surprising twist, or a powerful visual that encapsulates the story’s theme.

Example: “The sun set over the horizon, casting a golden glow on the battlefield, as survivors began to rebuild what was lost.”

5. Consider the Theme

Ensure your ending reflects the story’s overall theme or message. This adds coherence and reinforces the narrative’s purpose. A thematic conclusion can leave readers with something to ponder.

Example: In a story about forgiveness, the protagonist forgives their adversary, underscoring the story’s message.

6. Avoid Clichés

Strive for originality in your ending.

Avoid common clichés or predictable outcomes that can diminish the impact of your story.

Aim for a conclusion that feels fresh and true to the narrative you’ve built.

Example: Instead of ending with the protagonist waking up and realizing it was all a dream, consider a more unique and meaningful twist.

7. Use Subtlety

Sometimes, a subtle, understated ending can be more powerful than a dramatic one.

Let readers draw their own conclusions or leave some aspects to their imagination. This can make the story more thought-provoking.

Example: The protagonist looks out the window, contemplating the journey ahead, leaving the reader to imagine their next steps.

8. Reflect on the Beginning

A great way to create a sense of cohesion is to reflect on the beginning of your story in the ending.

This can create a full-circle moment that emphasizes the protagonist’s journey and growth.

Example: If the story began with the protagonist feeling lost and aimless, it might end with them finding a clear purpose or direction.

By carefully crafting the beginning and ending of your short story, you create a compelling narrative that hooks readers from the start and leaves them satisfied by the end.

Short Story Length

The length of a short story can vary, but it generally falls within certain word count ranges.

Understanding these ranges and choosing the appropriate length for your story can help you meet readers’ and publishers’ expectations.

1. Flash Fiction

Word Count: 500 to 1,000 words

Characteristics: Flash fiction stories are extremely short, focusing on a single moment or scene. They require precise and concise writing, often leaving much to the reader’s imagination.

Usage: Ideal for quick reads and publications with strict word limits. Suitable for exploring a single idea or twist.

2. Short Stories

Word Count: 1,500 to 7,500 words

Characteristics: Most commonly recognized form of short story. Provides enough space for developing characters, setting, and plot while maintaining brevity.

Usage: Common in literary magazines, anthologies, and writing contests. Allows for more complex storytelling while remaining concise.

3. Novelettes

Word Count: 7,500 to 20,000 words

Characteristics: Longer than a traditional short story but shorter than a novella. Provides more room for detailed character development and intricate plots.

Usage: Suitable for stories that require more depth and exploration but don’t necessitate the length of a novella or novel.

4. Novellas

Word Count: 20,000 to 40,000 words

Characteristics: Offers substantial narrative length while still being shorter than a full-length novel. Allows for significant character arcs and detailed storytelling.

Usage: Ideal for standalone publications or serializations. Suitable for complex, layered narratives that need more development.

5. Choosing the Right Length

• Story Scope: Consider the complexity of your plot and the depth of character development needed. Larger scopes may require longer formats.
• Market Requirements: Check the word count requirements of the publication or contest you’re submitting to.
• Pacing and Detail: Shorter stories need tighter pacing and focused detail, while longer stories can explore subplots and richer settings.

Short Story Formatting

Proper formatting ensures your short story is professional and easy to read.

Adhering to standard formatting guidelines is crucial for submissions to publishers, contests, and literary magazines.

1. General Formatting Guidelines

• Font: Use a standard, readable font such as Times New Roman or Arial, size 12.
• Spacing: Double-space between lines to make room for notes and edits.
• Margins: Use one-inch margins on all sides of the page.
• Alignment: Line up your text on the left side, letting the right side be uneven.
• Indentation: Indent the first line of each paragraph by half an inch. Avoid using extra spaces between paragraphs.

2. Title Page

• Title: Center your story’s title about one-third down the page. Use bold or a slightly larger font size.
• Author Name: Place your name below the title, also centered.
• Contact Information: Include your contact details (address, email, phone number) in the upper left corner.
• Word Count: Include the word count in the upper right corner.

3. Page Headers

• Header: Use a header on each page that includes your last name, the story title (or a shortened version), and page number.
• Example: Smith / The Lost Treasure / 1

4. Dialogue Formatting

• Quotation Marks: Enclose dialogue in double quotation marks.
• Dialogue Tags: Use words like “said” or “asked” only a little, and put them outside the quotation marks.
• New Paragraphs: Start a new paragraph each time a different character speaks.

5. Scene Breaks

• Indicators: Use asterisks (***) or a single hashtag (#) centered on a line to indicate a scene break.
• Spacing: Add an extra line of space before and after the scene break indicator.

6. Submissions

• Digital: Follow specific submission guidelines provided by the publisher, which may include file format (e.g., .doc, .docx, .pdf).
• Print: Use high-quality white paper, print on one side only, and include a cover letter if required.

Example Layout:

The Lost Treasure

[Contact Information]

Word Count: 2,500

“It was a dark and stormy night,” Sarah said, her voice trembling.

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Mike asked, glancing nervously at the towering shadows.

Good Short Story vs. Great Short Story (Table of Comparison)

Best Resources for Writing Short Stories

Mastering the craft of short story writing requires continuous learning and practice.

Here are some of the best resources that can help you hone your skills and elevate your storytelling.

Final Thoughts: How to Write a Short Story

Writing a short story is a journey of creativity and discovery. Each step you take brings you closer to crafting a narrative that resonates with readers. Keep experimenting, learning, and most importantly, writing. Here’s to your next great story!

Related Posts:

• How To Write A Fantasy Short Story (Ultimate Guide + Examples)
• How to Write a Sad Story: 33 Best Tips + Examples
• How To Write A Character Driven Story [17 Tips & Examples]
• 500 Things to Write About When You Are Fresh Out of Ideas
• How To Write a Superhero Story (Ultimate Guide + Examples)

Columns > Published on June 6th, 2024

How to Write a Short Story in 9 Simple Steps

The joy of writing short stories is, in many ways, tied to its limitations.  Developing characters, conflict, and a premise within a few pages is a thrilling challenge that many writers relish — even after they've "graduated" to long-form fiction.

In this article, I’ll take you through the process of writing a short story, from idea conception to the final draft.

But first, let’s talk about what makes a short story different from a novel. 

1. Know what a short story is versus a novel

The simple answer to this question, of course, is that the short story is shorter than the novel, usually coming in at between, say, 1,000-15,000 words. Any shorter and you’re into flash fiction territory. Any longer and you’re approaching novella length. 

As far as other features are concerned, it’s easier to define the short story by what it lacks compared to the novel. For example, the short story usually has:

• fewer characters than a novel
• a single point of view, either first person or third person
• a single storyline without subplots
• less in the way of back story or exposition than a novel

If backstory is needed at all, it should come late in the story and be kept to a minimum.

It’s worth remembering, too, that some of the best short stories consist of a single dramatic episode in the form of a vignette or epiphany.

2. Pick a simple, central premise

A short story can begin life in all sorts of ways.

It may be suggested by a simple but powerful image that imprints itself on the mind. It may derive from the contemplation of a particular character type — someone you know perhaps — that you’re keen to understand and explore. It may arise out of a memorable incident in your own life.

But in most of these cases, it seems to me, the first heartbeat (the “throb,” as Vladimir Nabokov puts it) of a new story is similar: it’s a brief capsule premise that contains within itself the germ of a more complex and sophisticated narrative.

For example:

• Kafka began “The Metamorphosis” with the intuition that a premise in which the protagonist wakes one morning to find he’s been transformed into a giant insect would allow him to explore questions about human relationships and the human condition.
• Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” takes the basic idea of a lowly clerk who decides he will no longer do anything he doesn’t personally wish to do, and turns it into a multi-layered tale capable of a variety of interpretations.

When I look back on some of my own short stories, I find a similar dynamic at work: a simple originating idea slowly expands to become something more nuanced and less formulaic. 

So how do you find this “first heartbeat” of your own short story? Here are several ways to do so. 

Experiment with writing prompts

Eagle-eyed readers will notice that the story premises mentioned above actually have a great deal in common with writing prompts like the ones put forward each week in Reedsy’s short story competition . Try it out! These prompts are often themed in a way that’s designed to narrow the focus for the writer so that one isn’t confronted with a completely blank canvas.

Turn to the originals

Take a story or novel you admire and think about how you might rework it, changing a key element. (“Pride and Prejudice and Vampires” is perhaps an extreme product of this exercise.) It doesn’t matter that your proposed reworking will probably never amount to more than a skimpy mental reimagining — it may well throw up collateral narrative possibilities along the way.

Keep a notebook

Finally, keep a notebook in which to jot down stray observations and story ideas whenever they occur to you. Again, most of what you write will be stuff you never return to, and it may even fail to make sense when you reread it. But lurking among the dross may be that one rough diamond that makes all the rest worthwhile. 

3. Build a small but distinct cast of characters

Like I mentioned earlier, short stories usually contain far fewer characters than novels. Readers also need to know far less about the characters in a short story than we do in a novel (sometimes it’s the lack of information about a particular character in a story that adds to the mystery surrounding them, making them more compelling).

Yet it remains the case that creating memorable characters should be one of your principal goals. Think of your own family, friends and colleagues. Do you ever get them confused with one another? Probably not. 

Your dramatis personae should be just as easily distinguishable from one another, either through their appearance, behavior, speech patterns, or some other unique trait. If you find yourself struggling, a character profile template like the one you can download for free below is particularly helpful in this stage of writing.   

• “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman features a cast of two: the narrator and her husband. How does Gilman give her narrator uniquely identifying features?
• “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe features a cast of three: the narrator, the old man, and the police. How does Poe use speech patterns in dialogue and within the text itself to convey important information about the narrator?
• “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor is perhaps an exception: its cast of characters amounts to a whopping (for a short story) nine. How does she introduce each character? In what way does she make each character, in particular The Misfit, distinct?

4. Begin writing close to the end

It was Kurt Vonnegut who said you should start as close to the story end as possible. 

He’s right: avoid the preliminary exposition or extended scene-setting. Begin your story by plunging straight into the heart of the action. What most readers want from a story is drama and conflict, and this is often best achieved by beginning in media res . You have no time to waste in a short story. The first sentence of your story is crucial, and needs to grab the reader’s attention to make them want to read on. 

One way to do this is to write an opening sentence that makes the reader ask questions. For example, Kingsley Amis once said, tongue-in-cheek, that in the future he would only read novels that began with the words: “A shot rang out.”

This simple sentence is actually quite telling. It introduces the stakes: there’s an immediate element of physical danger, and therefore jeopardy for someone. But it also raises questions that the reader will want answered. Who fired the shot? Who or what were they aiming at, and why? Where is this happening?

We read fiction for the most part to get answers to questions. For example, if you begin your story with a character who behaves in an unexpected way, the reader will want to know why he or she is behaving like this. What motivates their unusual behavior? Do they know that what they’re doing or saying is odd? Do they perhaps have something to hide? Can we trust this character? 

As the author, you can answer these questions later (that is, answer them dramatically rather than through exposition). But since we’re speaking of the beginning of a story, at the moment it’s enough simply to deliver an opening sentence that piques the reader’s curiosity, raises questions, and keeps them reading.

5. Shut out your internal editor

“Anything goes” should be your maxim when embarking on your first draft. 

By that, I mean: kill the editor in your head and give your imagination free rein. Remember, you’re beginning with a blank page. Anything you put down will improve what’s currently there, which is nothing. And there’s a prescription for any obstacle you might encounter at this stage of writing. 

• Worried that you’re overwriting? Don’t worry. It’s easier to cut material in later drafts once you’ve sketched out the whole story. 
• Got stuck, but know what happens later? Leave a gap. There’s no necessity to write the story sequentially. You can always come back and fill in the gap once the rest of the story is complete. 
• Have a half-developed scene that’s hard for you to get onto the page? Write it in note form for the time being. You might find that it relieves the pressure of having to write in complete sentences from the get-go.

Most of my stories were begun with no idea of their eventual destination, but merely an approximate direction of travel. To put it another way, I’m a ‘pantser’ (flying by the seat of my pants, making it up as I go along) rather than a planner. There is, of course, no right way to write your first draft. What matters is that you have a first draft on your hands at the end of the day. 

6. Finish the first draft

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the ending of a short story: it can rescue an inferior story or ruin an otherwise superior one. 

If you’re a planner, you will already know the broad outlines of the ending. If you’re a pantser like me, you won’t — though you’ll hope that a number of possible endings will have occurred to you in the course of writing and rewriting the story! 

In both cases, keep in mind that what you’re after is an ending that’s true to the internal logic of the story without being obvious or predictable. What you want to avoid is an ending that evokes one of two reactions:

• “Is that it?” aka “The author has failed to resolve the questions raised by the story.”
• “WTF!” aka “This ending is simply confusing.”

7. Edit the short story

Like Truman Capote said, “Good writing is rewriting.”

Once you have a first draft, the real work begins. This is when you move things around, tightening the nuts and bolts of the piece to make sure it holds together and resembles the shape it took in your mind when you first conceived it. 

In most cases, this means reading through your first draft again (and again). In this stage of editing, think to yourself:

• Which narrative threads are already in place?
• Which may need to be added or developed further?
• Which need to perhaps be eliminated altogether?

All that’s left afterward is the final polish. Here’s where you interrogate every word, every sentence, to make sure it’s earned its place in the story:

• Is that really what I mean?
• Could I have said that better?
• Have I used that word correctly?
• Is that sentence too long?
• Have I removed any clichés? 

Trust me: this can be the most satisfying part of the writing process. The heavy lifting is done, the walls have been painted, the furniture is in place. All you have to do now is hang a few pictures, plump the cushions and put some flowers in a vase.

8. Share the story with beta readers

Eventually, you may reach a point where you’ve reread and rewritten your story so many times that you simply can’t bear to look at it again. If this happens, put the story aside and try to forget about it.

When you do finally return to it, weeks or even months later, you’ll probably be surprised at how the intervening period has allowed you to see the story with a fresh pair of eyes. And whereas it might have felt like removing one of your own internal organs to cut such a sentence or paragraph before, now it feels like a liberation. 

The story, you can see, is better as a result. It was only your bloated appendix you removed, not a vital organ.

It’s at this point that you should call on the services of beta readers if you have them. This can be a daunting prospect: what if the response is less enthusiastic than you’re hoping for? But think about it this way: if you’re expecting complete strangers to read and enjoy your story, then you shouldn’t be afraid of trying it out first on a more sympathetic audience. 

This is also why I’d suggest delaying this stage of the writing process until you feel sure your story is complete. It’s one thing to ask a friend to read and comment on your new story. It’s quite another thing to return to them sometime later with, “I’ve made some changes to the story — would you mind reading it again?”

9. Submit the short story to publications

So how do you know your story’s really finished? This is a question that people have put to me. My reply tends to be: I know the story’s finished when I can’t see how to make it any better.

This is when you can finally put down your pencil (or keyboard), rest content with your work for a few days, then submit it so that people can read your work. And you can start with this directory of literary magazines once you're at this step. 

The truth is, in my experience, there’s actually no such thing as a final draft. Even after you’ve submitted your story somewhere — and even if you’re lucky enough to have it accepted — there will probably be the odd word here or there that you’d like to change. 

Don’t worry about this. Large-scale changes are probably out of the question at this stage, but a sympathetic editor should be willing to implement any small changes right up to the time of publication. 

About the author

Robert Grossmith is a UK writer based near Norwich. In addition to his short stories, he has also published two novels as well as poems, scholarly articles and (as Bob Grossmith) book reviews. He has a BA in Philosophy & Psychology and a PhD on Vladimir Nabokov, and worked for many years as a lexicographer at Collins Dictionaries. He is now semi-retired and works part-time as a  freelance fiction editor for authors .

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How to Write a Short Story: 5 Major Steps from Start to Finish

by Sarah Gribble | 81 comments

Do you want to learn how to write a short story ? Maybe you'd like to try writing a short story instead of a novel-length work, or maybe you're hoping to get more writing practice without the lengthy time commitment that a novel requires.

The reality of writing stories? Not every short story writer wants to write a novel, but every novelist can benefit from writing short stories. However, short stories and novels are different—so naturally, how you write them has its differences, too.

Short stories are often a fiction writer’s first introduction to writing, but they can be frustrating to write and difficult to master. How do you fit everything that makes a great story into something so short?

And then, once you do finish a short story you’re proud of, what do you do with it?

That's what we'll cover in this article, along with additional resources I'll link to that will help you get started step-by-step with shorts.

Short Stories Made Me a Better Writer

I fell into writing short stories when I first started writing.

I'd written a book , and it was terrible. But it opened up my mind and I kept having all these story ideas I just had to get out.

Before long, I had dozens of stories and within about two years, I had around three dozen of them published traditionally. That first book went nowhere, by the way. But my short stories surely did.

And I learned a whole lot about the writing craft because I spent so much time practicing writing with my short stories. This is why, whether you want to make money as a short story writer or experiment writing them, I think writing short stories is important for every writer who wants to become a novelist.

But how do you write a short story? And what do you do afterwards? I hope that by sharing my personal experiences and suggestions, I can help you write your own short stories with confidence.

Why Should You Write Short Stories?

I get a lot of pushback when I suggest new writers should write short stories.

Everyone wants to write a book. (Okay, maybe not everyone, but if you ask a hundred people if they’d like to write one, I’d bet seventy-something of them would say yes.) Anthologies and short story collections don’t make a ton of money because no one really wants to read them. So why waste time writing short stories when books are what people read ?

There are three main reasons you should be a short story writer:

1. Training

Short stories help you hone your writing skills .

Short stories are often only one scene and about one character. That’s a level of focus you can’t have in a novel. Writing short stories forces you to focus on writing clearly and concisely while still making a scene entertaining.

You’re working with the basic level of structure here (a scene) and learning to perfect it .

Short stories are a place to experiment with your creative process, to play with character development techniques, to dabble in different kinds of writing styles. 

And you're learning what a finished story feels like. So many aspiring novelists have only half-done drafts in drawers. A short is training yourself to finish.

2. Building contacts and readers

Most writers I know do not want to hear this, but this whole writing thing is the same as any other industry: if you want to make it, you better network.

When my first book, Surviving Death , was released, I had hundreds of people on my launch team. How? I’d had about three dozen short stories published traditionally by that time. I’d gathered a readership base, and not only that, I’d become acquainted with some fellow writers in my genre along the way. And those people were more than willing to help me get the word out about my book.

You want loyal readers and you want friends in the industry. And the way to get those is to continuously be writing.

Writing is like working out. If you take a ton of time off, you’re going to hurt when you get back into it.

It’s a little difficult to be working on a novel all the time. Most writers have one or two in them a year, and those aren’t written without a bit of a break in between.

Short story writing helps you keep up your writing habit , or develop one, and they make for a nice break in between larger projects.

I always write short stories between novels, and even between drafts of my novels. It keeps me going and puts use to all the random story ideas I had while working on the larger project. I've found over the years that keeping up the writing habit is the only way to actually keep yourself in “writer mode.”

All the cool kids are doing it. Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Edgar Allan Poe, Kurt Vonnegut, Margaret Atwood . . . Google your favorite writers and they probably have a short story collection or two out there. Most successful authors have cut their teeth on short stories.

What is a Short Story?

Now that you know why you should be writing short stories, let’s talk about what a short story is. This might seem obvious, but it’s a question I’ve gotten a lot. A short story is short, right? Essentially, yes. But how short is short?

You can Google how long a short story is and get a bunch of different answers. There are a lot of different editors out there running a lot of different anthologies, magazines, ezines, podcasts, you name it. They all have slightly different definitions of what a short story is because they all have slightly different needs when it comes to providing content on their platform and meeting the expectations of their audiences.

A podcast, for instance, often wants a story to take up about thirty minutes of airtime. They know how long it takes their producers to read a story, so that thirty minutes means they’re looking for a very specific word count. An ezine might aim for a certain estimated reading time. A magazine or anthology might have a certain number of pages they’re trying to fill.

Everyone has a different definition of how short a short story is, so for the purpose of this series, I’m going to be broad in my definition of a short story.

What qualifies as a short story?

A short story word count normally falls somewhere between 1,000 words and 10,000 words. If you’re over ten thousand, you’re running into novelette territory, though some publications consider up to 20,000 words to be a short story. If you’re under a thousand words, you’re looking at flash fiction.

The sweet spot is between 2,000 and 5,000 words. The majority of short stories I’ve had published were between 2,500 words and 3,500 words.

That’s not a lot of words, and you’ve got a lot to fit in—backstory, world-building, a character arc—in that tiny amount of space. (A book, by the way, is normally 60,000 to 90,000 words or longer. Big difference.)

A short story is one to three scenes. That’s it. Think of it as a “slice of life,” as in someone peeked into your life for maybe an hour or two and this is what they saw.

You’re not going to flesh out every detail about your characters. (I normally don’t even know the last names of my short story characters, and it doesn’t matter.) You’re not trying to build a Tolkien-level world. You don’t need to worry about subplots.

To focus your writing, think of a short story as a short series of events happening to a single character. The rest of the cast of characters should be small.

How to Write a Short Story: The Short Version

Throughout this blog series, I’ll take a deep dive into the process of writing short stories. If you’re looking for the fast answer, here it is:

• Write the story in one sitting.
• Take a break.
• Edit with a mind for brevity.
• Get feedback and do a final edit.

Write the story in one sitting

For the most part, short stories are meant to be read in one sitting, so it makes sense that you should write them in one sitting.

Obviously, if you’re in the 10K range, that’s probably going to take more than one writing session, but a 2,500-word short story can easily be written in one sitting. This might seem a little daunting, but you’ll find your enthusiasm will drive you to the ending and your story will flow better for it.

You’re not aiming for prize-winning writing during this stage. You’re aiming to get the basic story out of your head and on paper.

Forget about grammar . Forget about beautiful prose. Forget about even making a ton of sense.

You’re not worrying about word count at this stage, either. Don’t research and don’t pause over trying to find the exact right word. Don't agonize over the perfect story title.

Just get the basic story out. You can’t edit a blank page.

Take a break

Don’t immediately begin the editing process. After you’ve written anything, books included, you need to take a step back . Your brain needs to shift from “writer mode” to “reader mode.” With a short story, I normally recommend a three-day break.

If you have research to do, this is the time to do it, though I highly recommend not thinking about your story at all.

The further away you can get from it, the better you’ll edit.

Edit with a mind for brevity

Now that you’ve had a break, you’re ready to come back with a vengeance. This is the part where you “kill your darlings” and have absolutely no mercy for the story you produced less than a week ago. The second draft is where you get critical.

Remember we’re writing a short story here, not a novel. You don’t have time to go into each and every detail about your characters’ lives. You don’t have time for B-plots, a ton of characters, or Stephen King-level droning on.

Short stories should have a beginning, a middle, and an end, though. They’re short, but they’re still stories.

As you edit , ask yourself if each bit of backstory, world building, and anything else is something your reader needs to know. If they do, do they need to know it right at that moment? If they don’t, cut it.

Get feedback

If this is your first time letting other people see your writing, this can be a scary step. No one wants to be given criticism. But getting feedback is the most important step in the writing process next to writing.

The more eyes you can get on a piece of writing, the better.

I highly recommend getting feedback from someone who knows about writing, not your mother or your best friend. People we love are great, but they love you and won’t give you honest feedback. If you want praise, go to them. If you want to grow as a writer, join a writing community and get feedback from other writers.

When you’ve gotten some feedback from a handful of people, make any changes you deem necessary and do a final edit for smaller issues like grammar and punctuation.

Here at The Write Practice, we’re huge fans of publishing your work . In fact, we don’t quite consider a story finished until it’s published.

Whether you’re going the traditional route and submitting your short story to anthologies and magazines, or you’re more into self- publishing , don’t let your story languish on your computer. Get it out into the world so you can build your reader base.

And it’s pretty cool getting to say you’re a published author.

That’s the short version of how to go about writing short stories. Throughout this series, I’ll be taking a more in-depth look at different elements of these steps. Stick with me throughout the series, and you’ll have a short story of your own ready to publish by the end.

A Preview of My How to Write a Short Story Series

My goal in this blog series is to walk you through the process of writing a short story from start to finish and then point you in the right direction for getting that story published.

By the end of this series, you’ll have a story ready to submit to publishers and a plan for how to submit.

Below is a list of topics I’ll be covering during this blog series. Keep coming back as these topics are updated over the coming months.

How to Come up With Ideas For Short Stories

Creative writing is like a muscle: use it or lose it. Coming up with ideas is part of the development of that muscle. In this post , I’ll go over how to train your mind to put out ideas consistently.

How to Plan a Short Story (Without Really Planning It)

Short stories often don’t require extensive planning. They’re short, after all. But a little bit of outlining can help. Don’t worry, I’m mostly a pantser! I promise this won’t be an intense method of planning. It will, however, give you a start with the elements of story structure—and motivation to get you to finish (and publish) your story. Read this article to see how a little planning can go a long way toward writing a successful story.

What You Need in a Short Story/Elements of a Short Story

One of the biggest mistakes I see from new writers is their short stories aren’t actually stories. They're often missing a climax, don't have an ending, or just ramble on in a stream-of-consciousness way without any story structure. In this article , I’ll show you what you need to make sure your short is a complete story.

Writing Strategies for Short Stories

The writing process varies from person to person, and often from project to project. In this blog , I’ll talk about different writing strategies you can use to write short stories.

How to Edit a Short Story

Editing is my least favorite part of writing. It’s overwhelming and often tedious. I’ll talk about short story editing strategies to take the confusion out of the process, and ensure you can edit with confidence.Learn how to confidently edit your story here .

Writing a Better Short Story

Short stories are their own art form, mainly because of the small word count. In this post, I’ll discuss ways to write a better short, including fitting everything you want and need into that tiny word count.

Weaving backstory and worldbuilding into your story without overdoing it. Remember, you don't need every detail about the world or a character's life in a short story—but the setting shouldn't be ignored. How your protagonist interacts with it should be significant and interesting.

How to Submit a Short Story to Publications

There are plenty of literary magazines, ezines, anthologies, etc. out there that accept short stories for publication (and you can self-publish your stories, too). In this article, I’ll demystify the submission process so you can submit your own stories to publications and start getting your work out there. You'll see your work in a short story anthology soon after using the tips in this article !

Professionalism in the Writing Industry

Emotions can run high when you put your work out there for others to see. In this article, I’ll talk about what’s expected of you in this profession and how to maintain professionalism so that you don't shoot yourself in the foot when you approach publishers, editors, and agents.

Write, Write, Write!

As you follow this series, I challenge you to begin writing at least one short story a week. I'll be giving you in-depth tips on creating a compelling story as we go along, but for now, I want you to write. That habit is the hardest thing to start and the hardest thing to keep up.

You may not use all the stories you're going to write over the next months. You may hate them and never want them to see the light of day. But you can't get better if you don't practice. Start practicing now.

As Ray Bradbury says:

“Write a short story every week. It's not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row.”

When it comes to writing short stories, what do you find most challenging? Let me know in the comments .

For today’s practice, let’s just take on Step #1 (and begin tackling the challenge I laid down a moment ago): Write the basic story idea, the gist of the premise, as you’d tell it to a friend. Don’t think about it too much, and don’t worry about going into detail. Just write.

Write for fifteen minutes .

When your time is up, share your practice in the Pro Practice Workshop. And after you post, please be sure to give feedback to your fellow writers.

Happy writing!

Sarah Gribble

Sarah Gribble is the author of dozens of short stories that explore uncomfortable situations, basic fears, and the general awe and fascination of the unknown. She just released Surviving Death , her first novel, and is currently working on her next book.

Follow her on Instagram or join her email list for free scares.

Work with Sarah Gribble?

Bestselling author with over five years of coaching experience. Sarah Gribble specializes in working with Dark Fantasy, Fantasy, Horror, Speculative Fiction, and Thriller books. Sound like a good fit for you?

81 Comments

! ! ! JACKPOT ! ! !

I mean it! Finally, after months and months of reading literally hundreds of blog posts and comments, I find that you have addressed the writing of short stories in a manner that is direct, practical, and clear.

It is not my intention to write TGAN. It never was.

I hope, rather, to entertain with short stories drawn from the experiences of my living. This post has illuminated a clear path through the (often valuable, genuinely valid, but – for me, anyway – not-directly-relevant) facts, experiences and anecdotes of other writers and would-be practitioners of the art that all seem focused on novel-length work.

I would encourage you to entertain the possibility of more posts on the art form and production of short stories.

Wow, Bob. That’s so good to hear.

Speaking of short story articles, have you read my book Let’s Write a Short Story? You might enjoy it! Check out letswriteashortstory.com.

The picture on how to write a short story is pretty much how I wrote my first one and have started my second. I had my first one critiqued, then revised it to the critters suggestions (they made perfect sense) and my story has improved considerably. I thought I was being lame on how I came to write them, but I see now, I accidentally stumbled on the formula for writing. Thanks Joe. I’m writing easier now.

Love that, Susan. Like Neil said, there is no formula. You have to write the story the way it wants to be written. But I find that I need structure to keep myself motivated and moving, so this process usually helps me stay focused. Glad you’re finding the writing process easier!

This is such a great post, Joe! I used to be primarily a short story writer but have been working on a novel for so long I feel as though I can’t remember how short stories work – but this brought it all back, and in a much better more clear cut manner than my old ways! I used to meander through a short story like a blind woman in the dark until I bumped into the ending – but I had a lot more time on my hands to do such meandering than I do now, so I’ll definitely give this technique a try!

I’ve done the same, Dana. However haltingly and messy my process has been, though, it usually follows this rough pattern I listed above. Has that been true for you as well?

I was always a “pantser” for stories, and would start with a concept or opening scene, and then feel my way through. It could take weeks to get a first draft. Then I’d edit. The first step of yours blew me away, the idea of writing a “story” without any pressure to make it great, to just get to the gist of it, is pretty brilliant. I often put so much pressure on myself to get it right on the page that it slows me down. I’m already at work (in my head) on part 1 of a story I’ve been meaning to rewrite, and I feel very confident about it thanks to your advice 🙂

There is nothing wrong with pantsing it! I would be labeled a “pantser” but as I tell every one, it only looks that way. Outlines form around character so quickly in my head, it seems to be unplanned, but that is not true. I always have an outline, I just don’t spend a lot of time on it. The important thing is to write to end before doing any re-writing!

I’ve never been a big fan of writing short stories. They’ve always seemed like “a good start on a novel-length story”.

But your outline for writing a short story has me rethinking that philosophy. I may just give it a try.

Thanks for a new idea on a Saturday morning!

DO IT! And let me know how it goes, Carrie. 🙂

Agreed! ….on a Saturday afternoon! Fabulous tips to try. Thanks, Joe.

Short stories are an important marketing tool for all writers. And so is flash fiction. Lee Goldberg, creator/head writer for Monk and several other TV mystery series, writes short stories and novels using the Monk character. I hate the TV show Monk, but loved the short story Mr. Monk and The Seventeen Steps in the Dec 2010 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. I plan to read some of novels. Lee Goldberg is an excellent writer. The stories and novels support the TV series and the TV series supports the short stories and novel.

If you plan to traditionally publish, published short stories can get you a better agent and open door that may otherwise stay shut.

If you plan to self-publish, free short stories using your characters can be a good way to turn non-fans in customers for your wears. Think on them as test for readers–but don’t think it while you are writing the story.

I play to use this strategy to publish my Old West book series.

Wow, this is a very creepy story, Tom! You should work on it!

Reading this post made me reflect on my own writing routine. I tend to do steps 1-5 in one sitting, pumping out ~2,500-3,500 words in an hour, which is usually all I have for a short story. It’s the editing that definitely takes up the most time. I give it a day before going back and seeing how I can optimize the plot and the finer details.

The number one motivating factor for me to finish writing is my initial interest and excitement of the original idea for the story itself. A wasted story is such a shame, after all.

Impressive Patrick. I could do Steps 1-3 in one sitting, but breaking it into scenes, and especially the research, take me a lot of time.

Scrivener is a great tool for breaking it into workable chances. My second most favorite thing about it!

Agreed Cynthia! Have you seen my review of it? https://thewritepractice.com/scrivener

I had the exact same experience! I need to learn about the word count goals. My favorite feature is the ability to move scenes around and then read it as one long document without actually moving anything.

I am new at it, but look forward to learning more! Great review!

How to write short story? For me he only way is to order it on custom essay writing services reviews pa . To write something you need to be creative person, and it’s not about me 🙁

Love this post! Your first point, write the entire story, is great piece of advice. I say this all this time, “Write the story from beginning to end before doing any re-writing!”

Research being the #5 is great! I don’t find many other writer’s agreeing with on this. They will insist on doing the research upfront. I will see them a year later and ask how the project is going and the answer will be, “I’m still doing research.” I call it The Blackhole of Research and many writers get sucked it. I fell into it once myself when working on a play based on Shakespeare’s Sonnets. I got caught up it wanting to know if Shakespeare wrote the sonnets or not. I never wrote the play. The research thoroughly obscured what I believe would have been an interesting musical. For my series of novel set in the old west, I’m using a time line of events with scant details. I found I need this for the storytelling. But that is it.

I agree with you 100% about Scrivener. It has a bit of learning curve, but is worth it. I started to using it on my last story and now am using it to edit my novel. You can rearrange your scenes any way you want and then read is if it was a continuous document, but without changing the original order of scenes. Valuable in the editing process. It made me happy!

The Only Story They’ll Ever Read. This is excellent advice. It is where many talented writer’s fail.

How I Write Short Stories It takes me about 30 hours to do a draft of a story and then three times that to edit. If I have a real deadline (Not the self imposed kind) I can write it in 8 hours or less and edit it in 12.

I have learned that all I have to do is start writing and a story will emerge. Every time I do a writing prompt, I end up with a story. Every time I write for practice or to take a break from another project, I end up with a story. They are not always good.

Something unusual about me. I hate writing first drafts and love, love, love re-writing them.

How is that “unusual?” I know lots of people who enjoy rewriting over first drafts…? (There’s always someone who believes their “strange” in their habits. You must be from a small town or something lol

Once again, Joe, you cut through all the garbage that’s usually out there about writing to make the process simple. I especially like the idea of doing research after fleshing out the story. I was doing research before starting and I drove myself into a sticky mess. Thank you for pointing out the obvious – even though it wasn’t obvious to me.

I was alone, sitting next to a window on a commercial flight paid for by another who I was convinced cared little for my well being while offering an all expense paid year in a foreign land, no strings attached accept the one holding the sword of Damocles.

One thing I would add, and it’s the best practice I’ve picked up over the years, is to start with the ending. So for number #3, I would suggest come up with both the open and close and fill in the rest.

Thank you so much for this post. It finally got me started on a short story I have been wanting to write for more than a year. Writing down the basic story helped me see the story first.

Thank You… the guide is helpful. Our Lecturer gave an assignment she obliged that we must write a short story in our Journal but i think with your guide i’m going to make it great in the procedure of writing my short story…Thank Alot.

Thank you for this guide! My son is in eighth grade and assigned to write a short story in his honors English class. He’s very analytical and excelling in science and math. He does well in English but this short story has him flummoxed. He keeps saying he doesn’t know how to write a story, which is perplexing because throughout elementary school he wrote long, imaginative stories well above his grade level.

He desperately wants to write this short story but It’s as if his analytical mind has blocked access to his imagination and creativity. What served him well as a child has been squashed by puberty and the inevitable march to maturity. Oh, the sadness.

I just have a feeling though your guide will provide the structure he’s seeking and reopen the pathway to his creativity. It’s still there. We see it all the time. Your guide is organized around the process with time frames to boot! What more could an analytical mind want.

Thank you so much for this post. Sometimes the story gets lost while spending time researching. I always believed the story benefited from a little brewing time before taking on a life outside of my mind. I see now that I’ve been missing out on the valuable steps that can take place once the story is down and the transformation that can take place to form a short story. Your advice is elegant in it’s simplicity.

Great post, but I have one question though to the numer 5.

What am I supposed to research? Research for what? I just don’t understand this.

To me you research for different things. Location and setting of the storiy, maybe it in La Havana, Cuba you should know they speak Spanish, they were in a economy regression so the building are not painted. Maybe one character has some type of illness (PTSD, Lupus, etc.) You would have to know how would that influence how they act, are perceive or look in a story. If he has PTSD he may have flashback’s, or deprecion, ect.

Maybe is a historical fiction you need to know how people acted in that time, what they wore, what was happening, etc.

It give you a better understanding of what is happening. So what you write is believed or make senses.

Thanks for breaking this process down into simple steps! I naturally tend to sit down and spill out the whole story but often don’t know where to go from there. Your post gives me guidelines on how to approach the editing process that I know my work needs.

The best part is your distinction between “the story” and “the short story”. Knowing that makes it so much easier to write that first draft – without agonizing over a sloppy beginning or the overly vague details that require more research.

What a great way to get into your writing with the confidence that you’ll know how to make it better later!

Wow! You make it sound soo easy. Got a load of stories at different stages and feel I should try your steps.

Thanks, Mwai Gichimu http://www.creativeheritage.org

I didn’t realize until fairly recently that short stories were . . . well, so short. I typically write fanfiction that would be consider more of a novella at least 40,000 words. I actually don’t like reading short stories less than 7 chapters and/or 10,000 words. I don’t know I just like more meat on my books than the typical 7 chapter deal.

A Day in the Life of the Samurai.

It was an ordinary day — in the life of the samurai, that is. Samurai and heir to the Hagi residential, Kento Kadesheke, was engaged in a duel with his well recognized, self esteemed master.

“Dodge,” commanded his brain as he curled into a ball and escaped a fatal blow by what marked his people, the sword. Then he leapt up and swished his sword here and there, in defence. Next, he went all-out in a sword batting contest with his master. This gave his time to regain his breath. Now, as many know, the more experienced mostly comes on top, so was the case here. Tired and impatient, Kento tried to disarm his master and opponent. His master expected it and dodged it, not so long before launching a barrage of sword hits, disarming Kento.

Per the rules, disarms end battles, so Kento bowed and fetched his sword. He asked “What did I do wrong, milord,” His master smiled and gently said ” Nothing but thou were a bit impatient,” he added “I can see quick and great improvement,” Now all of this was said in Japanese, but I daren’t mention in imagined sesquipedalophobia

The importance of step six cannot be overstated. I think a second pair of eyes is essential for editing. For example, this non-sentence is from Joe’s promo for his book: http://letswriteashortstory.com/why-short-stories/ “Even more importantly, to practice deliberately have to put your writing skills to the test.” See what I mean?

“Run Isola!”

Isola’s mother yelled over the wind. Isola’s heart was pounding, and she felt as if she might faint. Her brown hair whipped fast, stinging her face. Her mother was rushing her into the safe house. They prepared it a month before when they heard about the Vortex Storm. The name was fitting because there was a big whirl of dark, ravenous clouds. They seemed to eat the whole sky.

“Where is Will and Dad?” Isola asked. “I thought they were coming with us!”

“I am going to get them,” Isola’s mother answered. “Just go and get there before you get hurt!”

She turned and went back to the house while Gloria went toward the safe house.

The wind was so strong, Isola felt as if it would lift her and pick her off her feet. Debris flew everywhere. Other people in her neighborhood were gathering belongings, children, pets, and driving away to the community safe house. Isola was tempted to follow them.

Isola finally made it to the safe house. Its interior was located underground and the door were made of steel. Underground Isola knew there were also steel bars to support the roof the steel ceiling. The lock on the door was located inside. Her father was a construction worker so getting the materials to build it was easy. Isola’s mind flashed back to the time her father stayed up for weeks at a time making sure everything was secure. When she asked if she could help or see what he was working on, he simply told her that it wasn’t time yet. Whatever that meant.

Isola began to open the door, when she heard familiar voices behind her.

“Isola! Watch out!”

Relief comforted her heart for a moment. It was Will’s voice, and he was okay. He’s head popped out around the corner. His brown curly hair waving on his face in the harsh wind. But, that relief was replaced with panic when she saw a big massive tree branch about to fall. On her.

Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to build a safe house by a tree Isola thought. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to build a safe house, period.

That was all Isola had time to think about before the tree branch fell, and she was forced back by some invisible force. It felt like a hand grabbing her. She stumbled backwards and bumped into something.

Or someone.

“Isola, what are you crazy? You just stand there watching it fall on you, and do absolutely nothing while the branch almost crushes you!”

She turned around to the look to who was speaking to her. And a concerned, upset, face was peering down back at her. Her father. Despite her father scolding at her, she was relieved to see he was okay. Her mother came running in after them.

“Are you okay? What happened?” She turned to Isola’s father. “Mark.”

Mark put a hand on his wife’s arm. “Anna, she’s fine” He started toward the safe house again. “Let’s just hurry and all go inside-” Mark stopped.

“What? What is it?”

Isola followed to where he was staring. The tree branch was on top of the safe house. Blocking the only entrance inside.

Mark shook his head. Swore a few latin words. Anna shot daggers at him covering Will’s ears.

Will looked to me with eyes of confusion. I shrugged.

“Why are we going in here? Why don’t we go in with the other kids and adults?” Will asked.

Will spoke with an accent that his mom said came from his father. When he said ‘adults’ he pronounced it adoolts He pulled his mother’s hands off his ears.

“Will-” His father said will a warning tone in his voice.

“There is a branch on blocking the door. Besides, everybody else is going!” Will argued.

“They don’t want to go to the Community safe house, Will.” Isola told him.

“But, all my friends are there! I wanna go too!” Will whined.

“We have a safe house right here.” Anna said ignoring Will.

Isola made a motion to the safe house which was still stable, but had an impossible entrance. She opened her mouth to say something sarcastic but her mother must of saw the expression on her face because she held up her hand.

“That is enough Isola.” Her mother yelled over the wind. “You have been complaining about this the whole time, and show no appreciation for what your father is doing for you-”

“Dad what are you doing?” Will interrupted.

Gloria and her mom turned around to see what Will was talking about. Mark was pushing the branch-or at least trying to-off the entrance. Anna looked to Will and Isola.

“Come on, don’t just stand there, go help out your father!”

They didn’t need to be asked twice. They all went over and helped Mark push the branch. They pushed, pulled, lifted, but the branch didn’t move more than a couple of inches. But, even by then they were all tired and each second they stayed outside was each second to their death.

Mark reached through one of the openings of the branch and opened the door. “Will or Gloria, one of you can fit in here. Try to go through.”

Will crosses his arms. “No way! I want to go to the Community safe house. Besides you guys could lock us in there and go without us so you can go have fun.” Will stared at his mom and dad with accusing eyes. He had his jaw set in way that showed he wasn’t going to budge.

“Will” His father said angrily.

Isola started toward the entrance. “I’ll go, if you won’t go. Let’s just get in before we get hit by one of those meteorites.” She pointed to the sky. It was darker now blocking out so much sun, the light detectors triggered on the street lights for night time.

Isola started in, going feet first, having a little of a hard time getting in. When she felt her feet touch the ground she called up.

“Okay I’m in!”

There was no response. She looked up to see if anyone was looking in but she saw no one there.

“Mom? Dad?”

She heard something up there that sound like arguing, then panic, and then a moment of silence.

“Isola, are okay down there?” Her mom asked.

“Yeah, what are you guys waiting for?”

“We are going to the Community shelter.”

Isola didn’t know whether to laugh or scream.

“Isola, don’t worry you can wait down there-”

“Wait here? No!” Isola said shaking her head. “Bring me up with you guys.”

“The branch is stuck here, and plus we are running out of time, we are going to see if we can make it-”

Isola heard her father’s voice in the background. She only caught a few words and sentences like: ‘he said’ and ‘not good idea’ and ‘listen’

“I don’t care about what Jem thinks, we are leaving.” Isola heard her mom say.

And the door shut.

Isola heard screams outside. She heard some of Will’s screams, mixed with her mother’s, and other screams of children, frightened animals, and other people. She didn’t want to think about going out there. She knew she couldn’t. So, when the door shut Isola locked the door and went to the furthest corner of the room.

There were blankets, food, water, first aid items, and a radio there. The food and water was packed into four different black book bags. Looking at them made her feel anxious and worried. They’ll be okay. Everything is fine. She thought. When she still didn’t feel any better, she said out loud, “It’s okay. Everything is fine.” Even she knew the words sounded empty and unconvincing.

She wasn’t hungry at the moment. Fatigue washed over Isola so suddenly, that she felt dizzy. Grabbing her blanket from the corner she moved the rest of the items by the door. After, she walked to the corner, sat putting her knees up to her chin, and wrapped the blanket around herself, over her head and ears. She tried to huddle as far as she could into the corner. She wanted to be as far away from the screams as possible. Isola shivered. Though it wasn’t against the cold.

( For more or the rest of the story email me at [email protected] ) 🙂 Tell what you think.

This has been incrediably helpful! Making myself put off researching wasn’t something I would have thought would make a big difference but it really has.

I might be a bit late to the party…my 15 mins.

———- Hugh set the knife against his knee and started sawing through the skin.

As the pain coursed through his nerves, he lost his grip. “Damn bugs,” he hissed as his fingers failed to listen to his brain.

Laying his head against the cold metal of the bathtub, Hugh swore he could feel the lowjack implant in his spinal cord thrumming. A few moments later, the door opened on rusty hinges, allowing the light from the rest of the apartment in.

A falsetto voice spoke from the doorway. “Human, you have sustained an injury to your right knee. Medical personnel have been summoned.”

Hugh turned suddenly, knocking the knife to the floor. “Don’t you dare let those butchers in here!” Sitting up, he started to sob. “I’ve got nothing left for them to take.”

A six foot tall mechanical figure strode calmly into the room. “Human, I’m going to freeze you until the medical personnel arrive.” A green light started blinking in its eye socket. “Do not be alarmed, it is for your own safety.”

Hugh was half way out of the bathtub before the lowjack cut off any control he had over his body.

The android moved to the tub, and gingerly picked Hugh up, moving him through the spacious apartment to a chair by the front door.

“I will be in stasis until they arrive,” the android stated.

Hugh couldn’t detect any difference from a few moments ago. The android stood stone still, the only difference an irregular pattern to the blinking green light.

Waiting a full minute to ensure the thing wasn’t aware, Hugh tried moving his hand. The fingers twitched.

i have a short story , would it be too late to post here , i need some opinion

I opened my eyes to see a dark shadow in my bedroom, it looked like a figure of a man. I had been thinking a lot about my uncle Herbert who had died in the first world war ,l was stunned! Could he be the person on my bed? To stunned to talk to him l recalled speaking to a medium early on in the day about Herbert he came through and said he wondered what his life would have been like if he had lived he died aged 26 . I looked more closely at this figure on my bed then he said come on Pam get up!! We’re on holiday now!!! Pew!!!

Thanks for the great advice Joe Bunting. What I read, helps me know what’s ahead of me to be a writer. I love how you explained about it being hard to finish a story, when you are in the middle of the story. As to rowing a boat to an island. I’ve started stories, got to the middle and didn’t know where to go. Now I know that’s common to happen. I’ll close at this point and get started writing something that I wrote in High School that others loved. Thanks again for inspiring me with what you wrote.

Rick Olmsted

Nice blog here. I think this would be more helpful in my writing career. But if you really need a professional to write a children short story for you, I would recommend a gig I use on Fiverr https://www.fiverr.com/sophiebrown/write-kindle-children-bestseller-book-for-publishing

This is a great intro in short story writing! Usually the only writing I do is assignments and essays. I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a story for a while and this post provided great motivation. So here it is.. my first 15 minute attempt at putting ideas down in words.

The time had come to meet face to face with her biggest rival. She had never met her before but the stories were enough for her to realise the threat that she posed. The environment wasn’t one which forged the women together, to bond. It promoted rivalry. Only the fittest would survive the night and walk away with cash in the hand. Tonight was the same as every other night. It started out with the usual routine. She would meticulously apply her make up to accentuate her pale blue eyes. Her greatest asset, or at least that’s what they told her. The blackness of the eyeliner was unforgiving; no amount of it could cover up the turbulent storm brewing in her blue eyes. Her reflection showed no hint of the emotions she was trying to deny. Her hair was down around her shoulders, glistening from the heat in the room. The air was muggy despite it being a cool night. She looked around the room wondering how her life had brought her to be here in this moment. The walls were as red as bitten lips, that’s what they reminded her of. The other girls were getting impatient that she had taken so much time in the one mirror, which covered the wall above the alcove. There was barely enough room for all four of them to get ready in there. Bags of make up, shoes and dresses, if you could call them that, were scattered at their feet. The buzz of the dryer in the adjoining room reminded her that there was work to be done. Fresh sheets and towels needed to be put out in the rooms before the men arrived. This job gave her a reprieve from being in that suffocating red room. She left the girls to decide on the dresses they would wear tonight.

I was fine, good in fact, realizing that I was stuck in a rut of step 1, Telling my stories. I can do step two, even three. Now I’m lost at step four: I’m writing a short story, not a novel. I’m stopping here; lost my interest, for the moment.

Tara is unhappy with her life. She always has been. No one ever understood why. Tara comes from a great home, with a great family; yet she always seemed to be downtrodden and meloncholic. At 21 Tara isn’t even doing things that her peers enjoy. This should be the time in her life where fun, adventure and discovery are a must. Tara doesn’t follow crowds, has no real friends to speak of and is always quiet; except if called on in a class setting. John and lydia French, tara’s parents have sought help for her from many professionals, and none have been able to point out a diagnoses to fit tara’s personality flaws. There was a time once when tara was younger perhaps four or five when she was at summer camp. She showed light in her eye and a possibility of hope glimmered that maybe she had found her niche. The latter part of that camping trip showed the worst side of tara yet. It seemed she regressed even more than when she arrived. Fisher is a guy who grew up with tara and has know her and her family for many years. He has concocted this plan to attempt to court tara with these simple steps that he has been putting together to turn who he sees as the love of his life into a more loving and joyful human being. The first step was to be seen accidently by tara at more than one occation during her day. Of course it’s not accidental, he’s planned the whole thing, but in fisher’s mind maybe tara never got the attention she needed. On Saturdays tara frequents the same internet cafe near her University, then she goes running at a nearby park, following this she heads back to campus. Fisher was sure to be seen by tara in all but the last place her home, so as not to seem to creepy. He pb believes he may have saw tara grin or smirk once or maybe, he just wants to make her happy so badly that he imagined it. He did this for three saturdays, then finally askds tara to the movies. To his surprise tara says yes. Fisher is ecstatic. They schedule their date for the following week. Fisher picked tara up on time from her dorm and they stap for a street car meal before heading to the movies. He excorts her home and when he reaches in for a kiss tara scream can be heard throughout the city. Campus security arrives and tara is take

Sarah was shaking over the little table staring at her coffee. Her eyes looked as black s the liquid in the cup. She couldn’t speak, it was too much for her at the moment. Besides apart of maybe weak squick nothing else would come out from her mouth. She was so scared to go back home but she couldn’t stay in this coffee shop forever. Sarah didn’t have any idea what to do. She quit her job without finding the new one, all of her savings were gone already so she couldn’t really afford to move right now. But she also couldn’t face her landlord from hell and his crazy family. It was like the worst nightmare.

Sarah moved in to this house thinking it’s going to be a lovely place to live. She would share it with two friends and probably rent the third bedroom to another familiar face. At least that was the plan. The landlord was white with black hair and spoke good English. She assumed he was an English man. After seeing the place with her two mates they made the decision instantly. Paid cash for deposit to black haired man and received the keys. When asked for receipt he said he will provide it next time as he had no receipt book on him. Fair enough.

A few days later Sarah, Daniel and Becky lived together in the lovely semi-detached house with good sized garden. The trio opened some beers and decided to celebrate their new nest completely unaware of what is yet to come…

love your book! Keep on the good job

“Do you think Petraeus will like the red hood, or the blue hood?” Charlene aksed her brother, “or is the yellow one better? Hmm… the orange one is also very appealing. What do you think, Eustace?”

“I think you should just take one and go see him before it gets late, sister.” He sighed, annoyed.

The tall brunnette, turned around to face her brother. Why was she even asking him that kind of stuff anyway? He’s a boy, he wouldn’t care one bit. “If you are going to be such a ogre, why should I even ask?”

“I wish I could understand that too, you know.” he said, preparing himself for the trip. Lifting his simple dark brown hood from the floor, he sat down to fix his boots. “But I personally think I am not the best person to help you change the color of a piece of cloth, Charlene. It’s just a piece of cloth, you do not have to make such a big deal about it.”

She groaned angrily, while taking the red one.”I do not understand what is your probllem, really.”

“Guess what? Me neither.” he laughed as he ran through the door. Eustace could hear the angry blabbing of her sister, but decided to ignore.

(UGH IM SLOOOOOOOW!!!)

Wanted Child (FULL VERSION)

The siren’s screaming to the neighbors, waking them from their peaceful slumber. The red and blue lights blinding everyone who looks in its way. A little girl, not later of the age of 9, being carried out of a home in the arms of a police officer. Her crying silencing everything else to the man’s ears. The child clutching onto his navy-blue shirt, begging for the awful image out of her head. He looks at the girl in pain, wishing for a miracle to break through. He sighs and looks forward, his face a mask of pain. He looks around and spots a woman with her back turned to her, talking to one of the girl’s neighbors. He approaches her and acknowledges her. “Corrine,” he started. The woman turns around and lightly nods. “Chief Jacob Ray.” She states, concern written in her strained voice. She is a lawyer working on a case where she is defending a man who was framed for the murder of his brother. She might have been yelling at a court trial. She spoke, “What do you need? Poor child. She didn’t deserve to witness that.” She is right. She never deserved to witness such a horrible thing. “I need a blanket for her. And, also, give her water.” He looks down at her to see her asleep. He sighs and looks back at the woman. “She will stay with me until we find her a home.” She slightly widened her eyes, looking at Jacob confusedly. She replied, “Are you sure you can take care of a child? Jacob, you don’t have anyone else to help take care of this girl.”

She stopped when she heard the girl sighing. She looked at her with both pain and hope for her. Jacob also had hope. Hope that her life was going to change for the better and not for the worse. “I’ll go get the blanket and water.” He heard Corrine say. He didn’t acknowledge her, to let her know that he heard her. She sighed in content and walked away, yelling for a blanket and water. He looked down at her. Her blue eyes fluttered open, looking around. She looked up at him and smiled. She let go of her shirt and hugged him. His eyes widened slightly as she hugged him. His eyes slowly went back down as she started crying. He started shushing her, whispering that it is all over. That she doesn’t have to worry anymore. He was going to make sure of it. He was going to be on a hiatus to take care of her. A few moments later he hears a distant voice saying, “Here we go dear.” Corrine’s voice makes the girl look up. She sniffs and wipes her eyes, muttering a quick thank you while doing so. Corrine looks at the poor girl in despair and calmly says, “Drink. You must be thirsty.” Corrine holds a glass up, showing her that she has something for her to drink. The little girl nods, agreeing with the woman. Corrine gives the glass to her, holding it to her lips. The little girl drinks happily, sighing in content with the refreshing feeling, soothing her parched throat. Jacob asks, “So, what’s your name?” The girl stops drinking and looks at the man. She replies, “Elly, but my real name is Elizabeth. My parents used to call me “Elly”, but after their.” She stops, closing her eyes

This is all I have and I am writing 2 different versions. One is for a short story contest and one is for publishing (which is this one)

I love writing short stories. I believe what turns me on to the format is the fact that it makes for quick reading. At the same time, you can get so much out of it like you would a novel.

I do think I’ve been writing short stories the wrong way. It takes me a couple of weeks to get a story down. Most of it is due to time constraints. But I have tools to lessen that time. And I’m so worried about getting it right the first time that I miss the point of the process. It takes diligence and patience to write a great story.

I will take these tips to heart and work as hard as I can to write the best stories possible.

This story is about Rafa, a five-year-old boy born during the final years of Israel’s wandering in the wilderness. His father, Duriel, is a Levite who serves the tabernacle. His mother, Ronit, has just died. His older sister, Miriam, is ten years old.

Duriel is a bitter, heartbroken man. His wife is dead. His firstborn is a girl, and his only son will never be a man, have a family, or serve the tabernacle. There will be no one to continue his lineage. He feels that God has ruined his life, and it angers him. He is often critical, unkind, and angry at home, especially with his young daughter, who is desperately and imperfectly performing her dead mother’s duties: cooking food, caring for the household, and tending Rafa.

Rafa has Down’s Syndrome. He doesn’t understand death and believes his mother has abandoned him. He thinks she’s hiding somewhere in the camp. He keeps running off to find her, which causes stress and anger for his family and his Levite relatives.

Miriam cooks the meals, cares for the household, and tends Rafa while her father is at the tabernacle. Miriam is also learning to spin and weave. Her grandmother, a former slave in Egypt, is a master weaver. She is going blind and feels a desperate urgency to teach her granddaughter everything she can before she can no longer see. Miriam is caught between her grandmother’s insistence that she spend her time weaving and keeping track of Rafa. Her friends complain that she’s always working and never has time for fun.

One night, after Duriel has lost his temper and spanked Rafa, Miriam comforts him in bed. She tells him that their mother lives with Adonai. Rafa’s father has impressed both his children that Adonai lives in the tabernacle, the place where Moses speaks with Adonai. Miriam falls asleep, but Rafa doesn’t. He now knows where his mother is, and he leaves the house to find her.

Rafa wanders through the camp, unsure of where to go. When he sees torchlight, he follows it to the tabernacle. The guards are not at the door. Rafa parts the curtains and looks inside. A man’s voice tells him to come in. When he enters the Holy of Holies, he sees a shining man, Adonai, sitting on the ark. The man holds out his arms, and Rafa comes running to him. The man puts Rafa on his lap and asks what he wants. Rafa says he wants his mother.

The man calls Ronit. She appears in a pillar of light. Laughing and crying for joy, she gathers Rafa into her arms, carries back into the light, and they both disappear.

Adonai summons Moses and Duriel. They both come to the tabernacle. Moses enters; Duriel stands outside the door. Adonai tells Moses how to handle the situation. Duriel is not to be punished because Rafa entered the tabernacle. Instead, Duriel is to be relieved of his work for one year to spend the time mourning for his wife and son, caring for his mother, and comforting his daughter, Miriam. If he humbles himself sufficiently, Adonai will receive his service again, give him a woman to love, and more children, including sons to carry on his family line.

When Moses comes out of the tabernacle, he carries Rafa’s body wrapped in a new woolen blanket. Duriel recognizes the blanket as something his wife was making when she died. It had lain unfinished in their tent since her death. He examines it. The blanket is now completely finished. Taking his son’s body in his arms, Duriel falls to his knees sobbing. Moses lays his hands on Duriel’s head and begins blessing him.

Suddenly, there was a strange noise outside. Clare tiptoed across the creaky floor. She looked from behind the curtains. Strange shadows lurked from the misty town. They were unlike anything she’s ever seen before. As tall as a telephone booth but the limbs were strange… the legs were lean while the arms were strong. Clare lit a torch and went downstairs to investigate. The door slowly creaked open and into the ghostly streets she went.

There was suddenly a crack of lightning, and behind her, were the shadows. She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her but they were fast. She jumped into a nearby bush and waited. She saw the go into a tree. She decided to follow along. Pure curiosity powered her.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!….” She whispered screamed as she fell down a big hole.

She saw some vines in front of her. Her heart was racing. What was she going to see, a mystical land, an evil lair or the centre of the earth? She pushed aside the vines and thoughts and gaped at what she saw. Everything was unspeakable, she had to get out of this nightmare. Left was right, up was down, good was bad. She couldn’t breathe. Where was the exit? What is this place? Why did the men go here? Why? Why? Why?! She was trapped in her own thoughts and in the world.

She woke up. “It was too real..” She muttered.

Clare opened the curtains and screamed. Her heart was thumping hard and her brain was numb. Her eyes were frozen. Little did she know that this was just the beginning of mass terror and horror. Would she live or would she die? That is the question that remains unanswered…

Ignore this

The first time I noticed her was a rainy day. She was sitting in a chair and talked to herself. I was so curious about her who behaved strangely. I thought she was a weird person, but I wanna know her stories. I was sure she had a story, at least one. I said” Hi, you are beautiful.” She answered” My mom always says that, but she is gone.” “Where is she?” She said with a sweet smile” She is there. ” She pointed to her heart with small and thin hands.”In my heart and my dream.”

In a moment, I remembered that I was so jealous when I saw my friends and their mom hold hands. I understood this girl who missed her mom. But I thought her mom had a good reason to leave. We all have a reason when we make a choice. Sometimes we think only for ourselves. Sometimes we choose to sacrifice for love. Sometimes we are selfish. But no matter what decisions we have made, we still have hope and belief, and we have to.

I told the girl” Your mom lives happily. Your mom loves you.” She said” I always know that, but when will she be bak to see me ? I only wanna see her.” I said” She is already on her way to look for. She needs time.” The girl smiled like an angel.

But I lied to her, I have to.

She sought refuge in all except what she knew she could possibly thrive at. The fears, the shaky voice, the anger in her eyes and the misery in her soul. Nothing could begin to explain to the world how tortured and jaded her spirit had become. She never asked for this and loathed those who felt she could learn to live life differently.

How does one learn to live life? Is it in the way we were raised? Is it the choices we make? Is it how we perceive things? She was not raised like this. No one would make choices to feel like this and perception is reality, no? If her scars were on the outside instead of on the inside, she would be immediately raced to a hospital. The room would fill with doctors and nurses scurrying to make her lively. But the scars remained on the inside so the world did not see the wounds. The pain remained unseen and the rush for help was nowhere to be found.

Dying was the answer. Of course! She’d read the bubbly bullshit quotes about death being a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Who is to say it’s temporary? Cancer may be temporary. A patient may go into remission but no one judges them for feeling like death may be a better way. Why would she be judged? Demons are revolting things to handle and some, like the girl, simply cannot handle them alone. Would one allow their child to be tormented by another person, or would they help them? Why didn’t they help her? Why were her bullies not confronted?

This was a short short story I wrote that was submitted for a contest. It had to be 150 or less….

She could not explain the feeling she got when she saw him, and he touched her. Every time she tried, the words would just fall out in random order.

One day as they were laying on a blanket watching the drifting clouds, she looked at him and whispered, “I love you.” As he smiled he said, “I know you do,” his hand gripping hers tighter. “No, I mean I really love you. Do you remember when you were a kid and you would swing? The feeling you got in your tummy the higher you went,if there were a million pterodactyl-sized butterflies in there?” He rolled to his side and said, “Yes, that was the best feeling as a kid.” She smiled and said, “That’s the way I feel about you.” He reached over and sighed as he placed his lips to her forehead and whispered, “I love you.”

Short stories, to me, are the perfect literary form. The most amazing way to get across complex and critical concepts without bogging stories down with unnecessary melodrama. I’m actually looking at putting together an anthology-type short story periodical in the next few months. Anyone who’d be interested in being printed, maybe, shoot me a message nmoo651 (at) aucklanduni (dot) ac (dot) nz

It’s a dark night, unknown figure runs across the cold wet streets, flooded by intense rain. There’s a curfew, and this character is breaking it. Running across the stone alleyways and switching corners so swiftly is easy to mistake them for a shadow. Look. An officer. The figure expertly knocks them out by hitting when they are not looking, then hides the body Faster now, the hooded figure is speeding in the darkness, remember why they’re here. They have to escort a parcel across the country in a relay manner, and the figure is an amateur, and want to succeed they’re first true test. Everything’s going fine currently Until they slip. Makes a clanky noise as they fall and attracts numerous guards to their location, but before they can reach, hides in a crate. That was close. But his leg is hurt after the fall, and he is know limping, still needing to deliver his package to the other side of this county. Behind them by a couple 100 meters, a man of somewhat authority walks past. in his hand, a revolver. He enters the area where the figure knocked out an officer and hid him, and easily finds where the figure hid him, as he has dealt with his kind before. The figure creeps into an empty restaurant, where the server greets him happily. The figure asks for a map of this county, something they should have probably had earlier, but hey! They’re an amateur. The server in exchange asks for the figure’s name, to which they respond ‘Max’ after glancing at a Maximum Voltage sign. Max escapes by climbing onto the roof via ladder inside. authority guy returns, and hears Max above, and shoots server (NOO), and climbs up. He shoots max, and max almost falls off the tall building, saved by grabbing onto a gutter flowing with water. AG (authority guy) points gun “give me the parcel” Max puts it slowly into the gutter he’s holding on, and it drifts off. AG makes a break for it, trying to get the parcel before it falls, while max jumps off, landing on another ladder outside an adjacent building. When Ag opens the Parcel, he finds nothing (Ha ha!). Max continues to Victory! –Just a draft, and I apologize for any grammar mistakes.–

I found your “How to Write a Short Story from Start to Finish”, very useful. I represent a self-publishing company, Notion press and this information means a lot to our network of writers, to whom we will be sharing it. We also have similar useful content on our academy page. Please feel free to check out and get in touch with us. https://notionpress.com/academy/definitive-guide-on-how-to-write-a-novel/

A fish fought so hard not to know me. I fought harder to know him. We spent hours at our contest. When exhaustion had taken us both, we acquiesced. As he boarded the boat it was apparent his bravery and powerful fight was over and all I had to do was claim victory.

It was a victory that was sour to me. Something inside of my old self changed with meeting this fish. I loved that fish and our fight, it was just what I wanted. What was unexpected was the emotion of caring that poured out afterwards. I lack the skill of caring, not having any experience in how to care or being cared for will do that to a man. Hard life living without those things.

I held him gently in the water for what seemed like eternity, he got his strength back, thrashed and swam away.

goodby and hello, I said.

You have a great idea here, I think you can extend this idea into a short story. I like your style of writing, easy to understand.

This is rough idea I’ve been playing around with. Let me know what you think I can do to make it better. Thanks.

Ariala was led into the throne room of her own castle to face the man who had just taken over. He was a tall, broad-shouldered man in heavy metal armor. His long blonde hair was left to hang loosely around his body and his eyes were so dark that they seemed black to her.

“Hello Princess, we meet again.”

“I’d say it’s a pleasure to see you again Prince Demitri, but I was taught not to lie.”

“Charming as ever I see. Not to worry…I’ll change that little attitude of yours soon enough. For now…there’s something I want you to watch.”

Ariala watched as her father, the true King, was dragged into the room. He looked so battered and it broke her heart to see her father’s strength reduced to this. He had bruises covering his face and she was fairly certain one of his arms was broken.

“Why are you doing this? We have never done anything against your family or your kingdom…”

“You have not…true…but your father here has angered me greatly by denying me the one thing I wanted from him.”

“What might that be?”

“You, dear Ariala. I requested your hand in marriage…he refused.”

“So you decide that taking over my home is somehow going to make me want to marry you?”

“It doesn’t matter if you want it or not…I will marry you and you will do as you are told or suffer the consequences.”

“I will most certainly not be marrying you and nothing you can do to me will change my mind.”

“I was afraid you might be this way. Men…”

The soldiers holding her father up dropped him to the floor and pulled their swords, and she watched in horror as they ran their swords through her father’s body. As they pulled back she tried to go to his side but Demitri grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against his body causing her to lash out at him, kicking and hitting any part of him she could reach. He raised a hand to cradle the back of her neck and began squeezing gently, applying more and more pressure until she lost enough air to blackout. He handed her limp body to one of the castle’s royal guards.

“Take her to her chambers for now. Perhaps when she wakes she will be less unpleasent.”

The guard carried her to her bed and was soon joined by his Captain. “We need to get her out of here before it’s too late, Sir.”

“I know, and I have a plan for that. Do you remember John?”

“He’s the one that was always by her side when they were kids right?”

“Aye, that’s him.”

“What about him?”

“He’s the leader of a small band of mercenaries now…and they happen to be in the city below us right now.”

“You’re going to hire them to get her out of here?”

“No…I’m going to tell him that she’s in danger and I need him to help me get her away from this place as soon as possible. In the meantime…guard her door and let no one enter this room.”

“I will protect her, Sir…with my life is I must.”

“I’d rather it not come to that. I will be back as quickly as I can…hopefully with a plan.”

The Captain had faithfully served the Sky Kingdom’s royal family since he was a boy. His father had been the Captain of the Royal Guard at that time and he frequently followed the man to learn all he could from him…now his King was dead and his Princess was in danger. He kept the hood of his cloak up over his face as he slipped into the Queen’s Garden to meet with a man he never actually thought he’d see again.

“Why would the Captain of the Royal Guard want to meet with me in the middle of the night?”

He froze in mid-step as a soft baritone voice sounded out of the darkness, carefully lowering his hood to reveal his heavily greying hair. “Hello again, John. You seem to have done quite well for yourself, being the leader of a mercenary band now.”

“No thanks to you, of course…convincing the King to ship me off to be a squire to some low-level knight…that wasn’t very nice of you.” The man slid out of the shadows like he was a part of them. His jet black hair fell in a soft curtain to his shoulders while his bright blue eyes seemed to pierce the Captain like a spear.

“You were gettig too close to her. We couldn’t risk having her fall in love with someone of such low birth.”

“You mean because I was born a bastard right? What exactly do you want from me?”

“The Princess is in grave danger…and I am hoping you still care enough to help her.”

The man’s gaze sharpens at those words and his voice takes on a darker edge. “What kid of danger?”

“Sky Castle has been overtaken and the King has been killed…in front of her. The man responsible wants to force her to marry him to cement his new role here but she is defiant and I fear he will hurt herto get what he wants. I can get her out of the castle through one of the secret passages…but I cannot get her off the plateau without being caught. I am too well-known here.”

“If you can get her to the Royal Stable at midnight…my men and I can take care of her from that point.”

“Take her to Obsidian Castle in the North. Our allies there will help her.”

“I will take care of her, you have my word…whatever that’s worth to you.”

“When it comes to her…I know I can trust you to keep her safe. I will have her in the stable at midnight, her personal gryphon doesn’t have wings but it will follow her wherever she goes.”

“Wait…she still has that little guy? The blue panther with the bright little tail?”

“He’s not so little anymore…he’s quite large actually, and that tail is a thing of beauty. He’s one of the rare type that have no wings but he’s as loyal as they come…at least to her.”

“Good, she’ll need all the protection she can get. I will see you at midnight…stay safe Captain.”

“You as well, John.”

Later that night four men in dark cloaks were lurking in the shadows behind the Royal Stables, though one of them was clearly unable to remain still for long as the curly blonde begand shifting restlessly from one foot to the other. “Why are we hanging around here at this time of night anyway? This is boring.”

“I told you already. We’re here to help my childhood best friend escape from danger.”

“Right…but who is he?”

“You’ll see soon enough now stay still.”

“Gentlemen, good to see you made it here safely.”

“Same to you, Captain.”

“Wait…the Captain of the Royal Guard? HE’s your friend?”

“Of course not…don’t be ridiculous. The two of us can barely tolerate each other.”

“Wait…then who…?”

“John?”

“Hello again, Princess. Miss me?”

“John!” Ariala ran into the waiting arms of her friend, wrapping her arms around him and crying softly. “Why did you leave me?”

The dark haired man glared at the Captain before responding to her. “I was sent away little one…they wouldn’t let me go say goodbye to you. I thought they would tell you but it seems I was mistaken.”

“Captain? Is that true?”

“Yes, Princess…I’m afraid so.”

“Why?”

“You were getting too close…you father worried that you two would fall in love.”

Ariala took in a deep breath as she turned to face the Captain, planning to give him a piece of her mind, but the darker man placed a hand over her mouth with an amused smirk. “As much as I’d love to watch you verbally berate the man…I’m afraid we haven’t got the time right now. We have to get you out of here before they realize you’re gone.”

“I assume you have a plan already?”

“Of course…but first…” He snapped his fingers and her bright blue gryphon came out of his hiding spot, his tail fanning out in his happiness at seeing his favorite human. The princess wrapped her arms around the it’s neck and then laughed happily as John lifted her up onto it’s back. “You do realize I can do that on my own right?”

“I know…but it gave me an excuse to hold you for a moment.”

“You’ve never needed an excuse for that before, John.”

“Uh…John, perhaps we should get moving now?”

“Right you are my friend. Everyone mount up so we can get down the side of this plateau and down into the forest.”

The four men mounted their own gryphons. John had a hawk and panther gryphon, the curly blonde had a cheetah based gryphon, the auburn haired man ahd a lion and eagle gryphon, while the last man had a massive tiger based gryphon to bear his muscular body. Once they were all mounted they urged their gryphons over the stone wall around the castle grounds and began searching for the least treacherous path down the side of the plateau without going near the main road that led away from the castle. They ended up by the edge of the upper part of Queen’s Lake near the top of the waterfall that fell into the lower lake. “We’ll have to make our way down from here.”

“Can’t we just fly down?” The antsy blonde was, well, still antsy. The princess watched the man fidget every few minutes and constantly shift position. He reminded her of some of the village children withhow they had too much energyu to remain still for very long…most adult grew out of that but this one clearly hadn’t done so.

“We could…if we want to risk our gryphons breaking a wing trying to maneuver the dense branches with us on their backs.”

“Which we don’t…so we have to let them climb down this way.”

“Correct. You alright little one?”

“I’m fine…not the first time we’ve come down this way…remember?”

“How could I forget? You shoved me over the edge of the falls.”

“You were being a jerk…you deserved it.”

“I did…but it was still cold that day.”

“You lived.”

The other men all seemed to be amused at hearing about their leader’s childhood with her so she decided that she would share more stories once they were out of the danger zone. “I’ll tell you boys some more embarassing stories later.”

“You will not.”

“I will too…and you can’t stop me…you never could.”

“I’m a lot stronger now little one.”

“I can see that.”

The way her eyes roamed his figure left him feeling like she could see right through him and he heard more than one of his men snort softly in amusement as his face turned red. The princess gave them all a saucy little grin before mounting her gryphon.

That’s as far as I’ve gotten on it so far. Let me know what you think.

I have written short stories that I’ve worked on or kept in my keep file for up to 2 years. I didn’t know how to write a short story, but kept trying now I don’t think I could write another 300 page novel again if my life depended on it. However, I find my new love (Short Stories) thriller, horror difficult to sell to magazines or enter in competitions…I’m obsessed and won’t stop writing them!!!! Anyone know more about this Kindle Short Story Section?

I’ve been challenged (by a writing instructor) to write a short story of about 500 words or one full page. This seems a bit constraining to me, but I’d welcome any tips.

Morgan’s Fiasco

Our dinky rented room on the edge of Ohio U’s campus was really the basement level of an old frame house built into the side of a hill. Gabe, the rather eccentric old lady who owned the place lived above us in the rest of the house. We had our own entrance, so whatever went on in there was pretty much up to my roommate, Morgan, and me. One evening in the semi darkness of our room, I was trying to study by the dim light of a gooseneck lamp over our ancient second hand desk. George Shearing was issuing forth some soothing sounds on our 45 record player. Suddenly, Morgan, lying across the bottom bed of our double bunks, suddenly broke the silence by blurting out of nowhere, “We can fix that!” My muttered and obviously disinterested response was, “Hunh?” His convoluted answer increased in volume and conviction as he addressed the fact that our ceiling was made up of old, gray, tongue and grove wood slats. It was similar to many old porches built in the 1930’s, and was, indeed, rather ugly for a bedroom. His brilliant inspiration was that we could make up a huge batch of paper mache from strips of torn newspaper soaked in a mix of water and flour, and coat the ceiling it it. When it dried, we could roll on some of that fancy new Kem-Tone paint. “It’d lighten the place up – we’d have a great looking room at almost no cost,” he enthused. Dumb me. I went along with it, little guessing the horrific outcome of our folly. After a day’s hard work, and not getting too much paint or flour mix dripped around the room, it did look pretty good. At least it was brighter. The next night as I lay in my upper bunk trying to get to sleep, I could still smell the freshness of our beautiful new ceiling just a foot or so above my head. Suddenly I heard a funny noise close at hand. “Skritch, scratch, skritch . . .” My eyes popped wide open with the sudden realization of what I was hearing. Rats! There were rats attracted to the flour in our paper mache mix and they were between our ceiling and the floor above trying their best to get at it. I was off that bunk in a bound, pummeling and yelling incoherently at my hapless roommate who had no idea what it was all about. Needless to say, I spent a wakeful night trying to sleep on the floor, keeping one eye open in case of a “break through.” Some rat baits were set out next morning, and no further gnawing was heard for a couple days. But the worst was yet to come. Try to imagine the putrid aroma of one or more dead rats who met their demise in the confined space between the floors of our rooming house. It took weeks for the smell to dissipate, and just about that long for me to forgive Morgan’s creative genius.

I just got an idea – a spin off from my Fall Contest Short Story. But I’m afraid to write it here. I might expel all the “juice” and then not write it all out.

Oh, gosh! You had me quaking and looking over my shoulder. What visuals! What imagination! What suspense and…. horror! Good job. Did you do that all in just 15 minutes??? If so, I have no hope.

I can’t seriously take writing advice from a man that hasn’t yet grasped the situational spelling of your.

‘You don’t have to follow your scene list exactly, but they definitely help you work through your story, especially if your writing over multiple sittings.’

Those pesky grammar slip-ups happen to the best of us. It’s fixed now. Thanks for pointing it out!

“So they lived happily ever after,” finished Ms. Taslahm. Heather Giron yawned. The one thing that was worse than cleaning the poop of the old brown mare the school owned, a scrawny one that was called Marigold, was listening to Ms. Taslahm’s long, boring tales of this and that that were supposedly supposed to help them during life, like they had for A+ student from more than 100 years ago, Briar Rose, who later became Sleeping Beauty, or wishful Ella, who later became well-known Cinderella. Heather, really, didn’t see anything in her future that may lead her to a wonderful fortune and a story of her own. But that was okay. She didn’t exactly mind. It wasn’t as if she was expecting a wonderful fortune such as someone… Heather cast a side-glance at Savannah Rivers. Savannah Rivers was an annoying, pesky know-it-all of a girl. She had curly black hair and perfectly glossed lips. She had tanner, richer skin than most people in the village, and always wore beautiful, colorful gowns, a obvious contrast to Heather’s dull ones. Today, Savannah’s gown was a pale pink, and it matched her lip gloss and eyeshadow on her heavy lidded gray eyes. Noticing Heather watching her, Savannah smacked her lips and smiled the beautiful princess smile that all the boys fell for. She flashed it at Heather, who returned it with a big, exaggerated motion of someone flipping her hair, a.k.a. Savannah. Sincere Roque leaned over and laughed. Sincere Roque was one of Heather’s’ friends. He had a unique combination of eyes, 1 amber and 1 green. He loved acting. He had honey-colored hair and exactly 14 freckles…not that Heather noticed. Savannah shot them a frown then turned again, listening to Ms. Taslahm as she described the next task they were going to take. “After all, you never know when you’ll get your fortune, or your clue, that with the right knowledge can lead you write to your prince or your damsel in distress.” Kaden Kidd, Sincere’s best friend and ‘Prank Master in Training’ (as Sincere called it), raised his hand. Kaden’s family all had the same dark eyes and black, straight hair. Most of Kaden’s family, though, had pale, white skin, but Kaden had the opposite. He had bronze skin, which he was quite proud of. “Yes, Kaden.” Ms. Taslahm said with a hint of exhaustion in her voice. “Did you ever have a prince, or were you ever ad damsel in distress?” Ms. Taslahm narrowed her eyes. “Yes once…with another girl. The prince swooped in to save us, but he could only take one. He took the other girl, and Wizard Foaly’s henchman, Todd Fincher, had to save me. It was the worst day of my life.” Ms. Taslahm buried her face in her hands. Kaden snickered. “Isn’t that Old Todd from the Village Block. I thought he was Ms. Taslahm’s brother, not husband.” Now Heather had a question. Do you really have to be a damsel in distress to get a prince or a fortune? And do you hafta get a fortune? Can’t we just live like this? While she debated if she should ask the question or not, she stretched on her tree stump. Yes, tree stump. The villages’ school was so small and poor, that they couldn’t afford desks or chairs for everyone, proper lunch, or actual books so the students could read along with the teacher. All this was because of the School Overseer. He was a greedy old man, and whenever the payings came for the teachers and school, he often just took it himself. His office was a dream, and the only reason the teachers stayed teaching was because the loved and felt sorry for the kids. Heather just couldn’t see why. She felt sorry for herself now, and just thinking about it made the boring, fidgety ache come back. And a bit sorry for Ms. Taslahm. But she still tortured Heather everyday and night, and no matter what Ms. Taslahm did or feel was going to change that. Finally, Heather raised her hand, ignoring the snickers coming from Savannah’s side, and the fact that her ripped, tattered sleeve of one of her 5 dresses was growing short. “Yes?” Ms. Taslahm looked more than a bit annoyed. “Do you have to be a damsel in distress to get a prince and a fortune? And what’s so important about a fortune?” Silence settled around the class. Now Ms. Taslahm looked like she was going to go bonkers. “YES! YOU HAVE TO GET A PRINCE TO BE A PRINCESS AND TO GET A FORTUNE, AND YOU HAVE TO BE A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS TO BE A PRINCESS! WHERE HAS YOUR HEAD BEEN THESE LAST TWO YEARS HEATHER GIRON! AND YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON’T GET A FORTUNE, GIRON! YOU END UP A SLAVE OR A TIRELESS WORKER, GETTING NO MONEY, WITH A LUNATIC OF A HUSBAND. YOU FALL OF THE TREE OF LIFE. YOU BECOME GOD’S LAUGHINGSTOCK! AND THEN YOU DIE!” Ms. Taslahm’s face became red and splotchy. Then, her voice softened. “I really hope you guys learn and listen to everything that I teach…it’ll help, a lot. Now, excuse me for a sec…” After Ms. Taslahm got out of hearing range, Sincere whooped and Kaden patted my back. “Congrats, Heather, you won. You made her blow big-time!” Dimly, Heather remembered the contest the boys and Heather had made. Whoever made their teacher ‘blow’, won. But that was by far the last thing on her mind. Is life really like that. You get a prince, you win, if not, you lose and perish…wow. Heather rubbed her temples as the full force of life slammed into her, and as she did, her strawberry blond hair swooped around her, covering her in what seemed like a safe, copper, veil, away and away from reality and, well, life. Away and away. (Comments, Suggestions?)

Life could be hard most of the times and it could be horrible. The worst thing about it though, is that people come and go. Living in the moment, we are all blissfully ignorant to the fact that maybe one day, the person in front of us could be a thousand miles away. We don’t usually think about it. What we usually think about is the future we could have with that one person together. We are hopeful that no matter what happens, we’ll always stay the same. We start building that perfect image of the future and how it would be with that one person beside us, but we always seem to forget that, in fact, people do come and go.

To me, it was great shock when that one person left me. I was very close to her: we were practically sisters. I had known her since we were kids. We grew up together; in fact, I can’t remember what my life was like before her. Both our parents believed that we are inseparable, and they made me believe it. What I didn’t know was the fact that they knew. They knew that one day she could leave me. They knew that in all honesty we weren’t inseparable. Most importantly, they knew that people come and go.

We were in the same middle school. We would go to school together and laugh along the way. She would pull me from my arm and drag to the school ground. Life was merrily moving on and we were mere kids living our lives. The last day of middle school – I remember it clearly- the sun was shining brightly in the sky. It was one of those hot, burning days. We were heading back from school, racing through the tree shades and laughing. Obviously, the excitement of the vacation hyped us up. If only I had paid attention at that time, I would’ve seen that my friend’s steps lacked their usual bounce and her smile lacked the usual sparkle. Thinking back to it again, I realized that her dreadlocks fell dead on her shoulders and gently swayed with the heat-filled wind. Her shoulders were slightly hunched with the weight of the news she had carried.

I was too excited to notice any of those little details, and I should’ve. We pranced all the way to our houses (we lived beside each other). As we were used to, we both ran through my front door as soon as it was opened. On the inside wasn’t what I expected. Mrs. and Mr. Sullivan were in the living room. It wasn’t something out of the ordinary though; they were always over at our house. Their faces, I will never forget the solemn look they had on their faces. Mom ushered me and Nancy into the house hurriedly. We both threw our bags next to the couch. There was tension in the air and I could feel it.

“What’s wrong?” I asked as I sat on an armchair. The adults present all looked at one another sharing worried glances. Nancy walked slowly to her parent’s side and clasped her hands together. She sat at the edge of the couch with her head hung low and feet bouncing fast. She was nervous, I could tell.

“There’s something we need to discuss…” Mom moved her gaze towards Mrs. Sullivan motioning for her to start.

Mrs. Sullivan swallowed nervously and cleared her throat. “We know you and Nancy are such great, close friends,”

“And we know we’ve always dreamt of you two growing together,” Mr. Sullivan continued.

“But there are some times when things don’t always go the way we wanted them to,” my father laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. I looked at him confused then turned to everyone.

“I don’t get where this is going.” My voice was shaky fearing what they could say.

“Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan have gotten a new job opportunity in France-”

“Well, that’s great! They’ve always wanted that!” I interrupted my mother and beamed at the Sullivans.

“Yeah, it is, honey, ” my mom smiled sadly, “but…”

“But what?”

“We’re going to France, Lee.” Nancy spoke for the first time. I was very proud of the Sullivan couple for finally reaching their goals. However, it took me a few seconds to actually comprehend what she had just said. Slowly, the smile was erased from my face.

“No…” One word. Only one word, but it was packed with emotions. Tears burned my eyes. I covered my mouth in shock as my gaze raced from person to another, searching for a sign that this isn’t true. This isn’t happening! But they all watched me with sad faces and guilt.

“No, this can’t be happening. This can’t be happening!” I got up to my feet with thoughts racing through my head. “What about our high school years together? We’ve always wanted to go to high school together! It is an experience that cannot be relived any time! What about the parties and sleepovers we were gonna have? Huh? How are we gonna do that now when we’re thousands of miles apart?”

“It wouldn’t be that bad, you know we can chat over the internet.” She tried saying weakly as the tears ran don her face.

“Chat over the internet? You and me both know that isn’t going to happen! Or have you forgotten about Cassandra?” She took in a sharp breath at Cassey’s mention. “You promised you won’t leave me the same way she has!”

“I don’t have a choice!” She was on her feet by now.

“Sure you do! You can stay here!”

“And leave my parents? Lee, you know I can’t live without them!”

“So that’s it? You’re actually going to leave me?” Both our eyes were bloodshot. The adults just sat there, barely holding their tears.

“I guess that’s it.” A second’s pause passed before we embraced each other. Our sobs were loud as we held onto each other. We slowly slid onto the ground; the adults soon joined us.

That moment I would never forget. The moment my best friend left me behind. It was the moment I realized how hard life could be. You truly never know someone’s value until they’re taken away from you. Even through the heartbreaks and break-ups I’ve went through in high school and college, nothing was worse or more painful than that one moment.

People come and go, that’s the way life is. They always leave an imprint of themselves behind, but their memories last long.

People will always come and will always go, but their memories will last long and strong.

The river was our life, yet it was our death. If it wasn’t for the current, and the water of the river, our crop fields would be nothing more than dry, dusty, useless plains. But the river was a deathtrap, after we would get a great harvest, the river would flood our small town, destroying houses, building, and lots of the crops. Livestock would die, and our villagers would be killed. As the main farmer, I tried to make a wall or a levee on the branch of the river that flows next to my lush crop field, but every time, the river would wash over, breaking the wall and destroying everything, I was determined not to let that happen. On July 2, just three months away from harvest, I got up at 5:00 AM, tired, and sleepy, being up 30 minutes earlier than usual. I’ve thought of moving to Italy or Israel, but even if I sold the crop field I wouldn’t make it, and the citizens here would die without me. I sighed, it was a hard life, but at least my wife and family was with me, well most of them. Last year My son moved to Greece, and my daughter, was killed by the flood. The grief follows me everywhere, my other kid is too young to remember them. I also fought with the guilt of my daughter’s death, if I just tried a little bit harder, got up a little bit earlier, I could have saved her, but I didn’t and now it’s too late. I sat there for a second and wiped a tear from my cheek, for her, I will stop the flood and make sure nobody else must suffer the pain and grief I have, NOBODY. I got up and got dressed. I looked in the mirror, and could barely recognize the man in it. I had calices, and wrinkles, and grey hair. My hair was messed up, my boots dirty, and my clothes ripped and torn, I don’t care how I look anymore, after her death, I quit caring about my looks, I just got up and left. Hygiene wasn’t a number one priority either, I barely brushed my teeth, and took a shower every one or two weeks. I didn’t care much for food either. Every morning I would get up, drink a cup of coffee, eat a slice of bread, and an egg. Then in the afternoon, I would retire to the house, my wife would cook something, then I’d drown my sorrows and burdens in whiskey. But to the current task, I was as determined as ever, and wasn’t going to waste any time. My servant would be tending to the farm all day, while I worked on the river. I grabbed a stale piece of bread, and shoved it in my mouth, barely noticing its terrible taste and its staleness. I skipped having a coffee or anything else. I went outside, the sun wasn’t up yet, but there was a faint red line the west, signaling that it was coming soon. I mounted my horse, and rode to the supply store. Once in town, I stopped at the store and bought tons of bricks, I paid for it, and left, determined to waste no time. By the time, I got back to the farm, the sun was up, and it was around 6:30. I had already wasted too much time. I went to the river and started putting the bricks together. I left a hole in the bottom, so the farm could still get water. I grew tired and tired, when eventually, after lugging a heavy brick, I fell, and I heard a crack. The pain was fierce, like I was getting stabbed with a million needles at once, and it kept going, the pain was sharp and searing, and it was in my back. I couldn’t move, I tried calling for help, but my mouth wouldn’t cooperate, I started seeing stars, and eventually, everything went black, and my head fell down hard, hurting more.

WIFES PERSPECTIVE

I asked the servant if he’d seen him, and he said, “I reckon I haven’t, seems a bit suspicious to me. Tell me if you have, he still owes me some money.” He started chuckling, but when he saw my solemn face, he quieted and got a somber look, “I hope you find him, good day ma’am.” He tipped his hat and kept milking a cow. I don’t know what to think, but eventually, I saw some bricks, then I saw a huge rock laying by it. When I realized, it wasn’t a rock, it was my husband! I nearly fainted, and choked back a sob, the pain of my daughter’s death became all too real again. I looked at him, he was breathing, but he wasn’t moving at all, his eyes were closed, he looked as if he was in another dimension and he looked like he was falling away, I gagged, and chocked back another sob. I ran up the hill and called for the servant to get the medic, and told him the situation, he complied, and I rushed back to my husband.

Everything was black, I was completely numb, and all feeling and heat went right out of my body, everything was cold, and I began to shiver inside my skin, then the memories came… I just exited the barn when I heard the screaming, it was oddly familiar, and I felt like I should know, the voice was tugging at me, when I remembered with a sickening nature, it was my daughter! I tried to run to her, at least my brain did, but my body wouldn’t comply. I was stuck there, helpless and my daughter screaming. What’s happening? I began to move when I heard the familiar gushing, the sound of the waves, and the river, it was flood season! Oh, no, my daughter, she must be there! I started sprinting, when I was stopped short. The gushing got louder, and louder, then BAM! The river exploded with an ear-cracking sound, like it did every year, except this year was different, the river noises were mixed with the screaming of my daughter, and I tried to run, but I was engulfed in water. I swam with all my might against the strong current to get to my daughter, but I couldn’t, I tried for a little bit, then, became tired, and couldn’t do anything, I had to use all my strength just to stay above water so I wouldn’t drown. I hoped that maybe the current would push my daughter to me, but I abandoned it when my daughter was pulled deep into the gushing, overflowing, imploding river, I then realized that this would be the end if I didn’t do something, so I swam as hard as I could, but after I moved a few feet, my arms burned, my legs roared with pain, and my body screamed for me to stop, but my brain told me to move forward, but I couldn’t, not one bit, my body shut down, and I couldn’t move, I sank to the bottom, and abdicated all hope of being able to rescue my daughter, Don’t worry, they’re going to find her, I just know it! The optimistic part of my brain said. But the rational part of my brain knew it wasn’t possible, and soon the rest of my mind agreed, and I felt defeated, like someone had come and took a huge chunk right out of my body and left it there. And I began to hope they wouldn’t save me either, so I could be with my daughter and live in eternal peace, then I could apologize that I wasn’t man enough to save her. I was at the bottom of the water, and I felt like paper, with no soul in me, and the water moved me, until I passed out.

The memories kept coming, one of my daughters funeral, one when my son left, one when me and my wife got married, and I let them come, until the second part of the daughter catastrophe came, then I began to fight, I didn’t want to see another atrocity, I wouldn’t let it happen, but the memory flood in anyways and I gave up.

I woke up, the water was gone, and the river was flowing like normal, I was accompanied by many medics, when one of them yelled, “He’s awake!” and they cheered, I would be cheering too, if I wasn’t the one about to die, almost nobody survived the flood, even if we recovered them, we could not get them to live, and some people would wake up, but die in the hospital. “We need to get him to the hospital immediately!” A medic with a white jacket and a red cross yelled, whom I assumed was the head medic. “No!” I yelled, and coughed up seawater, “My, daughter,” I got out and then the pain attacked me again. The doctor got a solemn look, and it looked like my wife choked back a sob, “I’m sorry to inform you of this, but we recovered your daughter and brought her back to life, but she was paralyzed, and soon died from a stroke.” I tried to be tough, but it wouldn’t happen, and began to sob, the doctor patted me on my back, and said, “I’m terribly sorry, but we are going to take you to the hospital, and our flood prevention donors are going to pay for her wedding and your medical bills.” I wanted to resist, I wanted to stop them from taking me to the hospital, I wanted to do something, anything, but it wouldn’t happen, and I let them take me, with the pain attacking me, fiercely, and I felt like I was imploding, I sighed, and fell asleep.

I woke up, finally away from the terrible memories, I attempted to sit up, but pain seared through me, and the pain engulfed me. I choked back a sob, the memories making the pain all too real again. I attempted to sit up again, when I realized I wasn’t where I was when I fell. I was in a hospital, the same one I was in when my daughter died, my first thought was that this was another memory, but I thought better of it when more pain seared through me. Then, I couldn’t move my right arm, or my left leg, and most of my body wasn’t responding, and it and the pain were threatening to engulf me. I tried to sit up, but all that happened was another searing pain, I cried out in agony. Then, the doctors came rushing to me. “I can’t move.” I managed to get out through gritted teeth, just with that little amount of talking, I felt tired, and more pain came. The doctor looked though some papers, then examined, me, and looked at a device, “Oh, dear.” He said, which made me feel a big scared. “What happened?” I managed again, the doctor looked at me, sighed, then talked, “When you were lugging that brick you fell, assuming because you were tired, and you landed on your arm wrong, which broke it, but when you fell, the brick fell on your back, breaking it, and,” he took a deep breath, then said, “making you paralyzed.” He left with a solemn look as I let that sink in, he had to be wrong, I tried to move, but couldn’t and tried to remain calm, but screamed inside my brain, fear, and pain attacked me, and me not being able to take it. I laid there, not knowing what to do or think, I was paralyzed, I’ll never be able to prevent the floods. I felt defeated, I surrendered, abdicating my chances of stopping the flood, and inside my mind, I was dying, I couldn’t take it, and pain seared through my body. Then, with a start, I awoke, and got ready to get to work.

Hi Everyone, Just getting started here and it looks like a wonderful spot to become a better writer. I like the forum setting also to exchange ideas and get input from others. Speaking of input, I have had a certain novel that I have wanted to write for a long time. I have a site and am starting to make a home for it and other works but it’s a sweeping storyline spanning years.I see my first lesson is to write a short story instead. I am not sure that I can pare this one down to a story in that amout of words and time.

So I would love some advice. Should I choose a subject from the list that was given to me or do a “partial ” story choosing a specific time frame, happening, or incident that could have a beginning and end derived from the book I want to write later? Thank you for any ideas and/or advice! Kathie

Gabriel García Marquez has a short story, “monologue of Isabel watching rain in Macondo”, which was originally part of a novel (like a chapter or something) but he decided he wasnt gonna use it, even tho he had already written it. So I’m guessing he wrote each chapter like a new short story, almost. His style is kinda difficult to copy, so maybe thats not a good example. Perhaps it doesnt really matter what you write, as long as you write it. Looking forward to reading some of your stuff, short or long 😀

This is my 15 minute writing practice. Usually, I do a lot more detail and something along the lines of romance, but for some reason I had a small idea of it having to do with a robotic girl and I just expanded onto it as I went along. I hope you like it! I’d like to know your thoughts on it too, what I did good and what I need to work on. If you have any interest in contacting me, just let me know. Thanks!

“When she was little, she never touched a Barbie doll like the other girls. She never thought about makeup. She was different. She read constantly. She learned to write stories at the age of 7. She could calculate the answers to basic Algebraic equations when she was 9. She didn’t just want to learn, it was as if she needed to learn. So that’s why I wasn’t surprised when the doctors told me she did.

Whenever I’d go over to her house and visit her, she’d be listening to music with her earbuds in while she did something like a puzzle on the floor. She’d never hear me walk in. But as soon as I asked her, say, maybe a mathematical question, all focus was on me and she’d be determined on getting the correct answer. She was strange. I never understood her ways or why she was the way she was, but I accepted it. I accepted her. I didn’t realize I’d be accepting an it.

I got the call on Wednesday morning around 3 A.M.. It was an officer from the police department. I was confused and scared. What could possibly be wrong? A million things. A million things could be wrong. I asked every question I could think of or manage to get out of my mouth, but all I could get for an answer from whoever it was on the other line was: “Come down here and see for yourself.” So I went down there to the police station. When I arrived I was wondering why we weren’t somewhere such as a hospital already. As I walked in, I knew why. For Lilith, we don’t need a hospital, we need a mechanic.

Lilith was sitting in a chair while uncertain medics, police officers, mechanics, and many others were surrounding her. At a distance her father was holding her mother in her arms as she cried, I’d expect him to, but he wasn’t. He was just staring at his daughter, a blank expression across his face. I ran over to them, only a few of the million questions I had, spilling out of my mouth. I couldn’t get a response from either.

I turned and barged into the crowd of people surrounding Lilith. “Lilith!” I screamed. No response from her, no movement, no words spoken, nothing. It’s as if there was a switch on her and it was turned off. I pushed through the crowds and they obliged, allowing me near her until I was on my knees crying as the wires that were strewn out of her knees lay twisted and coiled on the floor around me. What happened to her? What happened to my best friend?

To answer that question for you, the government persuaded her father that it was the right thing to do. That it’d be alright. That’d it’d be safe, for them to experiment on his daughter. They had a theory that if they somehow rearranged body parts and substituted wires and motors and such for things like organs and tissues, later in life the average human would be invincible. They’d be capable of learning anything. They’d be capable of learning everything. But Lilith, she learned everything already by the age of 19. What else was there for her to do? Her life goal was to do such and she’d done it. Her body was shutting down. She needed to know more, her robotic body needed it. Her mechanical mind needed stimulated by something.

Although she was mostly robotic, she was also partially human. She had one of the most humane things, emotion. And she was suffering as she grew weaker everyday. Literally dying to know more. As the robotic part of her began to give up, so did the human part. She gave up. She didn’t want to be just an experiment, and she definitely didn’t want to give any result to the scientists who thought this would be alright, that it was successful. So she let them know that it failed as she slashed through the wires and circuits inside her, turning off all parts of her, both motorized and mortal.”

I am currently working on a collection of short stories. It is in the beginning stages but the process is by far the most enjoyable part. I have about two thousand words completed so far. I roughly have spent about 5 hrs. The tips in this site have given me a clear path to creating a great story.I just want it to be able to relate to the reader grammatically. That’s my main concern but doing research is part of the journey.

Amazing tips. I have written a mystery novella with twist in the end. When I started it I intended it to be a short story but it got stretched to 46 pages of length. It’s available on my blog. You may check it and feedback will be highly appreciated http://neuriverse.blogspot.in/

Sarah, The most challenging part of writing a short story is having an idea from personal experience. Having a general idea of it as a slice of life. But what is the theme? You get a sort of theme in what you want the story to communicate. You write bits and pieces but the biggest challenge is making all fit together. Particularly you want a series of actions and you want the reader to think of the theme naturally occurring out of accumulated flow of the story. Larry B.

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Need editing and proofreading services, how to write a short story: 6 steps & examples.

• Tags: Fiction Writing , Short Story

Condensing all the elements of a story into a space of 1,000–10,000 words can be quite the feat. You may have several questions such as: How do I develop my protagonist? Should the backstory be detailed or will some flashbacks suffice? How many characters do I include? In order to understand how to write a short story, we must answer these questions one by one. 

In this article, we’ll guide you through everything there is to know about short story writing. With the help of essential writing tips for short stories and relevant examples, our step-by-step guide will reveal the secret of how to write a good short story. Without wasting any time, let’s start with the tips on writing a short story!

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1. Find a premise that works for you

Although we have several tips for writing short stories, the inspiration to write a short story can be drawn from anywhere. This may include your own life, neighborhood gossip, anecdotes from others, or even writing prompts. One key thing to note while you write short stories is, to begin with a premise that resonates with you. 

Wondering how to start writing a short story? Here are a few ideas you could rely on to get your creative juices flowing:

A. Draw inspiration from personal experience

Do you have an interesting anecdote you want to share? Perhaps a peculiar experience that gave you a unique perspective? Well, if you want to write short stories, these are precisely the experiences you should visit.

In case you need any help jogging your memory, you can also make use of the following prompts: 

• Describe a bizarre experience.
• Elaborate on the most precious gift you’ve received.
• Explain your roadmap to overcoming a challenge that you faced.
• Elaborate on an unforgettable encounter.
• Explain the most heartbreaking situation you’ve witnessed.
• Paint a picture of a surreal moment.

B. Draw inspiration from outside

Whether it may be the neighborhood gossip or a message from a book that really inspired you, you can always draw inspiration from the outside world. It’s a good idea to keep a note of anything that strikes you as interesting or unusual that can serve as inspiration for your story.

This can include anything from an exotic fruit being introduced to the market to a ghost story narrated by a friend. Collect a variety of such notes and you’re sure to find something that could germinate into a short story!

C. Make use of writing prompts

If you’re just delving into the art of short story writing, prompts are your best friend. You can refer to several books and online resources for writing prompts. Platforms such as Reddit have pages dedicated to unique writing prompts.

Stick to a prompt that generates a strong emotion in you. You need not even have a plot in mind, but just a rough idea of the main character or an event. 

Here’s a list of prompts you can refer to when looking for inspiration for a short story: 

• What happens when all the electronic devices in your home start operating on their own?
• The consequences that take place after you discover an omnipotent book of magical spells.
• Imagine your life as a 14th-century peasant.
• What if plants started growing from your body and no one else could see them?
• Imagine that you have a rare psychological problem, that nobody else in the world suffers from.
• You discovered the key to time travel, how would you use it?
• What would you do if you were the only person on this planet?
• Describe a time when space travel becomes standardized.

If needed, you could also make use of a mind map to link all your themes and ideas. 

2. Flesh out your characters

After choosing a suitable topic for your short story, flesh out your main characters. Unlike a novel, a short story generally sticks to one or two main characters with a couple of supporting characters mentioned in passing. This is because a large number of characters can significantly lengthen the story.

It consists of a protagonist, an individual who changes the most in the story. Some short stories may also include an antagonist that gets in the way of the protagonist achieving their goal. An antagonist may not always be a person, it could also be a force or circumstance that thwarts the protagonist’s progress.

If you’re confused about how to write a good short story with so few characters, we have the answer! Rather than a wealth of characters, the success of your short story relies on the development of your protagonist. Hence, it is a good idea to ask yourself the following questions in order to construct a well-rounded main character:  

• What is the background of my protagonist?

For example: Having no friends at school made Little Joe lonely.

• What does my protagonist desire the most? How do they plan to achieve it? 

For example: He just wanted someone to play ball with, and he did try to approach a couple of kids from school…

• What is lacking in my protagonist? This can be anything from a vice to an idiosyncrasy.

For example: …but he was too timid to speak, let alone make friends. 

• Make sure to establish a distinct pattern of speech and tone of voice for your protagonist.

For example: Then one day, Joe gathered up the courage to ask a little girl, “Will you p-p-play ball with me?” She responded with a smile, “Sure.”

3. Develop an outline that builds tension

Once you’ve substantially developed the character of your protagonist, it is time to build up the scenes. Since a short story is fairly concise, focus on showing not telling. You can also provide hints about the protagonist’s backstory for brief moments in the story, instead of dedicating entire paragraphs to it. This adds a sense of intrigue and mystery to your draft. 

Every short story should include a goal, an inciting incident, and a climax. Each scene should include tension as a result of the protagonist’s desire and a force that hinders the protagonist from achieving this desire. In a novel, you have plenty of leeway to build up your story but a short story is much more concise. 

You must be wondering how to start short stories. A good option is to start off your story in the middle of the action, building tension for every scene thereon. You can also start the story with smaller obstacles the protagonist needs to overcome, culminating in an event that tests their abilities. This final obstacle can also serve as an opportunity for the protagonist to rethink their goal. 

Short stories are fairly concise and compact. They allow for experimentation with several unique structures of writing in a relatively short amount of time. They are also less rigid in form as compared to novels, which makes them the perfect test subject for exploring different timelines and points of view. 

4. Just write it all down

After penning down all your scenes, link them together to create a rough draft. Your first draft, naturally, wouldn’t be publication-worthy. The goal is to simply get something down on paper that you can revise, re-revise, and edit later on.

Your first draft simply serves as a block of wood that you can later carve into a beautiful statue. The objective of this step is to jot down ideas, not to build a complete story.

5. Take a break and revise with a fresh eye

After developing the first draft of your short story, it’s time to rejoice, relax, and celebrate. It is essential to keep your work aside for a bit before getting back to it. Famous authors like Stephen King take a break from their first draft for a period of six weeks. However, we’re simply asking you to take a break for a day or two.

This break enables you to look at your first draft with a fresh, objective pair of eyes. It also allows you to glean any unique insights that you may have missed. After taking the necessary break, revise and restructure your story until you’re completely satisfied with it. 

It is vital to ask yourself the following questions while revising your story: 

• Did I construct an intriguing opening that hooks the reader?
• Have I practiced the art of showing, not telling?
• Is each of the scenes relevant to my protagonist’s desire?
• Have I provided subtle hints about the protagonist’s backstory instead of blatantly stating it?
• Has my protagonist’s character substantially developed since the beginning of the story?
• Have I written an impactful ending that ties together all the loose ends of my story?

6. Edit and without mercy

Editing is the last step before the publication of your story.  The editing process is highly extensive: It involves restructuring, rephrasing, and conducting basic quality checks of your novel. This process gets rid of all the errors and ambiguities in your writing, making your story clearer, concise, and readable. 

If you choose to perform this step by yourself, make sure to distance yourself from your story. The goal is to look at your work from an objective standpoint, which becomes difficult when you’re the author of the story. You can ask your writer friends or a learned family member to go over your novel and point out any errors or inconsistencies. 

The best option is to work with a professional editing service . These firms employ trained professionals for different subjects and pair you up with an editor best suited for your niche. The professionals are trained to look at your work with an unbiased, critical eye and make suggestions when it comes to grammar, formatting, or even word choice.

We hope this article provides you with valuable tips on how to write a short story. Happy writing!

Continue reading to perfect your short story! 

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Frequently Asked Questions

How to write a short story title, what is a short story example, what are the different types of short stories.

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2 comments on “ How to Write a Short Story: 6 Steps & Examples ”

Thank you for this great information. Where would a person go to get these short stories approved, backed, and published.

Hi Genevelyn, You can approach companies that are experts in editing and publishing to get your stories approved and published. PaperTrue also provides editing and self-publishing services for short stories! We’d love to help you publish your short stories.

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• How to write a literary analysis essay | A step-by-step guide

How to Write a Literary Analysis Essay | A Step-by-Step Guide

Published on January 30, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on August 14, 2023.

Literary analysis means closely studying a text, interpreting its meanings, and exploring why the author made certain choices. It can be applied to novels, short stories, plays, poems, or any other form of literary writing.

A literary analysis essay is not a rhetorical analysis , nor is it just a summary of the plot or a book review. Instead, it is a type of argumentative essay where you need to analyze elements such as the language, perspective, and structure of the text, and explain how the author uses literary devices to create effects and convey ideas.

Before beginning a literary analysis essay, it’s essential to carefully read the text and c ome up with a thesis statement to keep your essay focused. As you write, follow the standard structure of an academic essay :

• An introduction that tells the reader what your essay will focus on.
• A main body, divided into paragraphs , that builds an argument using evidence from the text.
• A conclusion that clearly states the main point that you have shown with your analysis.

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Table of contents

Step 1: reading the text and identifying literary devices, step 2: coming up with a thesis, step 3: writing a title and introduction, step 4: writing the body of the essay, step 5: writing a conclusion, other interesting articles.

The first step is to carefully read the text(s) and take initial notes. As you read, pay attention to the things that are most intriguing, surprising, or even confusing in the writing—these are things you can dig into in your analysis.

Your goal in literary analysis is not simply to explain the events described in the text, but to analyze the writing itself and discuss how the text works on a deeper level. Primarily, you’re looking out for literary devices —textual elements that writers use to convey meaning and create effects. If you’re comparing and contrasting multiple texts, you can also look for connections between different texts.

To get started with your analysis, there are several key areas that you can focus on. As you analyze each aspect of the text, try to think about how they all relate to each other. You can use highlights or notes to keep track of important passages and quotes.

Language choices

Consider what style of language the author uses. Are the sentences short and simple or more complex and poetic?

What word choices stand out as interesting or unusual? Are words used figuratively to mean something other than their literal definition? Figurative language includes things like metaphor (e.g. “her eyes were oceans”) and simile (e.g. “her eyes were like oceans”).

Also keep an eye out for imagery in the text—recurring images that create a certain atmosphere or symbolize something important. Remember that language is used in literary texts to say more than it means on the surface.

Narrative voice

Ask yourself:

• Who is telling the story?
• How are they telling it?

Is it a first-person narrator (“I”) who is personally involved in the story, or a third-person narrator who tells us about the characters from a distance?

Consider the narrator’s perspective . Is the narrator omniscient (where they know everything about all the characters and events), or do they only have partial knowledge? Are they an unreliable narrator who we are not supposed to take at face value? Authors often hint that their narrator might be giving us a distorted or dishonest version of events.

The tone of the text is also worth considering. Is the story intended to be comic, tragic, or something else? Are usually serious topics treated as funny, or vice versa ? Is the story realistic or fantastical (or somewhere in between)?

Consider how the text is structured, and how the structure relates to the story being told.

• Novels are often divided into chapters and parts.
• Poems are divided into lines, stanzas, and sometime cantos.
• Plays are divided into scenes and acts.

Think about why the author chose to divide the different parts of the text in the way they did.

There are also less formal structural elements to take into account. Does the story unfold in chronological order, or does it jump back and forth in time? Does it begin in medias res —in the middle of the action? Does the plot advance towards a clearly defined climax?

With poetry, consider how the rhyme and meter shape your understanding of the text and your impression of the tone. Try reading the poem aloud to get a sense of this.

In a play, you might consider how relationships between characters are built up through different scenes, and how the setting relates to the action. Watch out for  dramatic irony , where the audience knows some detail that the characters don’t, creating a double meaning in their words, thoughts, or actions.

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Your thesis in a literary analysis essay is the point you want to make about the text. It’s the core argument that gives your essay direction and prevents it from just being a collection of random observations about a text.

If you’re given a prompt for your essay, your thesis must answer or relate to the prompt. For example:

Essay question example

Is Franz Kafka’s “Before the Law” a religious parable?

Your thesis statement should be an answer to this question—not a simple yes or no, but a statement of why this is or isn’t the case:

Thesis statement example

Franz Kafka’s “Before the Law” is not a religious parable, but a story about bureaucratic alienation.

Sometimes you’ll be given freedom to choose your own topic; in this case, you’ll have to come up with an original thesis. Consider what stood out to you in the text; ask yourself questions about the elements that interested you, and consider how you might answer them.

Your thesis should be something arguable—that is, something that you think is true about the text, but which is not a simple matter of fact. It must be complex enough to develop through evidence and arguments across the course of your essay.

Say you’re analyzing the novel Frankenstein . You could start by asking yourself:

Your initial answer might be a surface-level description:

The character Frankenstein is portrayed negatively in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .

However, this statement is too simple to be an interesting thesis. After reading the text and analyzing its narrative voice and structure, you can develop the answer into a more nuanced and arguable thesis statement:

Mary Shelley uses shifting narrative perspectives to portray Frankenstein in an increasingly negative light as the novel goes on. While he initially appears to be a naive but sympathetic idealist, after the creature’s narrative Frankenstein begins to resemble—even in his own telling—the thoughtlessly cruel figure the creature represents him as.

Remember that you can revise your thesis statement throughout the writing process , so it doesn’t need to be perfectly formulated at this stage. The aim is to keep you focused as you analyze the text.

Finding textual evidence

To support your thesis statement, your essay will build an argument using textual evidence —specific parts of the text that demonstrate your point. This evidence is quoted and analyzed throughout your essay to explain your argument to the reader.

It can be useful to comb through the text in search of relevant quotations before you start writing. You might not end up using everything you find, and you may have to return to the text for more evidence as you write, but collecting textual evidence from the beginning will help you to structure your arguments and assess whether they’re convincing.

To start your literary analysis paper, you’ll need two things: a good title, and an introduction.

Your title should clearly indicate what your analysis will focus on. It usually contains the name of the author and text(s) you’re analyzing. Keep it as concise and engaging as possible.

A common approach to the title is to use a relevant quote from the text, followed by a colon and then the rest of your title.

If you struggle to come up with a good title at first, don’t worry—this will be easier once you’ve begun writing the essay and have a better sense of your arguments.

“Fearful symmetry” : The violence of creation in William Blake’s “The Tyger”

The introduction

The essay introduction provides a quick overview of where your argument is going. It should include your thesis statement and a summary of the essay’s structure.

A typical structure for an introduction is to begin with a general statement about the text and author, using this to lead into your thesis statement. You might refer to a commonly held idea about the text and show how your thesis will contradict it, or zoom in on a particular device you intend to focus on.

Then you can end with a brief indication of what’s coming up in the main body of the essay. This is called signposting. It will be more elaborate in longer essays, but in a short five-paragraph essay structure, it shouldn’t be more than one sentence.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is often read as a crude cautionary tale about the dangers of scientific advancement unrestrained by ethical considerations. In this reading, protagonist Victor Frankenstein is a stable representation of the callous ambition of modern science throughout the novel. This essay, however, argues that far from providing a stable image of the character, Shelley uses shifting narrative perspectives to portray Frankenstein in an increasingly negative light as the novel goes on. While he initially appears to be a naive but sympathetic idealist, after the creature’s narrative Frankenstein begins to resemble—even in his own telling—the thoughtlessly cruel figure the creature represents him as. This essay begins by exploring the positive portrayal of Frankenstein in the first volume, then moves on to the creature’s perception of him, and finally discusses the third volume’s narrative shift toward viewing Frankenstein as the creature views him.

Some students prefer to write the introduction later in the process, and it’s not a bad idea. After all, you’ll have a clearer idea of the overall shape of your arguments once you’ve begun writing them!

If you do write the introduction first, you should still return to it later to make sure it lines up with what you ended up writing, and edit as necessary.

The body of your essay is everything between the introduction and conclusion. It contains your arguments and the textual evidence that supports them.

Paragraph structure

A typical structure for a high school literary analysis essay consists of five paragraphs : the three paragraphs of the body, plus the introduction and conclusion.

Each paragraph in the main body should focus on one topic. In the five-paragraph model, try to divide your argument into three main areas of analysis, all linked to your thesis. Don’t try to include everything you can think of to say about the text—only analysis that drives your argument.

In longer essays, the same principle applies on a broader scale. For example, you might have two or three sections in your main body, each with multiple paragraphs. Within these sections, you still want to begin new paragraphs at logical moments—a turn in the argument or the introduction of a new idea.

Robert’s first encounter with Gil-Martin suggests something of his sinister power. Robert feels “a sort of invisible power that drew me towards him.” He identifies the moment of their meeting as “the beginning of a series of adventures which has puzzled myself, and will puzzle the world when I am no more in it” (p. 89). Gil-Martin’s “invisible power” seems to be at work even at this distance from the moment described; before continuing the story, Robert feels compelled to anticipate at length what readers will make of his narrative after his approaching death. With this interjection, Hogg emphasizes the fatal influence Gil-Martin exercises from his first appearance.

Topic sentences

To keep your points focused, it’s important to use a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph.

A good topic sentence allows a reader to see at a glance what the paragraph is about. It can introduce a new line of argument and connect or contrast it with the previous paragraph. Transition words like “however” or “moreover” are useful for creating smooth transitions:

… The story’s focus, therefore, is not upon the divine revelation that may be waiting beyond the door, but upon the mundane process of aging undergone by the man as he waits.

Nevertheless, the “radiance” that appears to stream from the door is typically treated as religious symbolism.

This topic sentence signals that the paragraph will address the question of religious symbolism, while the linking word “nevertheless” points out a contrast with the previous paragraph’s conclusion.

Using textual evidence

A key part of literary analysis is backing up your arguments with relevant evidence from the text. This involves introducing quotes from the text and explaining their significance to your point.

It’s important to contextualize quotes and explain why you’re using them; they should be properly introduced and analyzed, not treated as self-explanatory:

It isn’t always necessary to use a quote. Quoting is useful when you’re discussing the author’s language, but sometimes you’ll have to refer to plot points or structural elements that can’t be captured in a short quote.

In these cases, it’s more appropriate to paraphrase or summarize parts of the text—that is, to describe the relevant part in your own words:

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The conclusion of your analysis shouldn’t introduce any new quotations or arguments. Instead, it’s about wrapping up the essay. Here, you summarize your key points and try to emphasize their significance to the reader.

A good way to approach this is to briefly summarize your key arguments, and then stress the conclusion they’ve led you to, highlighting the new perspective your thesis provides on the text as a whole:

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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By tracing the depiction of Frankenstein through the novel’s three volumes, I have demonstrated how the narrative structure shifts our perception of the character. While the Frankenstein of the first volume is depicted as having innocent intentions, the second and third volumes—first in the creature’s accusatory voice, and then in his own voice—increasingly undermine him, causing him to appear alternately ridiculous and vindictive. Far from the one-dimensional villain he is often taken to be, the character of Frankenstein is compelling because of the dynamic narrative frame in which he is placed. In this frame, Frankenstein’s narrative self-presentation responds to the images of him we see from others’ perspectives. This conclusion sheds new light on the novel, foregrounding Shelley’s unique layering of narrative perspectives and its importance for the depiction of character.

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How to Write a Short Story: 10 Good Tips for Writers

Hannah Yang

Table of Contents

Short stories 101: what are they and where do you start, 10 tips on how to write a short story, examples of popular short stories for inspiration, conclusion on how to write a short story.

Short stories are an extremely versatile form of literature.

Because of their brevity, short stories allow writers to experiment with a large variety of forms and styles, even ones that wouldn’t be easy to sustain for an entire novel.

But just because they’re short, doesn’t mean they’re easy to write well. So, how exactly do you write a successful short story?

Read on to learn our top tips for how to write short stories, as well as some examples you can read to get inspired.

A short story is a fictional narrative that's between 2,000 and 7,000 words long.

The hallmark of a short story is its concision. A great short story can evoke an emotion, convey a theme, or depict a moment in time in just a few thousand words.

One common misconception is that a short story is just a novel squeezed into a smaller form. But short stories and novels are actually very different art forms.

Novels tend to follow a character across an arc or transformation, while short stories focus more on a single moment. Also, novels tend to focus more on story structure, while many short stories focus more on mood than on plot.

If you approach a short story like you’re writing a shorter version of a novel, you’ll end up with what feels like a synopsis of a longer story, rather than a short story that feels immersive and powerful. So, when you’re writing a short story, remember to lean into the specific strengths of short fiction rather than trying to mimic the characteristics of a novel.

If you want to write a short story, you’ve come to the right place! Here are our top ten tips for how to write a fantastic short story.

Tip 1: Experiment With Form

A short story can take any form you want it to.

You could write a short story that takes the form of a cooking recipe, with each step telling the reader what to do next.

You could write a short story that takes the form of a series of text messages between two friends, with conflict starting to simmer between them.

Or you could even write a short story that takes the form of a real estate advertisement, using a salesperson’s writing style to describe a house and the events that happened inside.

Short stories come in all shapes and sizes, so the possibilities are bounded only by your own imagination. If you're not sure what to write about, try starting with an unusual form and see if that gives you any fun short story ideas.

Tip 2: Start With a Strong Hook

Because a short story has so few words, each line is important—especially the first line. This is your chance to hook the reader in and make them want to keep reading.

There are many different types of hooks you can consider using.

For example, you might start with an intriguing image that paints a picture in the reader’s head. Or you might start with a character doing something strange, which makes the reader wonder why they’re doing it.

No matter what type of hook you choose, make sure you grab the reader’s attention as quickly as possible.  

Tip 3: Identify the Inciting Incident and Climax

Due to their brevity, short stories usually don’t follow a plot structure, like the three-act structure or Freytag’s Pyramid.

However, you still need to identify two key plot points: the inciting incident and the climax.

The inciting incident is the moment that kicks off the story and causes the chain of events to unfold.

The climax is the highest point of tension within the story. It’s often a choice the character makes that reveals something important about who they are.

It’s important to make sure these plot points are present in your story, even if they’re just a few sentences long, to ensure that you're writing a complete story.

Tip 4: Evoke a Specific Mood

Many successful short stories do a great job encapsulating a certain mood. When you read a compelling story, you find yourself feeling the specific emotion that the author intended for you to feel.

Think about the mood you’re trying to evoke with your story. Do you want it to be funny? Creepy? Nostalgic? Heartbreaking?

Once you know the mood you want to evoke, you can let that mood inform all of your story decisions. For example, a creepy story might require different word choices compared to a funny story.

Tip 5: Keep the Timeline Short

Novels tend to follow the main character's life across several days, months, or years. Most short stories, on the other hand, exist within a much smaller time scale.  

Unless you have a lot of experience writing short stories, try to write one in as short a timeline as possible.

If you’re not sure how to compress your story’s timeline, try starting your story closer to the climax. Can your story begin five minutes before the core decision the character needs to make rather than five years before?

That way, you don’t have to worry about your story sprawling too much or having unnecessary scenes. Compressing your timeline also lets you explore a few scenes more deeply, instead of depicting a greater number of scenes with less depth.

Tip 6: Minimize the Cast of Characters

Many short stories focus on a relationship between two characters rather than filling the story with side characters. If those two main characters have a unique relationship with plenty of tension, you don’t need anyone else to make it interesting.

Some stories even revolve around a single main character, with no other characters involved. If you can show the reader who this one individual is, that can be a really powerful character study.

Remember that you’re not writing a novel, which might have sidekicks, comic relief characters, evil minions, and more. The fewer characters your short story has, the more you’ll be able to say about each of them.

Tip 7: Choose a Specific Theme

Many beginner writers aim for broad, vague themes, such as “love” or “ambition.”

But short stories are too small to explore every nuance of an abstract theme like love or ambition. There are too many different nuances to those abstract concepts.

It’s often much more effective to explore a narrower, more specific theme. Try to figure out what you’re saying about a specific character or a relationship between two specific characters, not about humankind in general.

Instead of exploring “love” as a concept, for example, you could explore what love looks like in a relationship between a working mother and her resentful daughter.

Or, instead of exploring “ambition” as a theme, you could explore what ambition looks like for a specific student at a high-pressure prep school.

Tip 8: Focus on “Knockout”

Argentinian author Julio Cortazar once said: “The novel wins by points, the short story by knockout.”

This quote is a great analogy for the difference between these two art forms.

After all, a great novel might have an action-packed battle sequence, a nostalgic flashback scene, and a romantic subplot, all in addition to the main storyline.

But a great short story only has room to do one thing—and it needs to do that one thing masterfully.

So, figure out the crux of the story—the thing your story is going to do masterfully. It might be a single moment in time you want to depict, or a single emotion you want to evoke.   

Every element of your short story needs to contribute to that crux. Nothing should be extraneous or out of place.

Tip 9: Give Your Story an Interesting Title

Many writers give their short stories common titles, such as “Dust” and “Home.”

If “Home” is the perfect title for your story, there’s no rule against using it as a title. But the downside is that your story will feel more forgettable to your readers.

Instead, consider using a unique title. For example, you might use a title that includes an unusual phrase, a character’s role or name, or even a song lyric.

Think of the title as the real first line of your story—it’s the first impression you’ll make on the reader. If you can hook them in with the title, your story will stand out from the crowd.

Tip 10: Edit, Edit, Edit

No short story comes out perfectly on the first draft, even if you’re an experienced writer.

It’s crucial to edit your story to make it as polished as possible.

Run your story through ProWritingAid. You can use the Word Explorer to check the connotations of each word you choose, which can ensure you evoke the right tone in your writing.

Write like a bestselling author

Love writing? ProWritingAid will help you improve the style, strength, and clarity of your stories.

The best way to become a better writer is by reading great examples.

Here are some short stories you can read to inspire you.

Example 1: “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

“The Lottery,” originally published in The New Yorker in 1948, is one of my favorite short stories.

The story depicts a group of villagers who gather together to hold a lottery. The nature of the lottery is left mysterious, but the sense of excitement and anticipation grows as everyone waits to see whose name will get drawn.

This is a great example of a short story that doesn’t waste any words. It begins with the moment the villagers start to gather and ends as soon as the lottery is conducted.

You’ll have to read the story to find out what the lottery turns out to be. It’s a quick read, and well worth your time.

Example 2: “Cathedral” by Raymond Carver

“Cathedral,” first published in a short story collection in 1983, is a story about two men forging an unexpected connection.

The story follows a cynical narrator whose wife invites her friend, a recently widowed blind man, to come stay with them. The narrator knows little about blindness except from the movies and isn’t particularly thrilled about having this guy stay at his house.

The narrator and the blind man end up spending time in front of the TV together, and when the camera shows a beautiful cathedral, the narrator realizes the blind man has no idea what a cathedral looks like. And so, painstakingly, he tries to describe it to him.

This story is all about the intimacy, beauty, and sadness of that moment—trying to describe a cathedral to a man who can never see one.

Example 3: “Recitatif” by Toni Morrison

Roberta and Twyla are two roommates in a shelter, both sent to live there because their mothers are unable to care for them.

Originally published in a short story anthology in 1983, “Recitatif” follows these two girls as they grow up and start families.

A major focus of the story is on the fact that Twyla and Roberta are different races and therefore get treated differently by society. Here’s the catch: Morrison never tells you which girl is the Black character and which girl is the white character. She just lets you make your own assumptions.  

This story is masterfully written, and one thing I love about it is that you can interpret it in a different way each time you reread it.

Example 4: “Eating Bitterness” by Hannah Yang

For this last example, I’ll discuss one of my own short stories and the choices I made while writing it.

“Eating Bitterness,” which you can read online in The Dark Magazine , is a story about a world where all women have two mouths. The second mouth is used to eat all the negative emotions their families feel.

Once I’d decided on the core idea that would the “knockout” punch of the story, I crafted the details of the story to match.

Thematically, I wanted the story to explore the relationship between a mother and her teenage daughter, who have very different feelings about their second mouths. Because this is a short story, I tried to focus on that core mother-daughter relationship throughout the piece and added only a few other family members to keep it simple.

Finally, I made sure to choose a title that felt specific and unique. “Chi ku” is a Chinese idiom for suffering, which translates to “eating bitterness” in English. I liked the double meaning that this title might evoke for bilingual readers, but I also felt like the title works well on its own, whether or not you’ve heard the idiom before.

There you have it—our top tips for how to write a short story, as well as some examples to inspire you.

Short stories are one of my favorite forms of literature, and there’s so much you can do with them.

So, pick up a pen and try writing one! If you enjoy writing your own stories, you can even submit short stories to literary magazines.

Good luck, and happy writing!

Hannah is a speculative fiction writer who loves all things strange and surreal. She holds a BA from Yale University and lives in Colorado. When she’s not busy writing, you can find her painting watercolors, playing her ukulele, or hiking in the Rockies. Follow her work on hannahyang.com or on Twitter at @hannahxyang.

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Home » Blog » How to Write a Short Story That Gets Read (In 7 Steps)

How to Write a Short Story That Gets Read (In 7 Steps)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Short stories have a potent allure. They plunge readers into vibrant worlds, capture complex characters, and deliver impactful narratives, all within a brief space. However, learning to write a short story is as challenging as writing an entire novel.

This article unlocks the secrets of crafting short stories that seize and retain readers’ attention.

How to Write a Short Story

This guide to short fiction writing begins with an overview of the art form, highlighting its challenges and appeal. We then delve into the essence of a short story, focusing on its defining characteristics.

The article progresses to cover creating compelling characters , which is essential for driving the story’s development.

Additionally, we provide practical advice on getting your short story published . Concluding the guide, we summarize the key strategies to write short stories and encourage writers to nurture their unique voices, supplemented by a list of resources for further exploration in short story writing.

Understanding the Essence of a Short Story

By its very nature, a short story is a brief but intense glimpse into a narrative, a concentrated form of storytelling that demands precision. Unlike novels, short stories tend to require a different set of writing skills and understanding.

Short Story Characteristics

Here are the key characteristics:

• Brevity and Focus: The most defining aspect of a short story is its length. A short story focuses on a singular theme, requiring every word to contribute meaningfully to the plot.
• Immediate Engagement: A short story must capture the reader’s attention quickly. The opening lines set the tone, introducing the conflict or presenting a unique perspective that hooks the reader.

Use Squibler’s AI tools to rewrite or distill your story ideas. Since Squibler AI specializes in fiction writing, tools such as Rewrite or Add Conflict are effective tools for creating both the first draft and the final version.

The Role of a Strong Opening

Next, let’s cover the role of a strong opening.

• Creating Intrigue: The opening of a short story should immediately intrigue the reader. The opening sentence sets the stage for what’s to come, whether through an intriguing situation or a compelling voice.
• Introducing Conflict: The early establishment of the conflict or central theme moves the story forward. This conflict doesn’t have to be dramatic but must be compelling enough to drive the whole story.

The Economy of Language

Third, let’s cover the economy of language.

• Precise Word Choice: Every word in a short story must serve a purpose. With limited space, choose words that convey the maximum meaning or emotion.
• Descriptive Efficiency: Descriptive passages must be efficient yet evocative. The challenge is to create vivid imagery and atmosphere without overloading the reader with details.

Focused Pacing

Next, let’s talk about focused pacing.

• Single-Threaded Plot: Most short stories follow a single-threaded plot. This focus allows for a more in-depth exploration of the central theme.
• Balanced Pacing: Pacing in a short story needs to be carefully balanced. It should be brisk enough to maintain engagement but also allow for the development of characters and plot.

Main Characters in a Short Story

Now, let’s talk about your main character.

• Depth over Breadth: Describing a particular character in a short story involves creating depth rather than breadth. A glimpse into the personality, motivation, or background can be more effective than a full-blown character analysis.
• Character as a Vehicle: Characters often act as vehicles for the larger theme of the story. Their actions and transformations are pivotal in conveying the story’s essence.

Squibler AI allows you to create your characters as Elements and use them to weave custom narratives. That way, your writing is unique to your story ideas. No bland AI writing.

The Significance of a Powerful Ending

Now, let’s go over creating a powerful ending for a great short story.

• Resonating Conclusion: A successful short story leaves a lasting impact with its conclusion. The ending should resonate with the reader, offering closure or leaving them pondering.
• The Twist or Revelation: Many short stories use a twist or revelation towards the end. This element is a powerful tool to surprise the reader and add depth to the story’s message.

Character Arc in Short Stories

Developing characters swiftly is a cornerstone of short story writing. In the short story format, writers must employ techniques that reveal character depth effectively.

First Impressions Matter

The initial introduction sets the stage for the reader’s perception. A character’s first appearance, action, or line of dialogue should be telling. It’s about creating an impression that hints at their deeper traits, whether through a unique habit, a striking dialogue, or a notable reaction to a situation. This technique allows the reader to connect with and understand the character immediately.

Show, Don’t Tell

“Show, don’t tell” remains a golden rule in short stories. This involves revealing character traits through actions and interactions rather than explicit descriptions. For instance, a character’s kindness can be shown through actions rather than simply stating they are kind. This approach engages readers more actively, encouraging them to infer and imagine the character’s nature.

Effective Use of Dialogue

Dialogue is a powerful tool. A character’s speech can reveal their background, personality, and emotional state. Even a short exchange provides significant insights into a main character’s life, making dialogue crucial in quick character development. You can show a lot in so few words! Here are a few tips:

Key Character Moments

Identify and craft key moments that reveal the essence of your character. These moments, whether a decision, a realization, or an action, should be pivotal in showing who the character is at their core.

Minimal Yet Meaningful Backstory

While extensive backstory is often not feasible in short stories, including minimal yet meaningful details adds depth to your characters and makes a short story a complete story. A brief mention of a past event, a short flashback, or a relevant anecdote can give readers a fuller understanding of the character’s motivations and history.

Building Plot Elements in Short Stories

Creating a focused plot is crucial in short story writing, where space is limited, and every element must contribute to a cohesive whole. This section explores constructing a plot that captures and retains the reader’s attention.

Establishing a Central Conflict

Every compelling short story revolves around a central conflict or problem. This conflict should be clear and engaging, whether internal, external, or both. The story’s driving force propels the narrative forward and maintains the reader’s interest. Introduce this conflict early to set the stage and give direction to your story.

If you’re stuck with creating an impactful conflict with an inciting incident, use Squibler’s Create Conflict tool to add drama to engage readers.

Streamlining the Story

A short story has no room for unnecessary subplots or extraneous characters. Focus on streamlining the narrative to ensure that every scene, character, and line of dialogue serves the central conflict or theme. This approach helps maintain a tight story structure where each element advances the plot.

Crafting a Strong Beginning

The opening of a short story should immediately draw the reader in – many writers stick to this strategy! It could start in the middle of an action, present a unique character, or introduce an intriguing scenario.

The goal is to pique the reader’s curiosity and set the tone for the rest of the story. A strong beginning not only captures attention but also establishes the stakes and tone of the narrative.

Developing Pacing and Tension

Pacing is key in a short story. Balance action moments with quieter, more introspective segments to allow readers to absorb the events. Build tension gradually towards the climax, ensuring the story progresses logically and keeps the reader engaged. The pace should complement the story’s tone and theme, enhancing its overall impact.

Crafting a Satisfying Conclusion

The conclusion of a short story should be satisfying and resonant, whether it offers a clear resolution or leaves the reader with something to ponder. It should tie together the main threads of the plot, address the central conflict, and leave a lasting impression. A well-crafted ending elevates the entire story.

Setting the Scene in Short Stories

The setting in a short story plays a crucial role, often acting as more than just a backdrop—it sets the tone, influences the mood, and even affects the plot and characters. In this section, we’ll explore how to establish settings in short stories.

Conveying Settings

When brevity is the key, it’s important to convey the setting concisely. Writers should use vivid and precise language to paint a clear picture of the setting in the reader’s mind without lengthy descriptions. A well-chosen detail tells more than paragraphs of description. For example, describing the faded paint on a childhood home conveys a sense of nostalgia.

Using Setting to Enhance the Mood

The setting is a powerful tool in establishing the story’s mood. For example, a story set in a bustling city conveys a sense of urgency or anonymity, while a story set in a secluded forest creates a mood of isolation or mystery. Selecting details that enhance the mood you want to convey is crucial.

Integrating Setting with Plot

The setting should do more than just describe a location; it should interact with the plot and characters. It acts as an obstacle or a source of conflict. For instance, a challenging climate is a hurdle for characters to overcome, or a particular city shapes a character’s outlook and experiences. The setting should be integral to the story structure.

Symbolism and Thematic Elements

In some stories, the setting carries symbolic weight or contributes to the theme. A decaying house might symbolize the end of an era or a character’s mental state, while a busy street market could represent cultural diversity. By aligning the setting with the story’s themes, writers can add depth and layers to their short stories.

Temporal Settings

Besides geographical locations, a story’s time is set also impacts its overall effect. Historical settings offer a sense of authenticity and transport readers to a different time, while futuristic settings open up possibilities for exploring new story ideas and scenarios.

The era or period must complement the story’s themes and plot.

Engaging the Reader with Your Writing Style

The writing style in a novel or short story is not just a medium of storytelling; it’s an essential tool that shapes the reader’s experience and engagement.

This section will explore how to utilize writing style effectively to captivate readers.

Developing a Distinct Voice

A unique voice sets the tone of your story and distinguishes your writing. Whether conversational, formal, whimsical, or solemn, the voice should be consistent and reflect the nature of the story and characters.

For instance, first-person storytelling offers deep personal insights into a character’s thoughts and feelings, while a third-person omniscient voice provides a broader perspective.

Balancing Show and Tell

Finding the right balance between showing and telling is vital. “Showing” immerses readers in the story, allowing them to experience events and emotions through detailed description and action. “Telling,” on the other hand, conveys information and moves the plot forward.

In a short story, where every word counts, deciding when to show and when to tell impacts the pacing and reader engagement.

Crafting Compelling Dialogue

Dialogue in short stories must be purposeful. It should reveal character traits, advance the plot, or provide necessary information. Writing realistic and impactful dialogue involves giving each character a distinct voice and ensuring their conversations sound natural and relevant to the story’s context.

Avoiding unnecessary exposition in dialogue keeps it dynamic and engaging.

Utilizing Descriptive Language

When used effectively, descriptive language creates vivid imagery and evokes emotions. However, overuse or overly flowery descriptions slow down the pace.

The key is choosing the right words to create a clear and compelling picture in the reader’s mind without overwhelming them.

Experimenting with Literary Techniques

Don’t be afraid to experiment with literary techniques like metaphors, similes, alliteration, and varied sentence structure. These techniques add depth to your writing and help create a rhythmic flow. However, they should serve the story, not distract from it.

Using such devices should enhance, rather than complicate, the reader’s understanding and enjoyment of the story.

Adapting Style to Story

Finally, adapt your writing style to suit the story you are telling. A suspenseful thriller might call for short, punchy sentences to build tension, while a more introspective story might benefit from a more flowing, descriptive style. The style should always complement the tone and pace of the story.

Editing and Refining Your Story

The editing phase is crucial in transforming a good short story into a great one. It involves refining your plot, enhancing clarity, and ensuring that every element serves the story’s purpose. It’s also important that your story has a satisfying ending.

This section will guide you through editing and refining your short story to achieve its fullest potential in the final draft.

First Pass: Structural Edits

Let’s go over the initial steps:

• Assessing the Plot: Begin by evaluating the plot’s structure. Ensure that the story flows logically, that each scene transitions smoothly, and that the climax and resolution are satisfying. Look for any plot holes or inconsistencies and address them.
• Character Consistency: Check that your characters remain consistent throughout the story. Their actions and dialogues should align with their established traits and development.
• Pacing: Adjust the pacing to maintain reader interest. Identify any sections that drag and tighten them by removing unnecessary details or exposition.

Second Pass: Style and Voice

Next, let’s talk about the style and voice.

• Refining the Voice: Ensure your voice is consistent and appropriate for the story. Adjust it for tone and style to match the story’s mood and setting.
• Dialogue Polish: Refine the dialogue to make it more realistic and impactful. Each character’s speech should be distinct and contribute to the story’s progression.

Third Pass: Language and Grammar

The third step is checking language and grammar.

• Clarity and Readability: Focus on sentence structure and word choice. Ensure clarity in your writing, avoiding overly complex sentences or ambiguous phrasing.
• Grammar and Syntax: Correct any grammatical errors and check for proper syntax. Pay attention to punctuation, as it affects the flow and readability of the story.
• Eliminating Redundancies: Remove redundant words or phrases to keep readers engaged. Each word should add value to the story.

Final Review: Feedback and Final Touches

Finally, wrap it up with gathering feedback.

• Seeking Feedback: Once you’ve made revisions, seek feedback from trusted readers or writing groups. Fresh eyes catch issues you may have overlooked and provide valuable perspectives.
• Incorporating Feedback: Evaluate the feedback critically and decide which suggestions align with your vision for the story. Make the necessary changes based on this input.

Short Story Writing Tools

Don’t be afraid to seek assistance when the writing gets tricky. Writing a great short story usually requires help.

The help comes from a fellow short-story writer, writing workshops, or using writing software to guide you and help you start writing. There are many options for this, but here are two that will help you create the best short story possible.

Squibler is perfect for writing short stories.

Squibler offers an abundance of organizational tools that will make your life easier.

These include:

• Plot generator
• Generate scenes
• Create elements
• Polish dialogues
• Create engaging descriptions
• Generate characters
• Generate character development
• Generate original visuals
• Free templates
• A place for notes and research
• A place for your outline – no matter how detailed
• Chapter and scene organization

These AI tools come in handy when writing a short story. Depending on the style and genre of your story, you may need to do a lot of research despite the shorter length.

Grammarly is there to help you through the editing process. Once it scans your work, it will pick out the spelling and grammatical errors. In addition to pointing out your errors, it tells you how to fix them.

These can be small things like an unnecessary comma or a missing period. But a lot of little things add up.

Grammarly is free to use and can be integrated with:

• Microsoft Word
• Google Docs
• Chrome Browser

Grammarly is an effective editing tool for all types of writers . It cleans up your work fast. This saves you time, improves your craft, and helps you remain professional and polished.

For an enhanced editing experience, Grammarly offers a premium upgrade that provides you with additional, more advanced checks.

Getting Your Short Story Out There

After the hard work of writing and refining the first draft of your short story, the next step is sharing it with the world. This final section offers guidance on how to get your short story published and read by an audience.

Exploring Publication Options

Literary Magazines and Journals: Research literary magazines and journals that publish short stories. Consider print and online publications, and target those that align with your story’s genre and style. Pay attention to their submission guidelines and deadlines.

Online Platforms: Leverage the power of the internet. Websites like Wattpad, Medium, or your blog can be excellent platforms to publish your work and reach a wide audience. These platforms also allow for direct reader engagement and feedback.

Entering Writing Contests

Writing Competitions: Participating in short story competitions can provide exposure and credibility. Look for contests that cater to your genre and offer publication opportunities as part of their prize.

Building an Online Presence

Social Media and Author Websites: Create an online presence through social media platforms and an author website. These can be powerful tools for promoting your work, connecting with readers, and building a community of followers.

Networking in the Writing Community

Join Writing Groups and Workshops: Engage with local or online writing communities. Networking with other writers can provide collaboration, feedback, and support opportunities.

Attend Literary Events: Participate in literary events, readings, or book fairs. These events can offer networking opportunities and expose you to publishers and other industry professionals.

Sources Of Inspiration: Classic Short Stories

For aspiring short story writers, classic short stories serve as a wellspring of inspiration. These timeless works, penned by craft masters, offer various styles, themes, and techniques to learn from.

Reading classics provides a deeper understanding of the short story form and sparks creativity in your own short stories and writing.

There are many classic, well-known short stories by famous authors . Some short story examples that are expertly written and deeply meaningful:

• “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe
• “Chivalry” by Neil Gaiman
• “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry
• “The Signal-Man” by Charles Dickens
• “Barn Burning” by William Faulkner 
• “Miss Temptation” by Kurt Vonnegut 
• “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” by Ernest Hemingway

These short tales have gone down in history for their ingenuity. They did a fantastic job setting the atmosphere, bringing their character to life , and awing the reader.

FAQ: Writing Short Stories

Here are the most frequently asked questions about how to write a short story.

How many words should a short story have?

A short story ranges from 1,000 to 7,500 words. However, this varies, with some stories being as brief as 500 words or as long as 10,000 words.

What is the importance of internal logic in a short story?

Internal logic refers to the consistency and believability of the story’s world. Maintaining it is key to ensuring that the story remains credible and engaging to the reader, even if it delves into fantastical or surreal elements.

What is a key element in a short story or flash fiction?

A key element in a short story is its focused narrative. Unlike a novel, which explores multiple themes and subplots, a short story typically revolves around a single idea or central theme.

How is rising action used in a short story?

It builds tension and complicates the plot as it progresses towards the climax. It’s crucial for escalating the stakes and deepening the reader’s investment.

What differentiates a short story from a novel?

The main difference lies in length and scope. A novel offers a broader exploration of themes, characters, and plots, often spanning tens of thousands of words, whereas a short story provides a more concentrated plot.

How do you develop an idea into a short story?

Define the main conflict or theme to develop an idea into a short story. You can even use your own life examples. Then, create compelling characters and a setting that supports your fiction. Outline a plot that makes sense. This includes rising action, a climax, and a resolution, ensuring each element contributes to the central idea.

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Short Story Writing for Students and Teachers

What Is a Short Story?

The clue is in the title!

Short stories are like novels only…well…shorter! They contain all the crucial elements of fully developed stories except on a smaller scale.

In short story writing, you’ll find the key story elements such as characterization, plot development, themes explored, etc., but all within a word count that can usually be comfortably read in one sitting.

Short stories are just one of many storytelling methods; like the others, they help us derive meaning from our world.

How Do Short Stories Differ From Novels?

The reduced scale of a short story explains most of the differences the form has with longer forms such as novels.

Short stories usually have a tighter focus on a single main character and rarely shift between perspectives the way we often find in longer works of fiction.

Space is of the essence in this form, so long passages of exposition are usually avoided and the story starting at the last possible moment.

In purely numerical terms, short stories can be anywhere between about 1,000 to around 20,000 words or so, though many would consider even 10,000 too long.

A short novel clocks in at around 60,000 words, with word counts between 20-60,000 words being taken up by that red-headed stepchild of prose, the novella.

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How to Write a Short Story

Good storytelling is an art. But, luckily it’s a craft too and, like any craft, the skills and techniques can be learned by anyone.

In this article, we’ll first take a look at some ways to kickstart the short story writing process, before taking a look at some of the structural considerations essential for students to understand before they write their short stories.

We’ll also explore some simple practical activities that will help students to draw on their creative resources and personal experiences to help bring their stories to life.

Finally, we’ll look at some general tips to help students put a final polish on their masterpieces before they share them with the world.

How t o begin a story

Create a Dramatic Question

The first thing a student needs to do when writing a short story is to create a dramatic question. Without a dramatic question, readers will have no motivation to read on as there will be no story .

This dramatic question can take many forms, but as it will be the driver of the plot, it will be the single most important element of the story.

Take the movie Rocky as an example. In it, an aging journeyman boxer, Rocky Balboa, answers two dramatic questions:

1. Will Rocky find love?

2. Can he become the Heavyweight Champion of the World?

Often the dramatic question is of this will she/won’t she type. But, whatever form it takes, there must be some obstacles put in the way of answering it.

These obstacles can come in the form of an external obstacle, such as an antagonist or a negative environment, or the form of an internal obstacle, such as heartbreak or grief.

This is the conflict that creates the crucial element of suspense necessary to engage the reader’s interest.

Whatever form a student’s dramatic question takes, it will provide the plot impetus and how the student will explore their story’s theme.

Practice Activity: Identify the Dramatic Question

It is good practice for students to attempt to identify the dramatic question any time they read a book or watch a movie. Ask the students to think of some classic or popular books and movies that they are already familiar with. Can they extract the major dramatic question from each?

Find Inspiration in the World Around

One of the most common complaints from students, when asked to write a short story, is that they don’t know what to write about. This is the age-old curse of writer’s block.

Figuring out what to write about is the first hurdle students will need to overcome. Luckily, the inspiration for stories lies everywhere. We just need to help students to know where to look.

As writers, students must learn to see the world around them with the freshness of the eyes of a young child. This requires them to pay close attention to the world around them; to slow things down enough to catch the endless possibilities for stories that exist all around.

Luckily, we have the perfect activity to help our students to do this.

Practice Activity: Breathe Life into the Story

We can find stories and the details for our stories everywhere.

Students need to tune their ear to the fragments of stories in snatches of overheard daily conversations. They need to pay enough attention to catch their own daydreaming what-ifs on the bus to school or to keep an eye out for all those little human interest stories in the local newspaper.

Once the living details of life are noticed, students need to capture them quickly by recording them in a journal. This journal will become a great resource for the student to dip into for inspiration while writing their stories.

Those half-heard conversations, those anecdotes of street life witnessed through a bus window, the half-remembered dreams scribbled down while gulping down a rushed breakfast. All these can provide jumping-off points and rich detail for a student’s short story.

Outline and Prepare

Preparation is important when writing a short story. Without a doubt. There is, however, a very real danger of preparation becoming procrastination for our student writers.

Students must learn to make their preparation time count. The writing process is much more productive if students invest some time in brainstorming and organizing their ideas at the start.

To organize their short story, students will need to understand the basic elements of structure described in the next section, but the following activity will first help them to access some of the creative gold in their imaginations. The discipline of structure can be applied afterward.

Practice Activity: Dig for Nuggets

For this activity, give each student a large piece of paper, such as a leaf from an artist’s sketchbook, to brainstorm their ideas. Employing a large canvas like this encourages more expansive thinking.

Instruct students to use colored pens to write sentences, phrases, and fragments, even doodles. Anything that helps them to dump the contents of their mind onto the paper. This is all about sifting through the rubble for those nuggets of gold. Students shouldn’t censor themselves, but instead, allow their mind’s free reign.

To help your students get started, you can provide them with some prompts or questions as jumping-off points. For example:

• What is your basic premise?
• What is the story about?
• Who are your main characters?
• Where is your story set?  

Encourage students to generate their own questions too by allowing their minds ample room to roam. Generating new questions in this way will help them gather momentum for the telling of their tale.

SHORT STORY WRITING STRUCTURE

Even getting off to a great start, students often find themselves in difficulties by the middle of their story, especially if they haven’t achieved a firm grasp of structure yet.

The main elements students will need to master are plot, theme, and character development.

In this section, we’ll take a look at each of these in turn.

Plot refers to the events of the story. This is the what of the tale. It’s useful for students to understand the arc of the plot in five sections: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Exposition: This is the introductory part of your story. It should introduce the reader to the central characters and orientate them to the setting.

Rising Action: Here the student begins by introducing the central dramatic question which will be the engine of the story. A series of obstacles must be placed in the way of the main character that will increase suspense and tension as the story moves forward toward the climax.

Climax: The climax is the dramatic high point of the story. This is where interest peaks and the emotions rise to their most intense.

Falling Action: Now the conflict is resolving and we are being led out to the story’s end.

Resolution: The central dramatic question has been answered, usually in either a happy or tragic manner, and many loose ends are tied up.

Practice Activity: Instruct students to use the five-part plot structure above to map an outline for their tale before writing .

If the plot consists of the series of events that constitute the story, then the theme refers to what those events mean.

The theme of a story is the underlying message of the story.

What is the ‘big idea’ behind all the action of the plot? This is open to a certain amount of interpretation on the part of the reader, but usually, a little reflection by the student writer will reveal what the events of the plot mean to them.

If, as described in the introduction, stories are how we derive meaning from the world, the theme will reveal the writer’s perspective on things.

Practice Activity: Organize students into groups and ask them to list their Top 5 movies or books of all time. Instruct them to briefly outline the main plot points using the plot structure above. When they’ve completed that, instruct the students to discuss what they think the main themes of each of the works of fiction were.

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Character Development IN SHORT STORY WRITING

No doubt about it, characterization is essential to the success of any short story. Just how important characterization is will depend on whether the story is plot-driven or action-driven.

In the best writing, regardless of genre or length, the characters will be at least plausible. There is a lot that students can do to ensure their stories are populated with more than just cardboard cutouts.

One effective way to do this is to reveal a character through their actions. This is the old show, don’t tell trick at work.

A good short story writer will allow the character to reveal their temperament and personality through their actions.

For example, instead of merely describing a character as putting a mug on the table, perhaps they bring it down with a thud that betrays their anger.

Another great way to reveal character is in the use of dialogue. How characters speak to each other in a story can reveal a lot about their status, mood, and intent, etc.

Our students must learn to draw complex characters. Archetypes may serve us well in some contexts, but archetypes are not real people. They are caricatures. If our students want to people their fictional world with real people, they need to create complex, even contradictory characters, just like you and I are.

If their characters are too consistent, they are too predictable. Predictability kills suspense, which in turn kills the reader’s interest.

Practice Activity: Reveal Mood through Action

For this simple activity, provide the students with a list of emotions. Now, challenge the students to concoct a short scene where a character performs an action or actions that reveal the chosen mood.

To start, you might allow the students a paragraph in which to reveal the emotion. You might reduce this to just a sentence or two as they get better at it. Remind students that they need to show the emotion, not tell it!

HOW TO POLISH AND REFINE A SHORT STORY

Now students have already had a look at how to begin and how to structure a story, we’ll take a look at a few quick tips on how they can polish their stories generally – especially during the editing process.

Write Convincing Dialogue:

For students, investing time in learning how to write great dialogue is time well spent.

Not only is well-written dialogue great for revealing character, but it will break up intimidating walls of text too.

Dialogue is a great way to move the story forward and to provide subtle exposition.

 As mentioned earlier, journals are the perfect place to dump interesting snatches of conversation that become a valuable resource for writing convincing dialogue – except, of course, if you are passing through North Korea or the like!

Vary Sentence Length:

 When finished with their first drafts, encourage students to read their work out loud when editing and rewriting.

Often, students will be surprised to realize just how regular the rhythm of their sentences has become.

Like musicians, writers have chops. It’s easy to fall back on the same few favored structures time and again. Students can do a lot to spice up their writing simply by varying sentence lengths.

Shorter sentences are pacier and punchier while longer sentences can slow things down, calming the reader, then, boom!

Varying sentence length throughout a story prevents the writing from becoming stale and monotonous.

Punctuation:

As with varying sentence length above, the rhythm of a story can be altered through the choice of punctuation.

Students can think of punctuation as musical notation marks. It’s designed to help the reader understand the composer’s intention for how it is to be read and interpreted.

Students should understand punctuation as an imperfect but effective tool. Its use affects not only the work’s rhythm but also the meaning.

It is well worth the student’s time to perfect their use of punctuation.

To Conclude                                                  

There are a lot of moving parts to short stories.

From the nuts and bolts of grammar and punctuation to crafting a plot and exploring big thematic ideas, mastering the art of short story writing takes time and lots of practice.

With so much ground to cover, it’s impossible to address every aspect in a single unit of work on short story writing.

Be sure to offer students opportunities to see the short story in action in the work of accomplished writers, as well as opportunities to practice the various aspects of short story writing mentioned above.

Draw attention to writing best practices when they appear even in work unrelated to the short story.

Lots of time and plenty of practice might just reveal a latter-day O. Henry or Edgar Allen Poe sat in one of the desks right in front of you.

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How to Write a Short Essay

Last Updated: January 17, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 12 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 115,614 times.

Essay writing is a common assignment in high school or college courses, especially within the humanities. You’ll also be asked to write essays for college admissions and scholarships. In a short essay (250-500 words), you will need to provide an introduction with a thesis, a body, and a conclusion, as you would with a longer essay. Depending on the essay requirements, you may also need to do academic or online research to find sources to back up your claims.

Picking a Topic and Gathering Research

• If you have any questions about the topic, ask your instructor. If your essay doesn't respond to the prompt, you likely won't receive full credit.

• If you're writing an essay for an in-class test or for an application, tailor the essay to the given prompt and topic. Quickly brainstorm a few ideas; for example, think of positive things you can say about yourself for a college-entrance essay.
• For example, the topic “depression in American literature” is far too broad. Narrow down your topic to something like “Willie Loman’s depression in Death of a Salesman .”
• Or, you could write about a narrow topic like “the increase in the USA’s national debt in the 1950s” rather than a broad topic like “the American economy in the 20th century.”

• Depending on the field in which you’re writing the essay—e.g., hard sciences, sociology, humanities, etc.—your instructor will direct you towards appropriate databases. For example, if you’re writing a high-school or college-level essay for your English class, visit online literary databases like JSTOR, LION, and the MLA Bibliography.
• If you're writing the essay for a college or graduate-school application, it's unlikely that you'll need to include any secondary sources.
• If you're writing a timed or in-class essay, you may not be able to find research articles. But, still do draw information from texts and sources you've studied both in and out of class, and build from points made in any provided reading passages.

• If you’re writing about current events or journalism topics, read articles from well-known news sites like CNN or the BBC.
• Avoid citing unreliable websites like blogs or any sites that have a clear bias about the topic they’re reporting on.

Composing the Essay

• If you write the essay without outlining, the essay will be poorly organized.

• This thesis statement is far too weak: “ Death of a Salesman shows the difficulty of living in America after WWII.”
• Instead, hone your thesis to something like: “Arthur Miller uses Death of a Salesman to show that the American Dream is materialist and impractical.”

• So, avoid beginning the paragraph by writing something like, “Since the beginning of time, all people have been consumed with the desire for their father’s approval.”
• Instead, write something like, “In the play Death of a Salesman , Willie Loman’s sons compete for their father’s approval through various masculine displays."
• Then, you can say, "To examine this topic, I will perform a close reading of several key passages of the play and present analyses by noted Arthur Miller scholars."

• In a short essay, the conclusion should do nothing more than briefly restate your main claim and remind readers of the evidence you provided.

• So, take the example about Death of a Salesman . The first body paragraph could discuss the ways in which Willie’s sons try to impress him.
• The second body paragraph could dive into Willie’s hopelessness and despair, and the third paragraph could discuss how Miller uses his characters to show the flaws in their understanding of the American Dream.

• Always cite your sources so you avoid charges of plagiarism. Check with your instructor (or the essay prompt) and find out what citation style you should use.
• For example, if you’re summarizing the inflation of the American dollar during the 1930s, provide 2 or 3 years and inflation-rate percentages. Don’t provide a full-paragraph summary of the economic decline.
• If you're writing an in-class essay and don't have time to perform any research, you don't need to incorporate outside sources. But, it will impress your teacher if you quote from a reading passage or bring up pertinent knowledge you may have gained during the class.

• If no one agrees to read the essay, read over your own first draft and look for errors or spots where you could clarify your meaning. Reading the essay out loud often helps, as you’ll be able to hear sentences that aren’t quite coherent.
• This step does not apply to essays written during a timed or in-class exam, as you won't be able to ask peers to read your work.

• It’s always a mistake to submit an unrevised first draft, whether for a grade, for admissions, or for a scholarship essay.
• However, if you're writing an essay for a timed exam, it's okay if you don't have enough time to combine multiple drafts before the time runs out.

Condensing Your Essay

• So, if you’re writing about Death of a Salesman , an article about symbolism in Arthur Miller’s plays would be useful. But, an article about the average cost of Midwestern hotels in the 1940s would be irrelevant.
• If you’re writing a scholarship essay, double-check the instructions to clarify what types of sources you’re allowed to use.

• A common cliche you might find in an essay is a statement like, "I'm the hardest working student at my school."
• For example, this sentence is too verbose: “I have been a relentlessly stellar student throughout my entire high school career since I am a seriously dedicated reader and thoroughly apply myself to every assignment I receive in class.”
• Shortened, it could read: “I was a stellar student throughout my high school career since I was a dedicated reader and applied myself to every assignment I received.”

• Avoid writing something like, “Willie Loman can be seen as having achieved little through his life because he is not respected by his sons and is not valued by his co-workers.”
• Instead, write, “Arthur Miller shows readers that Willie’s life accomplishments have amounted to little. Willie’s sons do not look up to him, and his co-workers treat him without respect.”

• For example, if you’re trying to prove that WWII pulled the USA out of the Great Depression, focus strictly on an economic argument.
• Avoid bringing in other, less convincing topics. For example, don’t dedicate a paragraph to discussing how much it cost the USA to build fighter jets in 1944.

Short Essay Template and Example

Expert Q&A

• When composing the text of your essay, resist the temptation to pull words from a thesaurus in an attempt to sound academic or intelligent. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0
• If your high school or college has an online or in-person writing center, schedule an appointment. Taking advantage of this type of service can improve your essay and help you recognize structural or grammatical problems you would not have noticed otherwise. Thanks Helpful 1 Not Helpful 0

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• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/research_papers/choosing_a_topic.html
• ↑ https://monroecollege.libguides.com/c.php?g=589208&p=4072926
• ↑ https://www.utep.edu/extendeduniversity/utepconnect/blog/march-2017/4-ways-to-differentiate-a-good-source-from-a-bad-source.html
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/essay-outline/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/thesis-statements/
• ↑ https://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/how-to-write-an-essay/essay-introduction
• ↑ https://lsa.umich.edu/sweetland/undergraduates/writing-guides/how-do-i-write-an-intro--conclusion----body-paragraph.html
• ↑ https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/writingsuccess/chapter/8-3-drafting/
• ↑ https://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/how-guides/how-write-university/how-approach-any-assignment/writing-english-essay/using-secondary
• ↑ https://patch.com/michigan/berkley/bp--how-to-shorten-your-college-essay-without-ruining-it
• ↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/style/ccs_activevoice/
• ↑ https://wordcounter.net/blog/2016/01/26/101025_how-to-reduce-essay-word-count.html

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Short Story Essay | The Art of Writing A Short Story Essay and How To Write A Short Story?

December 24, 2021 by Prasanna

Short Story Essay: Writing a short story is an art. It can be difficult to take a few basic concepts and compile them into a complete, compelling story without the benefit of words flowing out on the page with ease. But you don’t need to worry. There are tons of ways that you can get your creative juices flowing before you even give it a final review. In this essay, we shall explore some techniques that will help guide you as you write your first short story.

You can also find more  Essay Writing  articles on events, persons, sports, technology and many more.

What Is a Short Story?

A short story is a fictional work of prose. It typically has an ending that ties together the events in the story. Usually, the author often uses a limited amount of descriptive language. Moreover, a short story is shorter than a novel and it can be told in any genre. The key difference between a short story and a novel is the length. A short story is typically no longer than 20,000 words. Furthermore, most short stories may contain just one or two main characters.

How To Write A Short Story?

In order to create a riveting short story, the author must first decide what genre he or she desires. The main genres are horror, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Horror stories usually have a supernatural twist or a villain that is one of the most feared aspects of life. Mystery stories usually have one culprit who is trying to cover up their crime but it is up to the detective or sleuth to solve the case. Sci-Fi literature has its roots in science fiction films and television shows. Romance novels often have some type of forbidden love story that may have a happy ending or is left unresolved at the end of the book. These genres create a world for the reader in which they can escape their own lives for a period of time and imagine themselves as a main character in the story. They may also write down their own experiences and feelings that they have as a reader of the book and put them in the story. Paranormal fiction is about the unexplainable. It can also be about actual events that have happened to real people or just tall tales that are passed down between generations.

The Art of Writing A Short Story

Writing is a form of expression that helps to process thoughts and emotions. The art of writing a short story is an interesting and educational experience where it uses many of the same skills as writing a novel. A writer who is struggling to find their voice should consider approaching a short story in order to better understand the challenges that await them in writing a full-length novel. Short stories are something that many talented writers can enjoy writing. Short stories and novellas are a good way to familiarize oneself with the writing process. Here are a few tips that can help you when writing short stories for children.

Planning is essential – It may sound obvious, but planning is essential in writing a short story. You need to do your research and write down every single detail about the story and all of the important characters that you have decided to include. Once you have completed this, then you can start writing the story. You may want to write a rough draft of the story and edit it as per your writing style.

Make it interesting – Remember that children’s short stories need to be interesting and fun to read, so make sure that you take them seriously. If you don’t , then they can come across as boring and simplistic. Children may be more interested in reading stories than adults are, hence, ensure that you take the time to research children’s short stories. A good place to start looking is the library and look in the section that contains children’s books.

Character development – It is important that you are able to integrate the characters into your story in some way. You can do this by giving them specific personalities or traits. Don’t forget to give them a name and also, describe their appearance in detail. And finally, having them interact with other characters are all essential to an effective short story. Doing so will ensure that your readers can bond with the characters.

Key Factors To Consider When Writing A Short Story

It’s important to remember that a short story is not the same as a novel. In order to write a good short story, it’s important to know what the parameters are for your story.  If you are writing a short story it’s important to consider the following:

• Is the story long enough?
• Can you pique the interest of your reader in a short period of time?
• Is there a strong beginning and good ending?

If you are not sure about this, you should consider how long it would take to read a short story. This usually means about 10 minutes or less for the reader. You must also consider other key factors such as:

• The central theme of the story
• The point of view or perspectives
• The tone of the story
• The length of the story
• The level of detail
• How many characters are in the story
• The setting of the story
• The number of words
• The ending and its circumstances
• How much you reveal about your characters
• How much action there is in the story
• How much dialogue there is
• How many places there are to visit in the story
• The pace of the story
• The point where the story ends
• The hidden meaning of the story
• How many ways you can read this story
• How much there is to discover in the story
• The ethical questions that arise from the story
• Whether or not you can tell this story today
• How much you like this story
• Whether or not you can teach this story
• How much you will remember about the story
• How much readers will recommend this story to others
• How much readers remember about this book/ short story
• How much readers will remember about this author

Why Is It Important To Write With Brevity?

Writing a short story is an art. It takes a lot of time and effort to write a good piece of fiction. Brevity is among the most important skills one can have when writing. When an author wants to convey a message or tell a story, they must be able to do so in fewer words than might otherwise be necessary. This is particularly true in short stories where it’s often difficult to convey the entirety of a scene and characters’ emotions in just enough words.

FAQs on Short Story

Question 1. What is a short story essay?

Answer: A short story essay is a narrative essay that tells an interesting, personal, and/or true story.

Question 2. How do you write a short story essay?

Answer: A short story can range from a few hundred words to several thousand. A short story is often about one event, but it can also be about a series of events. For example, the author could be writing about an incident that happened to them as a child and how it has affected their life as an adult.

Question 3. What is a short story example?

Answer: Writing a short story is no easy task. It requires the author to create characters, dialogue, plot twists & more all in less than 10,000 words. Short stories are different from novels because they usually don’t have subplots, themes, or any other extended narrative.

Question 4. How many paragraphs are in a short story essay?

Answer: A short story essay is between six and ten paragraphs in length. The number of paragraphs in a short story essay is usually dependent on the tone and intent as well.

Conclusion on Short Story Essay

The art of writing a short story is a challenging one. You are limited in how much time you have to write, how many characters you can use, and how complex the plot can be while still being readable. The way to make a short story engaging is through variety. Each paragraph should contain something new, whether it’s an idea or an action. You can also create conflict with different characters by switching between viewpoints or having some characters want one thing and others want the opposite. When your characters disagree, it can be a surprising way to create conflict and character development.  Remember, the main goal of writing is to create a story that  your readers will enjoy and remember. Short stories are great additions to any type of story and can be a great way to improve your writing. Explore other fascinating topics or discover other educational study materials for your exam by registering at APlusTopper.

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Story Writing

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Story writing is the art of crafting a narrative that captivates readers through a structured plot, engaging characters, and vivid settings. It involves creating an imaginative or real-life sequence of events with a clear beginning, middle, and end to convey a central theme or message. By employing descriptive language and dialogue, writers bring their stories to life, immersing readers in the created world. Effective story writing not only entertains but also evokes emotions, encourages reflection, and provides valuable insights into the human experience. Narrative writing , scriptwriting , and romantic novel writing are various forms of story writing, each using unique techniques to engage the audience and deliver a compelling tale.

What is a story Writing?

Story writing is the art of crafting a narrative that captivates readers through a structured plot, engaging characters, and vivid settings.It involves weaving together characters, settings, plots, and themes into a cohesive and engaging tale. Story writing can take many forms, including This Statement narrative essays , narrative speeches , and short story . A narrative essay presents a personal experience or insight in a structured format, a narrative speech is designed to be spoken aloud and captivates the audience through storytelling, and a short story is a concise piece of fiction that explores a central theme or idea.

Story Writing Format

A well-structured story typically follows a specific format to ensure clarity and engagement. Here is a standard format for story writing:

• Choose an intriguing and relevant title for your story.

2. Introduction

• Setting the Scene: Describe the time, place, and environment where the story takes place.
• Introducing Characters: Present the main characters and provide brief descriptions.
• Beginning: Introduce the main conflict or problem the characters will face.
• Rising Action: Develop the story by adding events that build suspense and lead up to the climax.
• Climax: The turning point or most intense moment of the story where the main conflict reaches its peak.

4. Falling Action

• Describe the events that happen after the climax as the story starts to resolve.

5. Conclusion

• Resolution: Provide a satisfactory ending where the conflict is resolved, and the characters reach a conclusion.
• Closing Remarks: End with a final thought, lesson, or future possibility for the characters

Story Writing Examples

Story writing is a creative process that allows writers to express their imagination, convey messages, and entertain readers. Here are eleven examples of story writing across different genres and themes:

1. The Lost Treasure

Jack, a young boy from a coastal village, found an ancient map leading to a hidden treasure on the Forbidden Island. Along with his dog Max, he embarked on a journey filled with challenges like treacherous waves and dense jungles. They discovered a cave containing a chest of gold and jewels, which Jack shared with his village, bringing prosperity and earning him the title of a hero.

2. The Enchanted Forest

Nutty, a brave squirrel from the Enchanted Forest, set out to save the magical tree losing its power. Guided by a wise owl, he journeyed to the Dark Mountains to retrieve a special crystal guarded by a dragon. Nutty outsmarted the dragon and restored the tree’s magic, making the forest vibrant again and becoming a celebrated hero among the mystical creatures.

3. The Brave Princess

Princess Isabella, skilled in sword fighting, faced a fierce dragon threatening her kingdom. When all knights failed, she courageously battled the dragon, discovering its weakness and defeating it. Her bravery saved the kingdom, and she was honored as the bravest warrior, continuing to protect her people with valor.

4. The Time-Traveling Twins

Twins Lily and Leo discovered a magical book in their grandmother’s attic that transported them to ancient Egypt. There, they befriended a scribe named Amara and sought the Eye of Ra to return home. After solving riddles and evading traps in the Great Pyramid, they found the artifact and returned to their attic, eager for more historical adventures.

5. The Mysterious Lighthouse

Emily, a curious teenager, moved to a seaside town with her family and became fascinated by a lighthouse said to be haunted. One stormy night, she ventured inside and discovered an old journal that revealed the lighthouse keeper’s secret mission to protect a hidden treasure. With the help of her new friend, Tom, Emily solved the mystery, and they found the treasure, which they used to restore the town’s historic sites.

6. The Robot’s Adventure

In a futuristic city, a robot named Arlo longed for adventure beyond his programmed tasks. One day, he discovered a malfunction that allowed him to explore freely. Arlo met a group of kids who were on a mission to find a legendary power source. Together, they navigated through abandoned factories and high-tech security systems, ultimately finding the power source that could save their city from an energy crisis.

7. The Secret Garden

Mia, a shy girl, discovered a hidden garden in her new home’s backyard. The garden was neglected, but with the help of a neighbor’s son, Ben, she brought it back to life. As they worked together, they uncovered messages and clues left by the previous owners, leading them to a buried time capsule filled with letters and keepsakes. The garden became a place of friendship and healing for Mia and Ben.

8. The Magical Paintbrush

A poor artist named Luca found a magical paintbrush that brought his paintings to life. He used it to create beautiful landscapes and help his village by painting crops and animals. However, a greedy merchant stole the brush, causing chaos with his selfish creations. Luca, with the help of his friends, outwitted the merchant and restored peace, using the brush for good once more.

9. The Brave Little Mouse

In a bustling city, a tiny mouse named Pip dreamed of adventure. When his family was threatened by a gang of alley cats, Pip decided to take action. He formed an alliance with other small animals and devised clever traps to outsmart the cats. Pip’s bravery and leadership saved his family and earned him respect among the city’s creatures.

10. The Starry Night

Stella, an aspiring astronomer, discovered an old telescope in her attic. Through it, she saw a mysterious star map that led her to a hidden observatory in the mountains. With her brother Leo, Stella decoded the map and discovered an ancient artifact that could predict celestial events. Their discovery brought them recognition and opened new possibilities for astronomical research.

11. The Adventure of the Forgotten Island

Max and his sister Lucy, on a summer vacation, stumbled upon an old boat and decided to explore a nearby island that was said to be cursed. On the island, they found remnants of an ancient civilization and a series of puzzles leading to a hidden treasure. Despite facing numerous challenges, including wild animals and treacherous terrain, Max and Lucy uncovered the treasure and the true history of the island, turning it into a popular historical site.

Story Writing Examples for Class 3

Example 1. the friendly dolphin.

One sunny day, Lily and her family went to the beach. While swimming, Lily noticed a dolphin stuck in a fishing net. She quickly called her parents, and together they freed the dolphin. To show its gratitude, the dolphin performed flips and tricks for Lily and her family. From that day on, every time Lily visited the beach, the friendly dolphin would come to greet her. This adventure taught Lily the importance of helping others and protecting sea life.

Moral of the story: Helping others and caring for the environment are important.

Example 2. The Magic Book

Sam loved reading books. One day, while exploring his grandfather’s attic, he found an old, dusty book. As he opened it, a magical light surrounded him, and he was transported to a world of dragons and knights. Sam met a kind dragon named Draco, who needed help finding a lost treasure to save his village. With Sam’s clever ideas and Draco’s strength, they found the treasure and saved the village. When Sam returned home, he realized that books could take him on incredible adventures.

Moral of the story: Reading books can open doors to magical adventures and new experiences.

Example 3. The Lost Kitten

While walking home from school, Mia heard a soft meowing sound. She followed the sound and found a tiny, lost kitten hiding under a bush. Mia gently picked up the kitten and took it home. She made posters to find the kitten’s owner and asked her neighbors if they knew who it belonged to. After a week, an elderly lady saw Mia’s poster and claimed the kitten, thanking Mia for her kindness. Mia felt happy knowing she had reunited the kitten with its owner.

Moral of the story: Kindness and helping others can bring happiness to everyone.

Example 4. The Class Garden

Mr. Brown, the science teacher, announced that the class would create a garden in the schoolyard. Each student was assigned a plant to take care of. Tommy, who didn’t like getting dirty, was given a tomato plant. Reluctantly, he watered it and made sure it got enough sunlight. Over time, Tommy saw his plant grow and bear fruit. He felt proud of his hard work and began to enjoy gardening. The class garden thrived, and everyone enjoyed the fresh vegetables they had grown together.

Moral of the story: Hard work and perseverance can lead to rewarding outcomes.

Example 5. The Birthday Surprise

Anna’s best friend, Emily, was sad because she thought everyone had forgotten her birthday. Anna secretly planned a surprise party with all their friends. They decorated the backyard with balloons and streamers and prepared Emily’s favorite snacks. When Emily arrived, she was overjoyed to see all her friends and the decorations. The surprise party made her birthday special, and Emily realized how much her friends cared about her. Anna learned that making someone else happy was the best gift she could give.

Moral of the story: Making others happy brings joy to everyone.

Story Writing Examples for Class 5

Example 1: the friendly dolphin, example 2: the magic book, example 3: the lost kitten, example 4: the class garden, example 5: the birthday surprise, story writing examples for class 6, example 1: the missing cat.

One sunny afternoon, Riya noticed that her beloved cat, Whiskers, was missing. Worried, she decided to search the neighborhood. She asked her friends Arjun and Meera to help. They made posters and put them up around the area. After hours of searching, they heard a faint meow coming from a tree. Whiskers was stuck on a high branch! Arjun climbed the tree and rescued him. Riya was overjoyed and thanked her friends for their help. This adventure taught them the importance of teamwork and never giving up.

Example 2: The Friendly Dragon

In a small village, there was a legend of a dragon that lived in the nearby mountains. One day, while exploring the forest, Sam stumbled upon a cave. Inside, he found a dragon with a hurt wing. Despite his initial fear, Sam decided to help. He bandaged the dragon’s wing and brought it food every day. Over time, the dragon healed and became Sam’s friend. The villagers were amazed when Sam introduced them to his new friend, proving that kindness can conquer fear and build unexpected friendships.

Example 3: The Magic Book

At the school library, Priya discovered an old, dusty book titled “The Adventures of Elara.” As she started reading, she found herself magically transported into the story. She met Elara, a brave girl on a quest to find a hidden treasure. Together, they solved riddles and faced various challenges. Priya learned valuable lessons about bravery and friendship. When she finally returned to the real world, she realized the adventure had made her more confident and eager to explore new stories.

Example 4: The Lost Treasure Map

While cleaning the attic, Rahul found an old, crumpled map. It looked like a treasure map! He showed it to his sister, Ananya, and they decided to follow it. The map led them to a series of clues hidden around their neighborhood. After a fun and exciting search, they finally found a buried box in the park. Inside were old coins, a diary, and photos from their grandparents’ childhood. The treasure hunt brought them closer and taught them about their family history.

Example 5: The Heroic Act

During a school field trip to the lake, Neha noticed a young boy struggling in the water. Without a second thought, she grabbed a nearby life buoy and swam towards him. With the help of her teacher, she managed to pull the boy to safety. The boy’s parents were extremely grateful, and Neha became a hero at school. She realized that being prepared and staying calm in emergencies can make a big difference.

Story Writing Examples for Class 7

Example 1: the enchanted library.

One rainy afternoon, Riya found herself bored and decided to visit the old library near her house. As she explored, she discovered a dusty, ancient book titled “The Enchanted Library.” When she opened it, she was transported into a magical world where books could talk and characters from stories came to life. Riya met a friendly dragon who needed her help to find a missing page from his story. With courage and clever thinking, Riya found the page and restored the dragon’s tale. She returned to her world, grateful for the adventure and newfound love for reading.

Example 2: The Invisible Friend

Anil was a quiet boy who often felt lonely at school. One day, he discovered a pair of glasses in his attic. When he put them on, he saw a ghost named Sam who had been living in his house for years. Sam was friendly and funny, and the two quickly became best friends. Sam helped Anil gain confidence and make new friends at school. Through Sam, Anil learned the importance of friendship and that sometimes, the best friends are found in the most unexpected places.

Example 3: The Lost Key

While playing in her backyard, Meera found an old, rusty key buried in the ground. Curious, she set off to find what it unlocked. After days of searching, she discovered an abandoned treehouse at the edge of the forest. The key fit perfectly, and inside, Meera found a treasure trove of old toys, books, and letters from a child who lived there long ago. She decided to clean and restore the treehouse, creating a secret hideout for herself and her friends. Meera learned that adventure and discovery could be found in her own backyard.

Example 4: The Brave Little Bird

In a quiet village, there lived a small bird named Chirpy who was afraid of flying high. One day, a storm blew through the village, and Chirpy’s family got trapped in a tree. Summoning all his courage, Chirpy flew higher than ever before to rescue them. With determination and bravery, he guided them to safety. Chirpy’s family praised his courage, and from that day on, he soared through the skies with confidence. Chirpy learned that facing his fears made him stronger.

Example 5: The Mysterious Letter

Arjun received a mysterious letter with no sender’s name, only a riddle. Intrigued, he followed the clues, leading him on a treasure hunt across town. With each clue, Arjun solved puzzles and learned interesting facts about his town’s history. The final clue led him to the local museum, where he discovered a hidden room filled with artifacts. The museum director revealed that the hunt was a way to teach children about their heritage. Arjun’s adventure taught him the value of history and the excitement of solving mysteries.

Story Writing Examples for Class 8

Example 1: the mysterious cave.

One sunny afternoon, siblings Maya and Raj decided to explore the forest near their village. As they wandered deeper, they stumbled upon a hidden cave. Curiosity getting the best of them, they ventured inside. The cave was dark and damp, but Maya’s flashlight revealed beautiful crystals embedded in the walls. Suddenly, they heard a rustling sound. Nervously, they turned to see a small, lost puppy. They rescued the puppy and named it Spark. Their adventure taught them the value of courage and helping those in need.

Example 2: The Generous Stranger

Sara was walking home from school when she noticed an elderly woman struggling with her grocery bags. Sara offered to help and carried the bags to the woman’s house. Grateful, the woman invited Sara inside for tea. During their chat, Sara learned that the woman, Mrs. Gupta, lived alone and had no family nearby. From that day on, Sara visited Mrs. Gupta regularly, bringing her joy and companionship. Sara realized that small acts of kindness could make a big difference in someone’s life.

Example 3: The Magic Pencil

Avi found an old pencil in his attic one rainy day. When he started drawing with it, he noticed something extraordinary – everything he drew came to life! He drew a small garden in his backyard, and it instantly bloomed with flowers and plants. Excited, Avi showed his friends, and together they drew a playground for their school. However, Avi soon learned that the pencil’s magic was limited, and it would only work for good deeds. This taught him to use his talents responsibly and for the benefit of others.

Example 4: The School Play

Nina was shy and had always stayed away from the spotlight. When her teacher announced auditions for the school play, Nina’s best friend, Priya, encouraged her to try out for a role. Nervous but determined, Nina auditioned and got a part. As rehearsals progressed, she grew more confident and discovered a love for acting. On the night of the performance, Nina shone brightly on stage. She realized that stepping out of her comfort zone could lead to wonderful new experiences.

Example 5: The Secret Garden

In the backyard of their new house, twins Arjun and Anika found a locked gate covered in ivy. After days of searching, they found the key hidden in the attic. Opening the gate, they discovered a beautiful, forgotten garden filled with colorful flowers and a small pond. They decided to restore the garden to its former glory. As they worked together, they learned about the history of the garden and the people who had cared for it before. The twins found joy in preserving something beautiful and sharing it with their community.

Story Writing Examples for Class 9

Example 1: the courageous act.

In a small village nestled in the hills, lived a young boy named Arjun. Known for his adventurous spirit, Arjun often explored the nearby forests. One day, while wandering deeper than usual, he heard faint cries for help. Following the sound, he found a little girl trapped in a pit. Without hesitation, Arjun rushed to find a rope and managed to pull her out. The villagers later praised his bravery, and Arjun became a hero in the community. His act of courage taught everyone the importance of helping others in times of need.

Example 2: The Unseen Friend

Meera was a quiet girl who recently moved to a new city. Struggling to make friends, she often felt lonely. One rainy afternoon, she found an abandoned kitten shivering under a bench. Taking it home, she named the kitten Snowy. Over time, Snowy became her closest companion, filling her days with joy and laughter. Through her bond with Snowy, Meera learned the value of companionship and kindness, eventually gaining the confidence to make new friends at school.

Example 3: The Science Fair Surprise

Ravi was a talented but shy student with a passion for science. His school announced an upcoming science fair, and Ravi decided to participate. He worked tirelessly on his project, creating a miniature wind turbine that could generate electricity. On the day of the fair, Ravi’s project attracted the attention of many, including the judges. To his astonishment, Ravi won first prize. The recognition boosted his self-esteem, encouraging him to pursue his dream of becoming an engineer.

Example 4: The Lost Wallet

While walking home from school, Anjali found a wallet lying on the pavement. Curious, she opened it to find a considerable amount of money and an ID card. The wallet belonged to Mr. Sharma, a local shopkeeper. Anjali decided to return it, despite the temptation to keep the money. When she handed the wallet back, Mr. Sharma was overwhelmed with gratitude and offered her a reward. Anjali politely declined, feeling proud of her honesty. Her action reinforced the lesson that integrity always pays off.

Example 5: The Team Spirit

Rahul loved playing soccer but was never selected for the school team due to his lack of skills. Determined to improve, he practiced daily. His dedication caught the coach’s eye, and Rahul was finally given a chance to play. During a crucial match, one of the key players was injured, and Rahul had to step in. To everyone’s surprise, he scored the winning goal. The team celebrated together, and Rahul realized that perseverance and teamwork could lead to success.

Story Writing Examples for Class 10

Example 1: the unexpected hero.

Aman was an ordinary high school student, often overlooked by his peers. One day, while returning from school, he noticed smoke billowing from a nearby house. Without hesitation, Aman ran towards the house, realizing that a fire had broken out. He heard faint cries for help and saw a young child trapped inside. Braving the flames, Aman entered the house, rescued the child, and brought them to safety. The community hailed him as a hero. Aman learned that courage and quick thinking could make anyone a hero, even the most ordinary among us.

Example 2: The Turning Point

Priya was struggling with her studies, particularly in mathematics. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t seem to grasp the concepts. Feeling disheartened, she considered giving up. One day, her math teacher, Mrs. Rao, noticed her struggle and offered to help after school. With patient guidance and personalized tutoring, Priya began to understand the subject. Her grades improved, and so did her confidence. Priya realized the importance of perseverance and seeking help when needed, turning a challenging situation into a valuable learning experience.

Example 3: The Lost Artifact

During a school trip to an ancient museum, Ravi and his friends discovered a hidden room filled with artifacts that were not part of the regular exhibits. Among them was a mysterious, ancient amulet. Curious, Ravi touched the amulet and suddenly found himself transported to a different era, back in time to when the artifact was created. He witnessed the craftsmanship and the importance of the amulet to the ancient civilization. Upon returning to his time, Ravi shared his experience with the museum curator, leading to a major discovery about the artifact’s history. Ravi learned that history has many hidden stories waiting to be uncovered.

Example 4: The Power of Forgiveness

Anita and Maya were best friends until a misunderstanding caused a rift between them. They stopped talking and avoided each other, but deep down, both missed their friendship. One day, Anita found an old photograph of them together and realized how much their friendship meant to her. Summoning her courage, she approached Maya and apologized, explaining her side of the story. Maya, too, shared her feelings, and they both realized that their friendship was worth more than their pride. They forgave each other and rebuilt their bond, learning that forgiveness is a powerful tool for healing and reconciliation.

Example 5: The Environmental Crusader

Raj was passionate about the environment and was deeply troubled by the amount of plastic waste in his town. He decided to take action and started an awareness campaign at his school, educating students about the harmful effects of plastic pollution. Raj organized clean-up drives and collaborated with local businesses to reduce plastic usage. His efforts gained media attention, and soon the whole town joined in his mission. Raj’s campaign led to a significant reduction in plastic waste in his community. He learned that one person’s passion and determination could inspire collective action for a greater cause.

Different types of Stories

1. Adventure Stories

Adventure stories involve exciting journeys, explorations, and quests where characters face challenges and obstacles. These tales often include a hero or heroine who embarks on a mission, encounters danger, and overcomes difficulties to achieve their goal. Classic examples include “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson and modern ones like “Harry Potter” by J.K. Rowling.

2. Mystery Stories

Mystery stories revolve around solving a crime or uncovering secrets. The plot typically includes a detective or an amateur sleuth who follows clues, interviews suspects, and unravels the mystery. Notable examples are Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Sherlock Holmes” series and Agatha Christie’s “Hercule Poirot” novels.

3. Fantasy Stories

Fantasy stories take place in imaginary worlds filled with magical creatures, supernatural events, and heroic quests. These narratives often include wizards, dragons, and epic battles between good and evil. Examples include “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien and “The Chronicles of Narnia” by C.S. Lewis.

4. Science Fiction Stories

Science fiction stories explore futuristic concepts, advanced technology, space exploration, and the impact of science on society. They often speculate on what could happen based on scientific principles. Examples include “Dune” by Frank Herbert and “1984” by George Orwell.

5. Horror Stories

Horror stories aim to evoke fear and suspense in the reader. They often involve supernatural elements, such as ghosts, monsters, and haunted houses, as well as psychological horror. Famous examples include Stephen King’s “It” and Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.”

6. Romance Stories

Romance stories focus on the relationship and romantic love between characters. The plot often centers around their journey to find love, overcome obstacles, and achieve a happy ending. Popular examples are Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” and Nicholas Sparks’ “The Notebook.”

7. Historical Fiction Stories

Historical fiction stories are set in the past and incorporate historical events, figures, and settings into the narrative. These stories blend fact and fiction, providing insight into different time periods. Examples include “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell and “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak.

8. Thriller Stories

Thriller stories are fast-paced and filled with tension, suspense, and excitement. They often involve a protagonist facing danger, espionage, or conspiracies. Examples include “The Da Vinci Code” by Dan Brown and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson.

9. Drama Stories

Drama stories focus on realistic characters and emotional themes, often dealing with personal or social issues. These narratives explore complex relationships and moral dilemmas. Examples include “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee and “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams.

10. Comedy Stories

Comedy stories aim to entertain and amuse the reader with humor, satire, and witty characters. These tales often involve misunderstandings, funny situations, and happy endings. Examples include “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams and “Bridget Jones’s Diary” by Helen Fielding.

11. Fable Stories

Fable stories are short tales that convey a moral lesson, often using animals as characters with human traits. These stories are meant to teach ethical principles and wisdom. Classic examples include Aesop’s Fables, such as “The Tortoise and the Hare” and “The Fox and the Grapes.”

Story Writing Topics

• A Journey to the Unknown : Write about a character who sets off on a journey to an unknown destination, facing various challenges and discovering new places and people along the way.
• The Secret Diary : Create a story about a character who finds an old diary hidden in their attic, uncovering secrets about their family or the history of their town.
• The Magical Amulet : Write about a young protagonist who discovers a magical amulet that grants them special powers, and how they use it to overcome a significant challenge.
• A Day in the Life of a Superhero : Imagine a day in the life of a superhero, focusing on both their heroic deeds and their personal struggles.
• The Haunted House : Tell the story of a group of friends who decide to spend a night in a haunted house, encountering strange occurrences and uncovering the house’s dark history.
• Lost in the Wilderness : Write about a character who gets lost in the wilderness and must use their survival skills to find their way back home.
• The Time Machine : Create a story about a scientist who invents a time machine and travels to different eras, facing unexpected consequences.
• A Friend from Another World : Tell the story of a child who befriends an alien or a creature from another world, and their adventures together.
• The Great Invention : Write about an inventor who creates a groundbreaking invention that changes the world, and the challenges they face along the way.
• The Lost Civilization : Imagine a team of archaeologists who discover a lost civilization, uncovering its secrets and treasures while facing various dangers.

Story Writing Topics for Kids

• A Trip to the Moon : Write about a group of friends who build a rocket ship and travel to the moon, discovering new creatures and having exciting adventures.
• The Talking Animal : Create a story about a child who discovers that their pet can talk and the adventures they go on together.
• The Magic Treehouse : Tell the tale of siblings who find a treehouse that can transport them to different places and times.
• The Lost Puppy : Write about a child who finds a lost puppy and embarks on a journey to find its owner, making new friends along the way.
• The Enchanted Forest : Imagine a forest where the trees can talk and the animals have magical powers, and write about the adventures of a child who stumbles into this forest.
• The Hidden Treasure : Create a story about a group of friends who find a treasure map and go on a quest to find the hidden treasure.
• A Day at the Amusement Park : Write about a child’s exciting day at an amusement park, filled with fun rides, games, and unexpected surprises.
• The Mystery of the Missing Cake : Tell the story of a group of friends who solve the mystery of who took the missing cake at a birthday party.
• The Friendly Ghost : Imagine a child who meets a friendly ghost living in their new house and the adventures they have together.
• The Magic Paintbrush : Write about a child who discovers a paintbrush that brings their drawings to life and the creative adventures that follow.
• The Superhero School : Create a story about a school for young superheroes, focusing on the challenges and fun of learning to use their powers.
• A Visit to the Zoo : Tell the tale of a magical day at the zoo where the animals can talk and interact with the visitors in surprising ways.
• The Snowman Who Came to Life : Write about a snowman that comes to life and the adventures it has with the children who built it.
• The Secret Garden : Imagine a child who discovers a hidden garden full of magical plants and creatures, and the adventures they have there.
• The Time-Traveling Kids : Create a story about kids who find a time machine and travel to different periods in history, learning and having fun.

How to Write a Story in 5 steps

1. choose your story idea.

Begin by brainstorming ideas for your story. Think about what excites you or what you would enjoy reading. Consider different genres like adventure, mystery, fantasy, or romance. Your idea can be based on personal experiences, dreams, or even something you saw or read. Make sure your idea has a clear beginning, middle, and end.

2. Develop Your Characters

Create interesting and relatable characters. Start with your main character (protagonist) and think about their personality, background, and goals. Consider what they want and what challenges they might face. Develop supporting characters that help or hinder the protagonist. Make sure each character has distinct traits and motivations.

3. Plan Your Plot

Outline the main events of your story. The plot should include:

• Introduction : Introduce your characters and setting.
• Conflict : Present a problem or challenge that the protagonist must face.
• Rising Action : Build tension as the protagonist tries to overcome the conflict.
• Climax : The turning point where the protagonist faces the biggest challenge.
• Resolution : Conclude the story by resolving the conflict and showing the outcome for the characters.

4. Write the First Draft

Start writing your story based on your plot outline. Focus on getting your ideas down on paper without worrying too much about perfection. Let your creativity flow and try to write consistently. Use dialogue, descriptions, and action to bring your characters and plot to life. Remember, the first draft is just the beginning, so don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

5. Revise and Edit

After completing your first draft, take a break before revising. When you return, read your story with fresh eyes. Look for areas that need improvement, such as unclear scenes, weak dialogue, or pacing issues. Edit for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors. Consider feedback from others to help refine your story. Keep revising until you are satisfied with the final version.

FAQ’s

What is a story plot.

A plot is the sequence of events in a story, including the introduction, conflict, rising action, climax, and resolution.

How do I create interesting characters?

Develop characters with distinct traits, motivations, and backgrounds. Make them relatable and give them goals and challenges to overcome.

What is the difference between a protagonist and an antagonist?

The protagonist is the main character who faces challenges. The antagonist opposes the protagonist, creating conflict.

How can I make my story engaging?

Create compelling characters, develop a strong plot with conflict and tension, and use vivid descriptions and dialogue.

What is the purpose of a story outline?

An outline helps organize your ideas, plan the plot, and ensure your story has a clear structure from beginning to end.

How important is setting in a story?

Setting provides context, influences the plot, and helps create mood and atmosphere. It makes the story more immersive.

What is a narrative voice?

Narrative voice is the perspective from which the story is told. It can be first person, second person, or third person.

How can I improve my dialogue writing?

Ensure dialogue sounds natural and reflects each character’s personality. Use it to advance the plot and reveal character traits.

What is the climax of a story?

The climax is the turning point and most intense moment, where the protagonist faces the main conflict.

How do I develop a theme in my story?

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10 Best Creative Writing Courses for 2024: Craft Authentic Stories

Learn how to tell your story and engage your readers with great storytelling.

As a lifelong literature enthusiast, I decided to challenge myself in 2010 by participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), which tasks participants with writing a 50,000-word draft within a month. Although I’ve only achieved this goal twice since then, the experience has been invaluable. I’ve connected with a wonderful community of writers, both online and in person.

Through my experience, I can confidently say that creative writing is a skill that can be developed and honed, just like any other. While traditionally associated with literature, creative writing is increasingly being recognized as a powerful tool in various forms of writing, from copywriting and storytelling to novels and poetry. It has the ability to captivate readers and elevate the impact of written expression.

If you’re searching for the best online Creative Writing courses and resources, you’ve come to the right place. This Best Courses Guide (BCG) is built from Class Central’s catalog of over 300 Creative Writing courses and selected according to a methodology that you can check below.

Click on the shortcuts for more details:

What is Creative Writing?

Courses overview, why you should trust us, how we made our picks and tested them, here are our top picks.

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Creative writing is a genre of writing that seeks to evoke emotions and feelings in its readers. It surpasses the limits of traditional forms of literature and emphasizes narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes and poetic traditions. Creative writing finds application in various forms of writing, including screenplays, plays, novels, poems, and other written works. In this guide, I will delve into some of its most popular facets.

Enhancing resilience and creativity through writing

Research shows that the brains of professional writers work differently from those of novice writers. Moreover, creative writing has been found to boost resilience in students . If you want to enjoy the benefits of writing, it’s important to develop the habit of jotting down your thoughts and words. Doing so can help you overcome writer’s block.

Creative writing is so powerful that it’s used in prisons to give inmates a chance to express themselves in programs like PEN America . “By providing resources, mentorship, and audiences outside the walls, we help these writers to join and enrich the broader literary community.”

Creative writing is a skill that can be learned and practiced like any other. Techniques such as ABDCE structure, 1st or 3rd person point of view, “show don’t tell”, dialogues, and tropes can be easily learned through the online courses in this guide.

• Together, they account for over 1M enrollments
• Skillshare, with 2 courses, is the most featured provider
• The single most popular course has nearly 400k enrollments
• Three courses are entirely free or free-to-audit.

Best Fantasy And Short-Stories Writing Lessons For Beginners (Brandon Sanderson)

Besides being an awesome writer, Sanderson is an instructor with a very unique talent for keeping us engaged. He has also made available a full course in creative writing on YouTube , originally presented at Brigham Young University, which includes the most crucial tools for any beginner or even experienced writers. The course is comprehensive and rich in content, with great sound and video quality.

Each video discusses a specific tool or technique, so you can easily select the theme you want to explore next or watch it all in sequence. It’s up to you. I recommend you take your time, watch one video at a time and experiment with each concept, or even better, find a writing buddy or form a group to practice writing together.

What you’ll learn:

• Plot construction, character development, and engaging storytelling
• Techniques for crafting immersive worlds and believable viewpoints
• Insights into the publishing industry, tailored for emerging writers
• Strategies for writing compelling short stories and leveraging them for larger projects.

“Very informative! I’m a beginner writer looking to study writing for video games, and this class gave me a lot of helpful tools to start understanding how stories work/how to organize my ideas! Will definitely be returning to some of these lectures in the future for guidance 👍” – Paige Webster

Best University-level Creative Writing Course (Wesleyan University)

Creative Writing by Wesleyan University is a specialization for those looking for a way to improve their writing structure, scene and character creations and finding your style. Each course includes writing practice (for paying learners) and insightful interviews. It’s worth your time and effort if you are a disorganized writer like myself.

• Techniques for crafting a bracing story with memorable characters and an interesting setting
• How to employ a fresh descriptive style in your writing
• Skills for analyzing and constructively evaluating peer writing
• The ability to refine your writing, critique writing in general, and draw inspiration from existing literature
• The process of drafting, rewriting, and completing an original story in the genre of your choosing.

It should be noted that the peer-grading system often lacks depth. However, the assignments are well-crafted and can be easily evaluated with minimal effort, providing some insights from other participants in the form of feedback or inspiration from their submissions.

“Great information about plot and scene structure. The information about revision was entirely new to me – thank you! The exercises were good and difficult in a good way that helped me hone my writing.” – Laura B, Coursera learner

Best Course to Find Your Voice (Neil Gaiman)

Neil Gaiman is currently one the most prolific writers I know of: he’s written books , comics , movies and even TV shows . Even if you’re not a fan of his style, there is definitely something you can learn from him.

In Neil Gaiman Teaches The Art Of Storytelling you will discover Neil’s philosophy on what drives a story and learn to unlock new stories within yourself.

While MasterClass doesn’t sell single courses, a subscription provides access to their entire library, including other writing courses like Margaret Atwood Teaches Creative Writing , Dan Brown Teaches Writing Thrillers , Malcolm Gladwell Teaches Writing , and James Patterson Teaches Writing . If you are considering the purchase, you should definitely enjoy the rest of their catalog.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Discover and develop your unique writing voice
• Generate and develop original ideas
• Create dynamic, well-rounded characters that come to life on the page.

This course includes a 94-page workbook that includes assignments and supplemental material.

Best Practical Writing Course With Support (Trace Crawford)

I love it when a passionate teacher like Trace Crawford puts the effort into creating a comprehensive curriculum. COMPLETE Creative Writing – All Genres is a 12-hour course with 145 downloadable resources. In this course, you will learn how to write engaging fiction, poetry, drama, and creative non-fiction, helping you become the successful writer you want to be.

• The four genres of creative writing: fiction, poetry, drama, and creative non-fiction
• How to discover, refine, and share your unique writing voice
• A series of authentic writing assignments designed to target the skills you need to develop
• Writing techniques, literary devices, and specialized skills to enhance your writing
• Opportunities for publishing, podcasts, and how to create a professional creative writing portfolio
• Discover multiple public outlets to share your writing with others as you gain confidence and experience success in your writing ability.

This is a practical creative writing course that includes assignments reviewed by the instructor, though response time may vary.

“The short snippets of theory in combination with the short assignments suits my learning style. I don’t remember the last time I’ve written anything creative, but this course gave me the incentive to set some foundation and its actually quite enjoyable if you stick to it.” – Nikolaos-Stylianos Z., Udemy learner

Best Course to Overcome Writer’s Block: 10-Day Journaling Challenge (Emily Gould)

I couldn’t resist adding Creative Writing for All: A 10-Day Journaling Challenge to this guide. Emily Gould is a delightful instructor, and her approach to inviting you to participate in the challenge is impossible to decline. It’s the perfect course to overcome writer’s block, which is exactly what she proposes. In this 10-day creative writing challenge, filled with inspiring examples, observation prompts, and clever revision tricks, writers and enthusiasts will be able to express their creativity in a personal and artful way.

This course is the shortest one on the list, and it’s more about the challenge of keeping a journal. If you decide to subscribe to Skillshare, you can also enjoy their entire library of courses. In addition to the other two recommended courses on this list, you can also check out these other Skillshare courses: Writing Suspense: How to Write Stories That Thrill in Any Genre and The Writer’s Toolkit: 6 Steps to a Successful Writing Habit .

Best Course to Create Fiction From Personal Experience (Shaun Levin)

Shaun’s approach to writing in Short Story Writing: Create Fiction from Personal Experience is an unusual one. It draws from your personal experience to create a compelling fictional story. I can say from experience that this technique will help you write with more depth and authenticity. Every time we bring our own life to the story, it becomes alive, believable and relatable. In a way, all fictional stories are based on the author’s life.

This course will help you with techniques and a series of practical exercises to start writing your scenes from a more philosophical point of view, creating compelling stories. You’ll learn how to delve into your imagination to find everything you’ll need to become a prolific writer, no matter where you are.

By the end of the course, you will have a final project that will receive feedback from Shaun and other learners as well. Actually, if you want to check it out, in the course page on Domestika you can open the submitted projects and read the comments.

Shaun’s other courses: Creative Writing for Beginners: Bringing Your Story to Life .

“A practical course. Shaun Levin talks about theory but also demonstrates his process, which was invaluable. The exercises got my creative juices flowing. Thinking about doing his other course in the future.” – Maya Dicheva

Best Course to Make Writing Less Stressful with Best Practices (Jennie Nash)

If you struggle to start or get stuck in your writing, Write Your Book: Start Strong and Get It Done can help. With good advice and emotional support, you’ll learn techniques to make writing less stressful. The accompanying workbook guides you to think methodically by asking the right questions to keep you focused on your story and not chasing your own tail.

In this class, you’ll learn how to:

• Design every element of your novel or memoir, including the protagonist, plot, story structure and a project success plan
• Define your narrator’s voice
• Determine where your story begins and where it ends
• Decide what point you’re making about human nature
• Make sure you’re giving your ideal reader exactly what they want
• Gain the confidence you need to push past any doubts and finish your book.

This course is more of a masterclass, so there are no assignments included but it teaches good practices and provides a very useful workbook.

Best Course to Create A Compelling Story (Lisa Cron)

Writing: The Craft of Story is a series of well-produced lectures covering the basic building blocks of a story. Taught by author Lisa Cron, you will learn how to create compelling stories based on the way the brain responds to storytelling. This course emphasizes the importance of capturing the reader’s attention through techniques such as suspense, exploring the protagonist’s inner issues and dreams, specificity, and cause and effect. Upon completion of the quizzes, you will receive a certificate for your LinkedIn profile. Additionally, you can watch all the videos without subscribing to the course.

“Learning the fundamentals of crafting a story was and is a fascinating experience. And yes, I would highly recommend writing to anyone interested in learning how to express the communication of feeling.” – Nicole Gillard, LinkedIn learner.

Best Course to Write Personal Essays with Impact (Roxane Gay)

Discover the art of crafting powerful personal essays with best-selling author Roxane Gay in her course, Creative Writing: Crafting Personal Essays with Impact . Through her honest and thoughtful approach, Roxane will help you find your story, craft your truth, and write to make a difference.

This master class offers eight video lessons that are filled with practical guidance, actionable tactics, and example essays to guide you from the first idea to a final, publication-ready work.

You’ll learn how to:

• Find a specific purpose for telling your story
• Connect your work to larger conversations and timely themes
• Conduct crucial research to support your work
• Navigate personal memories to write your truth
• Write and revise your final work, and submit your work for publication.

Additionally, the class provides a downloadable worksheet to support your ongoing creative nonfiction writing practice, as well as links to additional resources.

If you enjoy creative nonfiction writing, you might consider this course that’s also on Skillshare: Creative Nonfiction: Write Truth with Style (Skillshare Original) by Susan Orlean

Best Course to Develop Your Ideas And Research for Characters (The Open University)

Start Writing Fiction explores the writing process, from journaling and idea development to reflection and editing. It features insights from established writers such as Louis de Bernières, Patricia Duncker, Alex Garland, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Tim Pears, Michèle Roberts, and Monique Roffey,  who share their approaches to research and turning events into plot. Led by Derek Neale, a novelist and short story writer, this course provides a comprehensive understanding of the writing rituals and techniques used by successful writers.

You’ll get to critique the work of other writers and receive feedback. This course is designed for individuals interested in starting or improving their fiction writing and does not require prior experience in the subject.

You’ll learn:

• Creation of characters in fiction
• Different sources and ways of presenting characters in stories
• Reading as a writer
• Writing practice including creativity, research, observation and editing
• Peer reviewing, workshops and the importance of feedback.

“This course takes learners through many aspects of writing such as developing characters, observing and describing details, finding inspiration, writing and editing. It includes some peer reviews which can be varying in quality. I was lucky enough to have some of my writing reviewed by a reviewer who gave very helpful and positive feedback.” – Pat Bowden

What’s Next

Scribophile is one of the largest online writing communities. You can get feedback on your writing and join writing groups. If you decide to join with a free plan, you need to collect points by reviewing other writers’ work before submitting your own work for review. They also developed some advanced tools for evaluating work and guidelines to make sure you give/receive feedback that is actually meaningful.

NaNoWriMo started out as a month-long challenge where you invite your friends and join other writers in your region, be it online in their forums or in person, to challenge yourself in writing your first draft. Nowadays, they run all-year round writing challenges (but November is still the biggest one in terms of participation). What is cool about it is you actually get to meet people in real life with various writing skills and backgrounds. I was able to make some great friends over the years and even met a few professional writers that decided to join our local group just to support us.

If you have any resources you would like to have added here, leave a comment below.

Class Central , a Tripadvisor for online education, has helped 60 million learners find their next course. We’ve been combing through online education for more than a decade to aggregate a catalog of 200,000 online courses and 200,000 reviews written by our users. And we’re online learners ourselves: combined, the Class Central team has completed over 400 online courses, including online degrees.

Trying to find “the best” can be daunting, even for those of us who live and breathe online courses. Here’s how I approached this task.

First, I combed through Class Central’s Catalog and the internet to find a variety of free and paid open courses, some with certificates. You don’t need to enroll in a university to learn about creative writing.

When choosing courses, I considered the following factors:

• Renowned Institutions : I looked for recognized institutions in creative writing
• Instructor experience : I sought instructors with extensive experience in creative writing and engaging presentation styles
• Popularity : I checked numbers of enrollments and views to find popular courses
• Course content : I examined courses that covered a range of topics and presentation styles, including the basics and more advanced topics. I watched some course videos to sample courses I hadn’t already taken
• Learner reviews : I read learner reviews (when available) to get a sense of the quality of each course, leveraging the Class Central database with its thousands of course ratings and reviews written by our users as well as available course provider reviews.

Then, I defined the scope for these recommendations. A creative writing course can cover various topics, so I chose top courses from a range of sub-fields.

Ultimately, I used a combination of data and my own judgment to make these picks. I’m confident these recommendations will be a reliable way to learn about creative writing.

Fabio Dantas

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What to Read When You Have Only Half an Hour

A short story has velocity and verve, and the best ones create an immediate, instinctual bond between the reader and the characters.

For many years, I assumed that the appeal of a short story was that it was, well, short . Instead of slowly reading a novel over weeks, the reader of these bite-size plots can experience character development, crisis, and conclusion in just a few thousand words. But intentionally reading more short stories made me realize that I’d underestimated the form. These works aren’t just compressed novels: They offer an entirely different experience. The writer Joy Williams, who has published both novels and short stories to great praise, once observed : “A novel wants to befriend you, a short story almost never.” Many short stories can be aloof and enigmatic. They pose difficult questions about life and love, and rarely provide answers.

But short stories have other rewards. Whereas a novel might unfold at a leisurely pace, a short story has velocity and verve. And the best ones create an immediate, instinctual bond between the reader and the characters. The format is an inviting place for writers to experiment. Whereas novels are typically expected to give us closure, short stories favor uncertain and searching conclusions—a quality that makes them feel more similar to the incomplete journeys of our own lives.

The six collections below, which take place in realistic and fantastical settings, show off the dazzling range of the short story. Each proves, too, how even brief encounters with a fictional world can linger well after we turn the page.

The Penguin Book of Japanese Short Stories , edited by Jay Rubin

In this idiosyncratic collection of Japanese short stories, “quite old works and very new works” appear side by side, “like an iPod and a gramophone on the same shelf,” Haruki Murakami writes in the introduction. Stories by well-known writers including Murakami, Yukio Mishima, and Yasunari Kawabata (who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1968) appear alongside writers who have been translated into English more recently: Banana Yoshimoto, Yōko Ogawa, Mieko Kawakami, and others. The anthology is organized into seven themes, making it easy to pick a story based on your mood. For a sobering encounter with history, turn to the sections “Dread” and “Disasters, Natural and Man-Made.” You’ll find stories such as Yūichi Seirai’s “Insects,” where a young girl awakes after the atomic bombing of Nagasaki with only a grasshopper for company, and Yūya Satō’s “Same as Always,” a cheerfully disturbing story about an exhausted mother who poisons her baby with irradiated vegetables and tap water. Want something lighter and more playful? Under “Modern Life and Other Nonsense,” you’ll find comical stories, such as Kōji Uno’s “Closet LLB,” which describes an idealistic and lazy college graduate who refuses to pick a path in life. And I found myself lingering over Mieko Kawakami’s “Dreams of Love, Etc.,” where a bored housewife in Tokyo befriends an older woman learning to play Liszt on the piano.

Read: Five books that’ll fit right into your busy schedule

Your Duck Is My Duck , by Deborah Eisenberg

Eisenberg is the rare writer who focuses exclusively on the short story. She’s also one of its most acclaimed practitioners: Eisenberg was awarded a Guggenheim fellowship in 1987 and a MacArthur genius grant in 2009. In Your Duck Is My Duck , her most recent collection, she compassionately documents the difficulties of both youth and old age. The children in her stories struggle toward independence, as in “Cross Off and Move On,” where a young girl is caught between two competing lifestyles: the severe discipline of her mother’s world, and the languid glamour represented by her aunts Adela, Bernice, and Charna. Other stories detail the quiet regrets of the elderly: The aging actors in “Taj Mahal” gossip about their shared, debauched past while “waiting with patience and humility to be issued new roles, new shapes.” Throughout, Eisenberg’s intimate, descriptive prose depicts how concerns about money, love, death, and art shape us: “I’m hurtling through time,” a painter remarks in one story, “strapped to an explosive device, my life.”

The Musical Brain , by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrews

Aira is renowned for his energetically surrealist fables and for his prolific output—at 75, the Argentinian writer has published more than 100 books . In The Musical Brain , his first short-story collection published in English, Aira makes ideas from physics, math, and art history enchant and delight readers. “God’s Tea Party” imagines the deity’s birthday celebration, where only apes are invited (humanity, the narrator informs us, has “disappointed Him”)—and the chaos that ensues when a subatomic particle gatecrashes the event in a “systematic, unstoppable, and supremely elegant” manner. Another story, “A Thousand Drops,” is about the perfect art heist: The paint droplets that make up the Mona Lisa escape the Louvre to go on their own adventures. One drop hitchhikes to the Vatican and has an affair with the Pope, while another builds a basketball stadium in rural Mongolia, in the hopes of training a Chinese team to defeat the NBA’s all-stars. Other stories revel in the fanciful pleasures of childhood games: In “The Infinite,” two boys try to name successively larger numbers, until they learn about the showstopping power of the word infinity . Each short story is a thrilling intellectual adventure, with Aira gleefully demolishing the division between the sciences and the arts.

The Atlantic presents: Shorter Stories

Break It Down , by Lydia Davis

Davis is a master of the very short story, and the collection that made her name, Break It Down , includes such works as the four-sentence “What She Knew,” where an insecure young woman tries to understand why men are flirting with her, and the six-sentence “The Fish,” where a woman confronts “certain irrevocable mistakes” in her life, including the dinner she’s cooked for herself. These nimble, acrobatic shorts—which established her as a formidable figure in American literature—are contrasted by longer stories that showcase Davis’s dry humor and keen emotional insight. In “The Letter,” a woman sits through a long-awaited breakup conversation: “Right away she lost her appetite, but he ate very well and ate her dinner too.” And the title story is a cathartic, sensitive look at the cost of a failed relationship: “You’re left with this large heavy pain in you,” a man mourning a lost love reflects, “that you try to numb by reading.” Davis’s stories plunge directly into the hurt of everyday life, leaving the reader both comforted and entertained.

Pond , by Claire-Louise Bennett

“I find mundane objects rather poignant,” Bennett once said , shortly after Pond was published. The 20 stories in this collection offer evocative glimpses of one woman’s life in rural Ireland. Many stories focus on the joys of cooking and entertaining: “Oh, Tomato Puree!” is a whimsical paean to the “kitsch and concentrated splendour” of this pantry staple, while “Finishing Touch” shows a woman carefully planning a party: “Perfectly arranged but low-key,” she reminds herself, having plucked flowers from the garden to “exude an edgeless, living fragrance.” Other stories reveal the narrator’s trembling, urgent desire for human connection. In “A Little Before Seven,” she reflects ruefully on the difficulty of flirting with a love interest. “Awaiting that kiss which somehow settles everything,” she is hesitant and awkward—until a drink emboldens her, and she concludes that “there is no such thing as a false move.” Bennett’s stories are a mesmerizing, strange look at the inner workings of the mind, as well as the beauty of our domestic and natural surroundings.

Read: The surprising power of stories that are shorter than short stories

Exhalation , by Ted Chiang

In Ted Chiang’s science fiction, advanced technologies and alternate realities are the backdrop for deeply human stories. He catapulted to fame with his first collection, Stories of Your Life and Others —and that book’s title story was adapted into the film Arrival , directed by Denis Villeneuve. In his second collection, Exhalation , Chiang writes thoughtful, searching narratives that explore AI’s risks and rewards, species extinction, archaic theories of consciousness, and more. In “The Lifecycle of Software Objects,” a zookeeper named Ana joins a software start-up trying to make endearing AI pets. The start-up fails, but Ana and her coworker, Derek, can’t abandon the digital creatures they’ve grown to love: “The practice of treating conscious beings as if they were toys is all too prevalent,” Derek muses, “and it doesn’t just happen to pets.” Another story, “The Great Silence,” shows an endangered parrot trying to communicate with humans: “Human activity has brought my kind to the brink of extinction, but I don’t blame them for it … They just weren’t paying attention.” Chiang’s fiction is informed by complex scientific concepts, but his writing style makes them accessible and compelling. Despite the unfamiliar settings, each story feels like a prescient and emotionally insightful commentary on the technological challenges facing us today.

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