How to write a good short story

Here is some expert advice on writing clear, concise short fiction.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• paper
• a pen or pencil
• or a typewriter
• or a computer with a word processing program

1. • Zero in on your premise and build toward one Dominant Emotional Effect

   A skilful literary artist .. If wise, has not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived, with deliberate care, a certain unique or single effect to be wrought out, he then invents such incidents-he then combines such events as may best aid him in establishing the preconceived effect.
   -- EDGAR ALLEN POE

2. • Make an appeal to the reader's senses and to his intellect.

   Fiction-if it at all aspires to be art-appeals to temperament. ...
   Such an appeal, to be effective, must be an impression conveyed through the senses.... if its high desire is to reach the secret spring of responsive emotions....
   -- JOSEPH CONRAD

3. • Respect your reader's power of imagination.

   "I reckon entirely upon the reader to add for himself the subjective elements that are lacking in the story."
   -- ANTON CHEKHOV

4. • Include no unnecessary elements. None. Zilch. Nada!

   If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them.
   -- ERNEST HEMINGWAY

5. • Don't over modify. Rely chiefly on nouns and verbs. Maintain balance, don't fake, never force.

   What creates tension in a piece of fiction is partly the way the concrete words are linked together to make up the visible action of the story. But it's also the things that are left out, that are implied.
   -- RAYMOND CARVER

   (c) Bob Thurber
   http://bobthurber.net

Tips & Warnings

• It's very helpful to put your story away for a week or a month or a year. Then read it with a fresh eye, and revise.