Tips on Short Stories

Short stories focus on a single event in the main character's life.

A short story typically focuses on a single event involving one or two characters in one location over a short period of time. To write a successful short story, you need to: follow a storyline, develop convincing characters in a realistic setting, tell the story from an engaging point of view, create a problem for the character that might or might not be resolved, and write a conclusion that shows how the character was or was not changed by the event.

Follow a Storyline

Introduce your character early and build through a series of events to the problem the character must face. For example, your story might be about a hiker who is seriously injured on a hike with a friend. The injured hiker is left behind while the friend goes for help. The story might focus on the challenges the injured hiker faces while waiting to be rescued; these challenges may include extreme pain, bad weather or predators. Eliminate content that strays from the storyline and does not advance the character forward in the story.

Create Convincing Characters

Strive to make your characters real. Describe the characters' physical appearance to help the reader visualize them. Rather than telling the reader, show a character's traits through dialogue or actions. For example, the injured hiker's stubbornness might be revealed when he ignores the other hiker's opinion and chooses a less safe route, which leads to the injury. Show the character's arrogance and inability to take responsibility by having he blame the other hiker for the accident. Show how the character feels about and reacts to the events as they unfold through dialogue, action, and revealing of inner thoughts.

Choose a Realistic Setting

Choose a geographical location, conditions, and a time period that suit your character's conflict and contribute to the plot. For example, a hiker is more likely to be injured on a hiking trail in the mountains versus a beginner hike in an urban park. A secluded mountain pass inhabited by dangerous wildlife would make a more challenging setting for an injured hiker. Decide if the hike happens during the winter, summer, or adverse weather conditions, such as high winds or driving rain. If the climb takes place in, for example, the 1950s, the hikers would not have cell phones or specialty climbing ropes or tools.

Tell the Story from an Engaging Point of View

Decide what point of view works best to tell the story. For example, first-person voice tells the story from the main character's point of view using "I." Writing in first voice from the injured hiker's point of view would allow you to express firsthand the character's fears, hopes and regret. Third-person voice uses, for example, "she," "he," "they" or "it," and tells whatever you want the reader to know. Stream of consciousness voice, tells the story as if the reader is inside the character's head.

Create a Conflict

A story's conflict is the external or internal struggle the character faces. Your story can have one or the other or both. Create a conflict that is realistic based on character traits and the setting. For example, the injured hiker might encounter a bear (external), while trying to overcome the fear of potentially not being rescued (internal). The bear encounter is the turning point in the story. Once at the turning point, show through story events how the character does or does not resolve the conflict. Maybe the injured hiker tries to frighten the bear away and is successful or fights the bear and is killed, or maybe the rescuers arrive at the same time as the bear.

Provide a Believable Conclusion

Show in your conclusion how your character does or does not change because of story events. For example, the injured hiker, if rescued, might be more humble and less arrogant, and vow to be more accountable for personal choices. Alternatively, the hiker might continue to blame the friend for the accident, demonstrating that nothing about the character's personality changed. The story might conclude with the injured hiker being killed by the bear, or dying from the injury because rescuers could not get back in time.

References

• Short Story Group: Short Story Tips
• Seton Hill University: Dennis G. Jerz: Short Stories - 10 Tips for Creative Writers
• Purdue University: Online Writing Lab: Fiction Basics
• Kennebecasis Valley High School: The Five Elements of a Short Story
• Halifax Regional School Board: Teacher Webspace: Short Story Elements
• Purdue University: Online Writing Lab: Fiction Basics 2