How do you write a short story?

Question

I have tried several times to write a short story, but have never finished one. I have plenty of ideas for them, and my writing style isn't bad. The problem is that I get carried away, and I end up having the idea for entire novels, not just short stories. I want to be able to sit down and knock out a story in just an hour or two! Any tips would be great! Thanks

I wonder how many famous writers have done creative writing courses! I did do a short course once! It was very good, but not brilliant!

Answer 1

It takes a long time for most of us to learn how to write short stories and I get the idea that patience is not your greatest virtue! Have you read many short stories yourself? I've learned a lot from writers such as W. Somerset Maugham and Guy de Maupassant. You can dash off a short story in a couple of hours, but it probably won't be a good one. You have to return over and over again to appraise what you have written and to remove unnecessary verbiage. One of the hardest lessons I learned was that there should not be a single wasted word!
I've looked up some useful sites for you.
http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:1Nf7zSFChn4J:jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/creative/shortstory/+writing+short+stories&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us
http://www.fishpublishing.com/writing-short-stories.php
http://www.writing.com/page/short_stories/short_stories.html
http://ok.essortment.com/writingshortst_rrmi.htm

Answer 2

Finding a good idea can be tough. The first thing I would do is to chose a genre. Do you like fantasy? Scifi? Romance? Horror? etc etc. I would hold off reading any short stories in your chosen genre until you have a specific idea in mind, that way you don't accidentally borrow *too* many ideas. Writing's always better if it comes from your own head :-) Once you've decided on a genre, try and think about things that interest you to find a plot. Look at the world around you for inspiration. The news can be good inspiration, as can music. think about some of your favorite stories, or stories you would have liked better if it would have gone a different way. If you want to write a horror, sit down, turn off the lights, and try to imagine the scariest thing you can think of happening to you. If you want a romance, think about what would completely sweep you off your feet. Scifi and Fantasy can be easy--what kind of world do you wish you could live in? What kind of person do you wish you could be? What kind of things do you wish were real? After you've done that, decide whether you want it to be in first person or in third. First person shows more about the character's thoughts and feelings and reactions, while third person shows more of the big picture and has the opportunity to create some dramatic irony--something important the reader knows but the character doesn't. Once you've decided all that, it's time to do some research! Now you should read as many short stories in your genre as you can to get a feel for how it's done. Also, google is your friend--use it to look up keywords "elements of fiction," so you can look up things like plot, symbolism, rising and falling action, etc etc. You can even google "how to write a short story," to try and get a nice, solid how-to. That's about all I can think of. Once you've got all that, the rest (ie, good writing) is up to you!

Answer 3

You know, A short story can always be different lengths.
I have to write short stories all the time for English class,
And im the same way, i come up with an Idea for a short story but then it always turns out to be liek 6 pages. But in my eyes, Thats a short story. If you look like in Text books there are stories in them, and they are a few pages long. But Compared to a novel which is MANY more pages, its short.
Just think of an idea that there isnt really much to it. But try not to over exaggerate. I know its hard, But use maybe something that happened in your life. Like, for example , the day you got stitches, or the day you made a sports team. or possible use a real life topic but make up things.Or, start it like a Narrative Poem. which is a poem that tells a story.
Thats my best advice 4 ya.
Hope it helps.

Answer 4

I personally find that short stories are much harder to write than novels at times. The fewer words you have, the more significance the words that you do use have. I usually focus a short story on one event only, which has repurcussions for the main character. It's best to only have one or two characters, and just deal with how they handle a certain event or something similiar. It's usually only possible to deal with one theme in any detail, so don't try cramming different ideas in there!
Plus, please don't expect to write one in an hour or two. It's never going to be much good if you put in so little time.

Answer 5

Just imagine a scene or a plot, something interesting. Then make some notes of everything which is important for the plot - no details.
After that you have a look through your notes and start writing. You may include details to make it interesting, amusing... But don't write to many! These belong to a novel! A short story should not be longer than a chapter.
Hope it helps!

Answer 6

Think of a short story as an intense fragment. So you cannot describe everything about the character, rather just what is essential to the story. Then think about what feelings or mood you are trying to evoke in the reader, are you trying to convey loneliness, anger, regret. If there is going to be action in the story, keep it to a minimum, you are trying to give the reader an insight into the life, or conscience of another human being. Keep characters to a minimum. You can neatly resolve the ending or leave it ambiguous. Look at James Joyce's short story collection Dubliners if you need more inspiration.

Answer 7

The best advise I can offer is to think of a short story as a meaningful snapshot of the lives of your characters. Since it's a short story you can't give background and you can't have a complex plot. You can also think of it as a snapshot of some focus of writing you are good at, such as allegory, or stream of consciousness. Instead of thinking of it as a complete story, think of it as a complete "scene" or one event out of the larger picture with just enough clues that people can get what's going on, but with out too much explanation that you would have in a novel. The best thing to do if you want to write short stories is read them, get an anthology of short stories from the library and pay attention to what other authors do to write short stories, what their scope is, what they accomplish, how much they tell the reader. Pick a writer you like and try to emulate what makes you like their short stories. Good luck.

Answer 8

I've been told that a short story is a difficult thing to get right. It needs a good beginning to grasp the attention, a bit of detail etc in the middle and then a good ending. To me that would be a perfect short story.

Answer 9

With pen and paper - but seriously try an opne uni creative writing course sounds like u need help - I am doing at the moment - and I would say i was quite creative when it comes ot writing - but this course provides you with so much insight which will equip you with good techniques that will last for life - you cant just "write a story - not a good one anyway"

Answer 10

Look at articles and features (not stories) in magazines and compare what is written against what you know of the subject. You will find that the journalist has missed out all the things he or she assumes most people will already know about the subject and just concentrated in filling in the gaps. Apply this to your writing and you will find short stories become just that.