The Short Story
Miranda Olsen
Most people have probably read a short story in their lifetime. Whether it was for school, in a book, or possibly even a magazine, the idea of writing a short story, which some see as a “mini-novel”, can appear daunting and difficult, the reality is-it’s easy as pie. Here are five easy tips to help you get started.
#1 Start With A Bang. Have your story start in the middle of a chase, during a storm, during a verbal or physical fight. This is called a “hook.” Having such a scene will literally hook your reader in. If you start with a hook, it will draw your reader in and make them more inclined to read more and find out what happens. Use good imagery and detail to make it feel real. Example: “Jack kept restarting his boat engine, occasionally looking up at the storm clouds above him. Lightning and thunder were inching closer to him. The waves began to grow. Jack was with his sister Sarah, who looked just as afraid as he did. They were only sixteen years old, and immediately regretted stealing the boat. What was supposed to be a nice day on the water had suddenly turned into a nightmare. Lightning began to strike closer now. The oars in the boat were old and rotten, yet Jack tried his best to use them. He used all his might to propel the boat forward but the growing waves would not allow it. The seas were angry. Jack did not know why. Worst of all, he did not know how to soothe them. The boat was beginning to tip and the two children looked to each other for guidance, but found only fear and confusion. A large swell washed over the boat, soaking them both to the bone.”
#2 Don’t Forget Dialogue. For a short story to be fast paced, exciting, and well flushed out, it needs dialogue. What is dialogue? It’s speech between characters. Dialogue can easily become too fake sounding or too boring. To better help write dialogue that mimics real speech, eavesdrop on some conversations. What do the people say? Do they use slang? Here’s an example of simple dialogue:
Jack looked at Sarah and sighed.
“The engine isn’t working,” Jack said.
“Well. fix it!” She replied.
“I can’t! It’s broken!”
“I don’t want to die out here,” Sarah said, sobbing.
#3 Keep It Short. The shorter your story, the more punch it will pack. Keep your writing under 5,000. Anything more than that is sort of rambling on. Keep your story fast paced and exciting, and you can’t really do that if your story is going over 5,000 words. Despite it’s short length, it needs to have certain elements that make it work. Have a hook to draw your reader in, have rising action to build to a climax, have falling action to lead to a resolution, and have a good ending. Try not to kill off your characters if you can help it, but feel free to end with a plot twist or some sort of mystery.
#4 Give Your Characters Some Backstory. What do your characters look like? Does Jack have a small build, or a big build? Hair and eye color? Is Sarah beautiful or plain? Do your characters have any distinguishable features like scars or moles? Flush out your characters and give them a good backstory. What is their home life like? Why are they the way that they are? Keep your cast of characters small, two to three should keep the story on track. Jack and Sarah are stuck out at sea, which makes a great scenario. A man and a woman. “Adam and Eve.” It’s a great scenario for you, as an author, to flush out those two characters. Use dialogue to increase or decrease tension, maybe throw in some romance? Two people, especially a man and a woman make for a great short story.
#5 Practice, Practice, Practice. Your first draft is not going to be perfect. It will have flaws-but that’s okay. Go back and read it out loud. Does the dialogue sound natural? Is the story fast paced enough? Is the story too plain, or too complicated? Does it sound like a real situation or is it meant to be far fetched? Your story won’t be final until your second or third draft. And if you don’t like it after all that work-write a new one! Write different stories about different topics. Have fun and be bold. The possibilities with writing are endless, that’s the magic of it. With pen and paper or a laptop or tablet, you can create new worlds, new characters, and new legends. But if you want to write a story that really moves someone, that’s interesting and fresh, that’s easy to understand yet complex , you need to practice, practice, practice!