Writing short stories is a great way to play around with your writing. You can try different genres, a new style, or just write something to take a break from your current novel. These stories can be submitted to contests or to anthologies or magazines for publication.
Please note that publishing short stories is not a way to break into the industry of publishing books. You can become a novelist without it. Publishing short stories with reputable companies can help you stick out in a slush pile (the pile all publishers, editors, and agents have for book submissions from unknown writers), but it isn’t necessary.
Writing short stories is exercising your writing muscles in a different way than a novel. It forces you to be more concise. You will have to work on being straightforward, using more specific vocabulary, and grabbing attention quickly. On top of that, there are three major differences when writing short stories instead of novels.
For the purpose of this post, I am referring to shorts stories as 4,000 words or less.
1. Characters
You have to limit the number of people you introduce in the story. Only have one or two main characters in one or two locations. As a rule of thumb, each character or location you add to a story is going to add 500-1,000 more words.
Each character has to have a backstory, but you can’t spell it out in the short story. You will have to make their pasts inform how they act, and let the reader pick up the clues. If one character had a traumatic childhood, have her react to a loud noise by putting her hands up ready to punch any threat. Writing short stories is a great way to practice giving a character backstory without actually telling it.
2. Conflict
All stories must have conflict—a problem the character is striving to fix. The story should start when the problem is one straw away from breaking the camel’s back. Don’t build up to it like you would in a novel. Just show the tipping point, and then push it over. Let the climax play out, and then finish with a sentence or two of resolution.
One of the best ways I’ve heard a short story plot described was by Mary Robinette Kowal. She said to make your character want one thing and then withhold it from him. Then at the end, either give it to him for a happy ending or don’t for a sad one. It’s that simple. In a novel, it’s a similar idea but your character can want multiple things all at once. In a short story, you only have time for one thing.
3. Emotions
Emotions are crucial for any story, and they take time to properly convey. Due to that, you can only put one main emotion in a short story. It can be sad, scary, nostalgic, thrilling, etc. You could get away with adding another emotion at the end in some occasions. For instance, you could have a story that builds in frustration and then finishes with relief.
Overall, your goal of a short story is to convey one emotion thoroughly and realistically. The most powerful stories leave the readers with a strong feeling that makes them think about it long after they are done reading. Make your story one of them.
Final Thoughts
There are a variety of short story styles, but they all have these three things in common. Remember to keep it concise yet powerful. As always, there is a lot of editing involved, but, if you stay the course, you could have something amazing to share with the world.
Thanks for reading!
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