How To-1: "How to Write a Short Story"

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Whether you’re an aspiring professional writer or a stay-at-home mom with something to say, the short story is the perfect medium. While writing a novel is a Herculean task, just about anybody can craft and, most importantly, finish, a short story. That doesn’t mean that short stories are easy to write, though, and it certainly doesn’t mean that they aren’t as artistically valuable as novels. With practice, patience, and a passion for writing, they can be every bit as moving and memorable as their much longer cousins.

Steps

1. Read plenty of short stories. Nothing can help you “learn” how to write a good short story better than reading good short stories. Take note of the style and how they have used the small amount of words to their advantage. Choose authors that you enjoy, and also choose some of the “classics.” Pay attention to how the authors develop their characters, write dialogue, and structure their plots.
   
2. Gather ideas for your story. Inspiration can strike at any time, so carry a notepad with you wherever you go so that you can write down story ideas as they come to you. Most of the time, you’ll just think of small snippets of information (a catastrophic event around which you can build a plot, a character’s name or appearance, etc.) but sometimes you’ll get lucky and a whole story will reveal itself to you in a couple of minutes. If you have trouble finding inspiration, or if you need to write a story in a hurry (for a class, for example), learn how to brainstorm.
   
3. Choose an idea and flesh it out. At the very least, a story should have an exposition (the story leading up to the climax), a climax (a turning point in a story brought about by conflict between characters or within a character), and a resolution (a satisfying ending to the story in which the central conflict is resolved - or not). Move backward or forward from your starting idea (it may or may not be the beginning of the story), and ask “What happens next?” or “what happened before this?”
   
4. Know your characters. For a story to be believable, the characters have to be believable, and their actions should appear inevitable given who they are. In other words, you should know as much as possible about your characters, from what their central motivations are to what their favorite foods are. You won’t include all this information in your story, but the more you know, the more your characters will come to life, both for you and for the reader. Sometimes it helps just to listen to unimportant conversations between characters in your head, even if it won't be in the story.
   
5. Limit the breadth of your story. A novel can occur over millions of years and include a multitude of subplots, a variety of locations, and an army of supporting characters. The main events of a short story should occur in a relatively short period of time (days or even minutes), and you typically won’t be able to develop effectively more than one plot, two or three main characters, and one setting. If your story has much more breadth, it probably needs to be a novella or novel.
   
6. Decide who will tell the story. There are three main points of view from which to tell a story: first-person (“I”), second-person (“you”), and third-person (“he” or “she”). In a first-person story, a character in the story tells the story; in the second-person the reader is made a character in the story; and in the third-person, an outside narrator tells the story. (Second-person narration is rarely used.) Keep in mind that first-person narrators can only tell what they know (which will be limited to what they see firsthand or are told by others), while third-person narrators can either know everything and explore every character’s thoughts, or be limited to only that which can be observed.
   
7. Start writing. Depending on how thoroughly you’ve sketched out your plot and characters, the actual writing process may simply be one of choosing the right words. Generally, however, writing is arduous. You probably won’t know your characters and plot as well as you thought, but it doesn’t matter. Outlines are not the same as stories, and actually writing a story is the only way to complete one.
   
8. Come out swinging. The first page—some would say the first sentence—of any writing should grab the reader’s attention and leave him wanting more. A quick start is especially important in short stories because you don’t have much room to tell your story. Don’t dilly-dally with long introductions of the characters or uninteresting descriptions of the setting: get right into the plot, and reveal details about the characters and setting piece-by-piece as you go along.
   
9. Keep writing. You’re almost certain to hit some bumps in the road to finishing your story. You’ve got to work through them, though. Set aside a time to write each and every day, and make it a goal to finish, say, a page each day. Even if you end up throwing away what you wrote on that day, you’ve been writing and thinking about the story, and that will keep you going in the long run.
   
10. Let the story write itself. As you write your story, you may want to turn your plot in a different direction than you had planned, or you may want to substantially change or remove a character. Listen to your characters if they tell you to do something different, and don’t worry about scrapping your plans altogether if you can make a better story as you go.
    
11. Revise and edit. When you’ve finished the story, go back through it and correct mechanical mistakes, as well as logical and semantic errors. In general, make sure the story flows and the characters and their problems are introduced and resolved appropriately. If you have time, put the completed story down for a few days or weeks before editing. Distancing yourself from the story in this way will help you see it more clearly when you pick it back up.
    
12. Get some second opinions. Send your revised and edited story off to a trusted friend or relative for revisions, edits, and suggestions. Let your reviewers know that you want to hear their real opinions of the story. Give them time to read it and think about it, and give them a copy that they can write on. Make sure you consider everything that your reviewers tell you—not just the parts you would like to hear. Thank your reviewers for reading your story, and don’t argue with them.
    
13. Incorporate whatever edits, revisions, and suggestions you feel are valid. Your writing will be better if you can carefully consider constructive criticism, but you don’t have to follow all the advice you get. Some of the suggestions may not be very good. It’s your story, and you need to make the final call.
    

Tips

• Can’t find friends or relatives honest enough to tell you what they really think about your story? Consider joining a writers’ group, where you can learn tips and tricks from other writers and get (hopefully) quality critiques. You can probably find a local club, but there are also online groups.
  
• You can write about a past event or a fantasy that you have. Your main character can be an adaptation of yourself or someone you know. But be careful, because real people are often not as dynamic as story characters.
  
• Do research. Yes, really. If you are trying to set a story in the 1950's, research the family dynamics, clothing, slang, etc. of the period. If you try to write without knowing the background of what you are writing about, the story will probably seem amateurish.
  
• You may not need or want to go through the brainstorming and pre-writing work; many writers skip these steps, and you may find going through all the steps of the writing process superfluous. That said, everybody should try pre-writing at some point, even if it’s just once. Also, without planning beforehand, it is very unlikely you will have a good story.
  
• If you're having trouble brainstorming, try making a web or table; create about five main sentences for your short story. It might help to do a "freewrite" which is to simply write or type everything that comes into your mind for a certain time period, usually between 5 and 30 minutes.
  
• Develop your own style. Your unique voice will only come through practice. You can start by imitating other writers or, if you are trying to write for a particular genre, you can try to tune your thoughts to that “frequency.” In the end, though, you just need to write voluminously to develop your voice.
  
• Make sure you don't work your mind too hard at any one time. If you're having trouble coming up with ideas, just do something else. Come back to your story after a few hours or after a good night's sleep, and you'll be amazed at what you can then come up with!
  
• While you may sometimes want to scrap a story, make sure you’ve got a good reason—not just an excuse—to do so. If you’re just stuck temporarily try to work through it. Sometimes you’ll come up with another idea that you’re more excited about. You may want to work on the new idea, but if this happens frequently, it can turn into a problem: you’ll start a lot of stories, but you won’t ever actually complete one.
  
• Design a format. This is not particularly necessary unless you are showing it to other people. For instance: Is the story in center alignment? Are there chapters? Do the fonts differ? Are there paragraphs? Do you indent at the beginning of each paragraph? All of the above things are simply ideas that can help to organize your writing for better results if shown to others.
  
• Is there a song or type of music that gets you connected to the emotions and events you want to convey through your writing? Try playing some during or before you start writing.
  
• Think carefully about all the elements of a story, for example main character, setting, time period, genre, supporting characters, enemies and conflict, and plot.
  

Warnings

• Don't become too proud of your story after you've finished it! Don't set yourself up for disappointment, which, in all likelihood, will come--especially if you submit the story for publication. Instead, remain professionally detached from it, as you would if you were taking care of a friend's dog.
  
• Don’t get discouraged. If you’re trying to get your story published, it will most likely be rejected. Rejection is a big part of being a writer; sometimes it’s warranted, but sometimes it’s not. Be proud that you have completed a story—no easy task, at that—and keep practicing your craft if you enjoy it.
  
• Don't get lazy about spelling and grammar! Show the readers you know what you're doing by presenting an error-free story.
  
• Short stories are the hardest kind of fiction to write. You have to do everything that happens in a novel (introduce characters, create conflict, develop characters, resolve conflict) inside of twenty or thirty pages. Respect the genre. It isn't easy.
  
• Do not steal published ideas, this is a serious crime. You may read and get story ideas but don't steal the author's plot.
  

Things You'll Need

• pencil & paper (or computer)
  
• patience
  
• friends or fellow writers to critique you
  
• brain
  
• creativity
  
• you should have confidence in your self
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Participate in NaNoWriMo
  
• How to Write a Novel
  
• How to Write a Children's Story
  
• How to Write Political Fiction
  
• How to Brainstorm
  
• How to Freewrite
  
• How to Create a Credible Villain in Fiction
  
• How to Write a Bestseller
  
• How to Write Fiction
  
• How to Avoid Plagiarism
  
• How to Create and Publish a Novel As a Teenager
  

Sources and Citations

• Howtowriteashortstory.wordpress.com Free storytelling lessons for beginners.
  
• Storiesville.com Online community for short stories of various genres.
  
• ShortStoryGroup.com A free forum where you can get your work critiqued by other writers (and critique theirs)
  
• Seton Hill University Short story writing tips
  
• Shortstorywiki.com Write your own shortstory or continue on an existing. This wiki exists for you to have fun.
  
• Short Story Writing & Critique Group, a free online community of writers. We write, critique each other's works, and in general have a good time. There is a free forum for discussion & a weekly prompt for those who feel a little 'blocked'.
  

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Short Story of the Day-9: Stories for Introspection: True Friends

TRUE FRIENDS

Horror gripped the heart of the World War II soldier as he saw his lifelong friend fall in battle. Caught in a trench with continuous gunfire whizzing over his head, the soldier asked his lieutenant if he might go out into the ‘no man’s land’ between the trenches to bring his fallen friend back. “You can go,” said the lieutenant, “but I don’t think it will be worth it. Your friend is probably dead and you may throw your life away.” The lieutenant’s advice did not matter, and the soldier went anyway. Miraculously he managed to reach his friend, hoist him onto his shoulder and bring him back to their company’s trench. As the two of them tumbled in together to the bottom of the trench, the officer checked the wounded soldier, and then looked kindly at his friend.

‘I told you it would not be worth it,” he said. “Your friend is dead and you are mortally wounded.” “It was worth it, though, sir,” said the soldier. “What do you mean; worth it?” responded the Lieutenant. “Your friend is dead”. “Yes, Sir,” the private answered. “But it was work it because when I got him, he was still alive and I had the satisfaction of hearing him say, “Jim, I knew you would come.”

Many times in life, whether a thing is worth doing or not, really depend how you look at it. Take up all your courage and do something your heart tells you to do so, that you may not regret not doing it later on.

Courtesy: Yuva Bharati, February 2008

Short Story of the Day-8: "'The Little Match Girl' from Favorite Fairy Tales"

THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL from FAVOURITE FAIRY TALES

It was dreadfully cold, it was snowing fast, and almost dark; the evening—the last evening of the Old Year—was drawing in. But cold and dark as it was, a poor little girl, with bare head and feet, was still wandering about the streets. When she left her home she had slippers on, but they were much too large for her—indeed, really, they belonged to her mother—and had dropped off her feet while she was running very fast across the road, to get out of the way of two carriages. One of the slippers was not to be found; the other had been snatched up by a little boy, who ran off with it thinking it might serve him as a doll's cradle.

So the little girl now walked on, her bare feet quite red and blue with the cold. She carried a small bundle of matches in her hand, and a good many more in her tattered apron. No one had bought any of them the livelong day—no one had given her a single penny. Trembling with cold and hunger she crept on, the picture of sorrow; poor little child!

The snowflakes fell on her long fair hair, which curled in such pretty ringlets over her shoulders; but she thought not of her own beauty, nor of the cold. Lights were glimmering through every window, and the savor of roast goose reached her from several houses. It was New Year's Eve, and it was of this that she thought.

In a corner formed by two houses, one of which projected beyond the other, she sat down, drawing her little feet close under her, but in vain—she could not warm them. She dared not go home, she had sold no matches, earned not a single penny, and perhaps her father would beat her. Besides her home was almost as cold as the street—it was an attic; and although the larger of the many chinks in the roof were stopped up with straw and rags, the wind and snow often came through.

Her hands were nearly dead with cold; one little match from her bundle would warm them, perhaps, if she dare light it. She drew one out, and struck it against the wall. Bravo! it was a bright, warm flame, and she held her hands over it. It was quite an illumination for that poor little girl—nay, call it rather a magic taper—for it seemed to her as though she were sitting before a large iron stove with brass ornaments, so beautifully blazed the fire within! The child stretched out her feet to warm them also. Alas! in an instant the flame had died away, the stove vanished, the little girl sat cold and comfortless, with the burnt match in her hand.

A second match was struck against the wall. It kindled and blazed, and wherever its light fell the wall became transparent as a veil—the little girl could see into the room within. She saw the table spread with a snow-white damask cloth, whereon were ranged shining china dishes; the roast goose, stuffed with apples and dried plums, stood at one end, smoking hot, and—which was pleasantest of all to see-the goose, with knife and fork still in her breast, jumped down from the dish, and waddled along the floor right up to the poor child. Then the match went out, and only the thick, hard wall was beside her.

She kindled a third match. Again up shot the flame. And now she was sitting under a most beautiful Christmas tree, far larger, and far more prettily decked out, than the one she had seen last Christmas Eve through the glass doors of the rich merchant's house. Hundreds of wax tapers lighted up the green branches, and tiny painted figures, such as she had seen in the shop windows, looked down from the tree upon her. The child stretched out her hands towards them in delight, and in that moment the light of the match was quenched. Still, however, the Christmas candles burned higher and higher—she beheld them beaming like stars in heaven. One of them fell, the lights streaming behind it like a long, fiery tail.

"Now someone is dying," said the little girl softly, for she had been told by her old grandmother—the only person who had ever been kind to her, and who was now dead—that whenever a star falls an immortal spirit returns to God who gave it.

She struck yet another match against the wall. It flamed up, and, surrounded by its light, appeared before her that same dear grandmother, gentle and loving as always, but bright and happy as she had never looked during her lifetime.

"Grandmother!" exclaimed the child, "Oh, take me with you! I know you will leave me as soon as the match goes out. You will vanish like the warm fire in the stove, like the splendid New Year's feast, like the beautiful large Christmas tree!" And she hastily lighted all the remaining matches in the bundle, lest her grandmother should disappear. And the matches burned with such a blaze of splendor, that noonday could scarcely have been brighter. Never had the good old grandmother looked so tall and stately, so beautiful and kind. She took the little girl in her arms, and they both flew together—joyfully and gloriously they flew—higher and higher, till they were in that place where neither cold, nor hunger, nor pain is ever known—they were in Paradise.

But in the cold morning hour, crouching in the corner of the wall, the poor little girl was found—her cheeks glowing, her lips smiling—frozen to death on the last night of the Old Year. The New Year's sun shone on the lifeless child. Motionless she sat there with the matches in her lap, one bundle of them quite burnt out.

"She has been trying to warm herself, poor thing!" the people said; but no one knew of the sweet visions she had beheld, or how gloriously she and her grandmother were celebrating their New Year's festival.
From Favorite Fairy Tales by Logan MarshallWith grateful thanks to Logan Marshall and Projet GutenbergFor reading all the short stories in the book:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20748/20748-h/20748-h.htm

Anecdotes-3:

This is a thousand-year-old story from India.

It is about a farmer who has only one horse to pull his plow, and the horse runs away. His neighbours say, “That is terrible!”

The farmer says, “Maybe.”

The next day, he comes back with two horses. His neighbours says, “That is wonderful!”

“Maybe,” the farmer says.

His son tries to break the horses and ends up breaking his own leg. “Oh, that is horrible!”, the neighbours say.

“Maybe,” he says.

The next day, the army shows up to take all the men to war, but they can’t take his injured son. Now the neighbours say, “Oh, you are so lucky!”

What do you think his response is? Right: “Maybe.”

And the story goes on and on, as does life. If you believe in something, and it has not worked yet, maybe you are judging too soon. When you think you are in trouble, maybe you are not. Maybe it is only temporary.

Courtesy: “Notes from a Friend : A Quick and Simple Guide to Taking Charge of Your Life” by Anthony Robbins (By the way this is a wonderful book, everybody who wants to make his life fruitful should read it without fail!)

Short Story of the Day-7: "Making Haste Slowly, a Tale from the Philippines"

MAKING HASTE SLOWLY, A TALE FROM THE PHILIPHINES

A trader bought a large number of coconuts at a village, and loading them on to his horse cart set off for home. Encountering a boy, a little later, he asked him how long it would take to reach the main road.

"Go slowly, and you will reach it in ten minutes," replied the lad, "but if you go fast, it will take you half an hour or more."

"Fool!" shouted the trader, and drove away at breakneck speed. Fifty metres down the road, one of the wheels struck a stone. The jolt sent the coconuts flying in all directions. It took the man a long time to gather all the coconuts and put them back in the cart. Afterwards, he climbed back wearily into the driver's seat, and with the boy's words ringing in his ears, drove slowly and cautiously the rest of the way.

Anecdotes-2:

Frenchman Paul Hubert had served 21 years of his life sentence before it was discovered (in 1884) that he had been convicted of murdering himself!

Courtesy: Young India, Supplement to The Hindu (Date not available)

Anecdotes-1: Lost Soul

In his autobiography, Bishop Fulton Sheen tells of the time he got lost in Philadelphia while on his way to the Town Hall.

He stopped to ask some boys for directions and they told him how to get there. Then they wanted to know why he was going to the Town Hall.

"I am giving a lecture on heaven and how to get there," said Sheen.

"You must be kidding," said one small boy. "You don't even know the way to the Town Hall!"

Young India, Supplement to The Hindu (Date not available)