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“In a rough way the short story writer is to the novelist as a cabinetmaker is to a house carpenter.” – Annie Proulx
“The great thing about a short story is that it doesn’t have to trawl through someone’s whole life; it can come in glancingly from the side.” – Emma Donoghue |
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Just A Glance
Short stories are there to give the reader just a glance at a situation. That slice of life moment when a plot unfolds into a short story should be limited in a way that it can be fully told in a relatively short amount of time.
Where novels or even novellas have the luxury to devote paragraphs, pages, and even whole chapters (I'm looking at you Andrzej Sapkowski) to world building or introducing a new character, short stories have to cut to the chase a lot earlier on.
As few characters as possible
Think the "Solitary Wanderer" , "Dynamic Duo" , "The Five-Man Band" , or the "Power Trio" for your roster of heroes.
Keep the number of villains limited in a similar way.
If your story calls for a larger cast of characters, put them into groups. An army, a horde, or a team. Something that sums them up neatly and doesn't require you to name and describe each of them in detail.
For each character that you add to the story, ask yourself if they need to be there at all. Could another character take over their actions?
Distinctive names
If your character names are variations of Kiki, Gigi, Chichi, and Mimi, nobody will know who's who. The moment people need to create a flow chart to remember why Gigi is not Kiki, you lost them.
Short time
Your short story can span several life times if you want, but it quickly becomes blurry like that. Ask yourself if a character has that much backstory, if there is a way to sum all of that up in a couple of lines of dialogue or narration at the right place. Keep the story moving along in a short amount of time like a few minutes, an afternoon, or maybe a whole day.
One plot
That doesn't mean other things don't exist in the world, but they are not going to be discussed in detail in your short story.
Start late
Begin your story as close to the climax as possible. A short story doesn't need a whole lot of exposition. Wrap needed information into the rising tension of the first few sentences. Explain how the characters got to the point they are in through dialogue or by describing their situation.
Clean wrap
Wrap the story up with a clean ending that at least completes the plot at hand and explains mysteries. This short story is your reader's one shot to live and die in your world. Don't miss you chance to blow their minds.
Do you enjoy reading stories where you are dropped into the plot and expected to accept it the way you find it? |
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Replies to my last Short Stories newsletter "Revise!" that asked: How many times and how much should you change your story until you can call it finished?
brom21  wrote: Any good story should be revised at least several times to make it exceptional or even acceptable. Short stories are quicker and easier to revise than novellas or novels, obviously. It may be a good idea to aim for publishing a short story before a full-blown manuscript. I sent out a book proposal to query for an agent. In the meantime, I am submitting short stories to magazines. Thanks for emphasizing on something so needed for writers!
I can't agree more. Best wishes for your submissions. I hope you get picked up by several. Let us know how it goes.
scifiqueen wrote: I typically go through my works until I'm so sick of them that I think the next stop is the mental hospital if I have to trudge through it one more time. That's my sign that it's time to let it go. It's typically 2-3 drafts after a reviewer or other reader has helped me with it.
If you get that sick of your own story, it's definitely time to take a break from it at the least.
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Short Stories: August 31, 2022 Issue [#11520]
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