 Short Stories: September 07, 2022 Issue [#11535] |
This week: Planning Your Writing Edited by: Lilli š§æ ā  
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Some thoughts on Short Stories:
A short story is a love affair; a novel is a marriage. A short story is a photograph; a novel is a film.
~ Lorrie Moore
The great thing about a short story is that it doesnāt have to trawl through someoneās whole life;
it can come in glancingly from the side.
~ Emma Donoghue
A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.
~ Edgar Allan Poe
My short stories are like soft shadows I have set out in the world, faint footprints I have left. I remember exactly where I set down each and every one of them, and how I felt when I did. Short stories are like guideposts to my heartā¦
~ Haruki Murakami |
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How does one plan/plot a short story?
Well, here are some steps and tips that may help!
 Start with an idea!
Ideas for a story can come from a variety of sources. Some people get inspiration from writing prompts, others from eavesdropping on conversations, maybe even the news. The point is, that we need to start with an idea.
Consider the POV (Point of View).
Is the character telling the story? Then youāre writing in 1st person. āI.ā
Are you telling the story for someone else? Then youāre writing in 3rd person. āHeā or āShe.ā
Are you going to go into multiple peopleās heads, and tell information that the character can't know? Then youāre writing in 3rd person omniscient. āHeā or āShe.ā
Now, decide whose eyes the story will be told through. Remember, you canāt switch halfway through the story. Once you pick a point of view, you have to stick with it. A good rule of thumb for beginning writers is to use the protagonist.
Get to know your character.
 What does the character (protagonist) want or want to end up with?
What major decisions or actions does the character have to take to achieve this?
What unexpected consequences will arise and what will the end result be?
What significant action(s) will the character have to make?
How will the character be changed by the end of the story?
Take a moment and consider different scenes.
Create bullet points of important character moments, clues, insights, and progression in the story
Advance the plot.
"Every sentence must do one of two thingsāreveal character or advance the action."
~ Kurt Vonnegut
The story hinges on the plot because it is the series of events that take place in your story. It is the storyline, and the sequential events (exposition, rising action, climax, etc.) are big factors in making your story unique and engaging to readers.
Closing thoughts...
If you want to keep readers hooked, the plot of your story should take an unexpected turn, whether at the beginning or the end.
Why? Because it keeps things interesting!
Characters, relationships, and the progress of the story are important to create an interesting plot. How will your characters develop?
How will they interact and influence each other? How will they go from point A to point B? These are just a few things to consider before writing the story. Unless you're a pantser, lol. |
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Feedback from "Once Upon a Time..." :
Osirantinous  wrote:
Totally late to commenting on this, but I find that re-reading Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tales, the other thing they have is violence. Sometimes severe violence. The weirdest thing is, reading them as a kid I never really thought that. But I remember one where a girl was put naked into a nail-studded barrel and dragged through the streets until she died. Seriously????? It's very interesting what we read as kids as 'okay' versus what we read as adults as 'holy crap, that's nuts!!!'
dogpack saving 4premium  wrote:
I haven't written a fairy tale yet. Your guidelines are a great resource for getting started in this genre, many thanks. Contests and challenges are a great way to stretch our writing muscles and experiment with words and imagination creating wonderful word art for readers.
Thank you for reading and taking the time to provide feedback!
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