Writing Short: A Quick Guide to Writing Short Stories

Writing Short: A Quick Guide to Writing Short Stories

By

Lazette Gifford

Copyright 2013 Lazette Gifford

An ACOA Publication

www.aconspiracyofauthors.com

ISBN: 978-1-936507-37-5

Smashwords Edition

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Table of Contents

​ Class 1: Introduction to Short Stories and Setting

Class 2: Characters

Class 3: Plot

Class 4: Writing, Editing, Submissions and More

Suggested Readings

About the Author

About the Two Year Novel Course

​ Class 1: Introduction to Short Stories and Setting

Welcome!

Over the next four classes, I'm going to provide you with pointers and clues on how to write short stories. I have written over 100 short stories and had over 40 of them published in various electronic, small press and magazine venues. Short stories are intense but they can be fun, if you let them be. They can also be very difficult if you don't know how to approach them.

As with all classes, there has to be a certain amount of structure that cannot always accommodate the fluctuations of inspiration or the order in which various writers come up with the basic ideas of setting, character and plot. Also, no class covers everything that every author might want to learn.

This class will give you pieces that you can later fit together in whatever order suits you. You may not need every piece each time you write something. You may find that some pieces seem useless to you -- but a year from now a particular story might benefit from something you learned and never used before.

You might find some of what I present over the next four weeks to be useful in longer manuscripts as well. While my focus will be on writing short, there is considerable material that will work in just about any kind of writing.

This is, perhaps, the first lesson I can mention. Writing a short story is not essentially different than writing any other fiction. The difference is in the focus.

No two writers are the same, any more than any two stories are. There is no structure that will work for everyone. The best you can do is read through the classes, try the exercises, and then see what works for you.

This is the structure for these classes:

Week 1: Introduction and Setting

Week 2: Characters

Week 3: Plot and Writing

Week 4: Editing and Submissions

Important terms:

Let me start by defining a few terms which will pop up throughout the classes. Many of you will be familiar with these terms, but some of you may not recognize them.

MC - Main character, and the person who leads the way through your story. In some cases there may be more than one MC.

Protagonist -- The good guy (or whatever) and hero of the story. This might also include an anti-hero, which is the kind of character who isn't as likeable as a regular hero, but performs the same actions.

Antagonist -- This is the bad guy. However, remember this term can be relative. Two people can be at odds over something, and both have good, solid reasons for their side.

POV -- Point of View. This is the view through which the story is told. First person is the 'I' story (I went to the store), where the MC is telling us the story based on his or her experiences. Third person is the noun/pronoun story (Mary went to the store/She went to the store).

A number with 'k' after it -- This is a short-hand symbol for thousands. If you see something that says 'a story must be at least 3k for this market' it means at least 3000 words.

In Medias Res -- This means 'in the middle' of something. Writers, and short story writers in particular, are often directed to begin the story in the middle of a conflict scene rather than build up to it. Like everything else in writing, this is usually (but not always) a good plan.

Deux ex machina -- This means 'God in the machine.' In ancient Greek plays, the problems faced by the protagonist were often settled when a god dropped into the scene (by the use of wires -- the 'machine') and took care of what appeared to be an insoluble situation.

In modern terms, this is what happens when the author introduces something to correct a problem without having any buildup or hint that the answer is possible. Even when an author wants something to be a surprise, there must still be some sort of clue within the structure of the story.

Why write short stories?

Some people think writing short stories is good practice for writing longer work, but in many ways this isn't true. Short stories are not novels in miniature, and the tricks to writing a good short story may not always apply to writing longer manuscripts.

Even selling short stories is no guarantee of selling a novel by using them as credentials. They can help establish that you have professional standards, but they don't prove you can write a full book. Far more people have sold novels without ever selling a short story than those who have sold short stories first.

So why write short stories at all?

Write short fiction if it's something that appeals to you. These little gems have their own draw, and they need not be practice for something else, though they can help you refine basic skills.

Short stories have the basic, lovely appeal of being . . . well, short. If you sit down to write a short story, chances are you won't still be writing at it a year from now. (And if you are, you're very likely procrastinating, not working.) Sending short stories to markets is far easier, too, since there's none of the tedious query and synopsis work that goes with them. The basic progress of a short story is:

1. Write

2. Edit

3. Find Market

4. Write Cover Letter

5. Send

For Indie authors, the progress would be:

1. Write

2. Edit

3. Publish

With some short stories, this work could all be done within a month, or even a week,