There are no rules to short story writing. You can write
a short story any way you like, about anything you like. However there
are some things you can do and some tricks you can try.
All writers face the same problems:
What can I write about?
How do I start?
How do I finish?
How do I make it interesting?
What should I check?
Here are some ideas to help you face these problems:
What Can I Write About?
Anything you like. Maybe you already have an idea, try it and
see how it develops. It must have appealed to you for some reason so see
where it goes.
If you can’t think of a topic, then maybe try writing
about:
| 1. |
What you’re
most afraid of, or what you have ruined the most. (People
love stories in which someone makes an idiot of themselves.)
|
| 2. |
A conflict of some
sort. It could be a fight with your parents, a row with a friend,
a burst of violence at school or a party. The conflict might
be the main event in the story, or it might not even happen in
the story - it might come before the story starts or just after
it ends. What’s it about? What caused it? What does it do
to people?
|
| 3. |
When things suddenly
go bad (or suddenly go brilliantly). It could be in sport, in
a performance, in a family, in a relationship or friendship. What
was it? What caused it? What was the result?
|
| 4. |
First (or last) times you experienced
death, love, acting, humiliation, snow-boarding. Your last moment(s)
with someone, some place, some game.
|
| 5. |
A moment or event
when something changed suddenly. Someone puts you down in front
of others. Your friend betrays you. Your mother or nice old granny
or that weird kid in Maths or your family cat suddenly do or say
something which changes your world.
|
A couple of points to think about. Short stories
usually cover only a few hours or days, or even just a few minutes. They’re
usually set in just one or two places. If you were planning to write about
your 30 years as a pop idol, maybe save that for your first novel.
back
to top
How Do I Start?
Many writers find that first sentence or paragraph (or word) a
real problem. You may start six times and cross out all six beginnings before
you get underway.
The worst thing you can do is not to write down anything. Putting some
words on paper or on the computer often makes more words come. So start
trying to write some sort of beginning, even if it seems boring.
It could spark off a better idea.
It may help if you imagine you’re telling the story to a friend.
Picture your friend’s face in front of you. Start scribbling things
down the way you’d say to your friend.
You could try making some notes first. For example who,
where, when, what and why? Who is in this story? Where and when
is it taking place? What’s the first thing that happened? The next
thing? Why did it happen? Notes like these may get you started and
keep you going.
Here are some examples of ways to start that first paragraph:
| 1. |
A question: “Would
I ever see daylight again?....Would I ever see Jackie’s
face again?....Would I ever stop kicking myself?”
|
| 2. |
Get characters talking
in the very first line.
|
| 3. |
A very short paragraph
that takes you into the middle of the action: “The teacher
snarled, and saliva spattered my face.”, “My mother’s
shocked eyes stared at me.”
|
| 4. |
A sentence that immediately
tells us your feelings: “I wish I could start over.”,
“It was the best morning of my life. And the worst.”
|
Read some short stories to see how
other writers have begun. The best writers read alot.
back
to top
How Do I Finish?
It may sound odd, but the best way to finish is to get to the end
of the story, and then stop. The blank space on the rest of the page will
tell readers that you’ve finished....
Too many writers worry about having to write some sort
of brilliant ending. It is great to have a good twist or surprise
at the end, but not essential.
A lot of books on writing tell you to finish by “getting
your main character(s) out of the room”. What they mean is to end
with a line that shows things are over, and people are moving on. Something
like “Twenty minutes later, we were on the motorway”, “Next
Saturday night, I went to the movies instead”, “That was in
June; in August she moved to another town.”
You could also try:
| 1. |
A question. “Would
any Saturday afternoon ever be so amazing/scary?”
|
| 2. |
Repeating a key phrase
or sentence that has been important in the story. “ ‘No
worries, mate,’ said Terry for a fourth time.”
|
| 3. |
An expression that
sounds like an ending. “And so....”, “That
was the last time...”, “I never saw him/her/it again.”
|
| 4. |
A row of dots.
|
Once again, read short stories to
see how other writers have ended theirs.
One more suggestion. It’s usually not a good
idea to end by preaching a moral or a message to the reader. A final paragraph
beginning “This had brought home to me the evils of wearing mascara/lying
to impress my friend/driving out of control” will probably make
the reader stop reading.
back
to top
How Do I Make It Interesting?
There are many techniques you can use to try and improve your story.
Here are just a few. You may want to think about them before you write,
while you’re writing, or after you write - whichever suits you best.
They won’t turn a dull story into a brilliant story, but they can
help a good story become an even better story.
| 1. |
Try to write in your
own voice. You may be a 17-year-old NZ girl who likes netball
and boy bands? So don’t try to sound like a 50-year-old
male scientist from Iceland (unless one of the characters in your
story is a 50-year-old....) Write in your own words, and about
what you know. As we suggested before, try to imagine you’re
telling this to a friend.
|
| 2. |
Don’t preach
at the reader, we mentioned this above. You’re telling a
story, not pushing a message. What do you do in assembly when
someone starts preaching at you on you what to think and how to
behave? You switch off and so will a reader.
|
| 3. |
Use dialogue. Get
your characters to talk. Dialogue is a brilliant technique.
It shows moods; it reveals characters; it moves the plot; it looks
interesting on the page. Read other writers stories
and see how they use dialogue.
|
| 4. |
Do you need all those
adjectives (describing words) and adverbs (-ly words)? Maybe you
think that writing “The majestic great river wound like
a mighty green snake into the misty distance beyond me”
shows you are brilliant with words. They actually slow down
the plot. You’re writing a story not a description.
Try to take out all the unnecessary descriptive words. (Do you
need “majestic” and “great” in that sentence
above? Couldn’t you just put “wound into the mist
beyond”?)
|
| 5. |
Make your story look
interesting on the page. This is so important, yet so few young
writers do it. Far too many promising stories are spoiled
by being written in long paragraphs which turn the pages
into black blocks.
Use different-sized paragraphs - follow a long one with a very
short one.
Use different fonts occasionally.
Use lots of dialogue.
Leave gaps of 1-2 lines to show movements in time or place (just
like movies use a fade or a cut).
These all make the story look much more appealing to read.
Look at previous winning short stories for examples.
|
| 6. |
And we’ll say
it yet again, read. Read other authors and learn
from their tricks.
|
back
to top
What Should I Check?
Checking and editing is very important. Professional authors will
spend as much time checking as they did writing the story.
| 1. |
Go through the points
above.
|
| 2. |
Decide what your
story is really about. If it’s describing the break-up of
a friendship, maybe you don’t need that bit about going
to hockey? Maybe you need to add another couple of sentences about
how you first realised your friends were talking about you
behind your back.
|
| 3. |
Read it aloud to
yourself. This is a great way of suddenly making you realise what
sentences are too long, something doesn't actually make sense
or what words you’re using too often.
|
| 4. |
If you can, leave
the story for a few days. Then read it as if it’s someone
else’s story. Look for anything you don’t understand
in it.
|
Lastly, feel good about what you have written. You have written
a story that never existed in the world before. It’s your story.
About David Hill
David Hill is a well known New Zealand writer and Judge of the
2003 BNZ Young Writers' Award. Find out more
about David on the NZ
Book Council website. |