Learn how to write short fictional stories by following these tips.
 |
Photo by Lukas Blazek on Unsplash
Do you want to write short fiction?
When I attended creative writing classes, I was taught some tips on how to make your short story more readable and interesting to readers. Here are some ideas and tips if you want to start writing short fiction.
1. A very short fiction story should be between 800 to 1500 words. Longer fiction stories tend to waffle on, but you can still write up to 3000 words if the plot and characters are believable.
2. Start your story off with a great first sentence showing where your character is or what that person is doing. Use a great plotline for your first paragraph but don’t give too much away at first. Make the first paragraph exciting so your reader is drawn in.
3. Start the beginning of the story by introducing one character of your choice. Do not introduce too many characters at the beginning, as the story will become confusing.
4. Very short fiction stories should only have two or three characters at the most, but this is my opinion because I was taught to write this way. You can have silent characters. For example, a silent character will not be given a name i.e. a mother, father, doctor, nurse — no name must be given for them but do not use these characters all the way through your story. They should be like passing by characters.
5. Choose a situation/plot for your short story. For example, create a problem for the character or something they need to do which becomes interesting for the reader.
6. Choose an interesting setting. It can be a simple setting like a home. Do not move from one setting to another if it’s a short story of 1000 words. Most fictional stories are best set in one place.
7. Use vivid imagery of your setting so the reader will get a sense of where the character is.
8. Show your story and don’t tell it. What do I mean by this? Show the reader what your character is doing. Use dialogue or describe the action showing what is happening with your characters. Describe the area and show your reader where the character is and what they are doing. Show the story but do not tell it like it is an article on fact. Fiction needs to be believable and to do that you need to show your reader movement and character description within your story.
9. Exposition in a fictional story is allowed but make sure the whole story is not told in exposition without any action or dialogue. Do not tell your story. Telling the story is called exposition. Exposition is allowed but only a small amount of it in a short fictional story because there aren’t that many words in the word count to tell the story. Telling the story is when you don’t show action but say he did this and she did that. No one wants to read a short fictional story that is written like a factual essay unless you have been asked to write a factual essay about something.
10. Most women's magazines here in the UK, such as, Best, Bella or Chat, look for short fiction about women that must be between 800 to 1200 words. Also, Mslexia Magazine online accepts short fictional stories up to 3000 words. They are looking for new writers. Make your short story about a woman. Make it realistic or about an everyday problem.
11. To make the short story more interesting and thrilling, create a twist but do not reveal the twist until the end. A twist has to be believable.
12. If you want to write a thrilling horror short story make it believable by creating unique characteristics for your characters. For instance, create a character who has a walking stick or has a nervous streak about him/her. Use a thrilling description of your character to shock your reader. This is showing and not telling which is what I have explained above.
Learn how to read books creativelymedium.com
13. The middle of the story should reveal more of the plot you have chosen and the story should start to develop. Make it believable with dialogue between characters to draw your reader in so they will not want to stop reading.
14. Give your character a habit, ie. they might be a smoker, or a big chocolate eater, or a profound coffee drinker. Make it stand out. Make your character stand out.
15. At the end of your story, you must shock your reader with a great ending. Use one great sentence to surprise your reader right at the end. Let them find out something unbelievable. Make them smile. Make the story thrilling with an incredible twist at the end.
Learn more by reading the following:
Here are some things you need to do if you want to write fictionmedium.com
Here are three tips I use to blast my writing into action.writingcooperative.com
Apply to become a writer for The Lark Publication if you want to have short fictional stories published. Apply below:
Comments
Post a Comment