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Young Writers Society


How do you come up with good, short story ideas?



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Sat Nov 21, 2015 9:24 pm
Merkava120 says...



Hey guys. Lately, anytime I think of a story idea, it's a long one. Every short story idea I have turns into a really long story really quickly, even when I just start writing stuff. How do you guys come up with short ideas for writing, and how do you keep them from morphing into long stories as you write?
  





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Sat Nov 21, 2015 9:28 pm
Blackwood says...



Think of the ending first.

Don't go into minute details describing things or days or lives.

Focus on the prose and the meaning/feeling you want the reader to take away with them.

Set yourself a limit.
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Sun Nov 22, 2015 9:24 pm
Apricity says...



There are various ways. Short stories are essentially a snapshot of someone's life, one of the easiest one is to figure out what you want to convey via this short story. And then base your story around that and don't stray from it. Keep it mind that some short stories can be quite long but they don't usually exceed 10k, setting a word limit is a good idea. Reading other short stories is also a good idea so you understand how to structure and write them.

You said you think of a story idea, but you don't want a story idea. A story idea has too many unknown variables and outcomes. The famous Kurt Vonnegut gave the following advice:

-Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

-Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

-Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

-Every sentence must do one of two things–reveal character or advance the action.

-Start as close to the end as possible.


Good luck!
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