Young Writers Society

Okay,

Here's the problem. I've been assigned, for the first time in my life, to write a short story to publish in a newspaper!

Yes, I know that's not a problem. The problem is that I've got little to no experience on writing Short Stories!!

My writing style is usually applicable only when writing... long stories ( ) or novels. So could anyone with at least a little knowledge and experience in writing short stories please help me out and tell me -

1. How to recognize an idea short enough for a short story.
2. If I have to change anything in my style to write a short story (Like ignoring explanations etc?)
3. Any tips on writing short stories.
4. Basically how you write short stories.
5. Anything else I've forgotten.

Guys, I really need your help on this so I'm begging you to help me!

* I hope this is the right place to post this, *

Short stories need to be somewhat concise. This seems like a no-brainer, but it is still very essential. You can't delve too much into just one of the three essentials of writing: description, narrative, and dialogue. You have to be effective with all three. This means getting the point across in as few words as possible. Don't go off on tangents with something, unless it is story essential. And usually, it's not.

To add to Conrad's stuff, don't have any subplots. At all. Just focus on one (small/condensed) plot and don't try to stuff anything but that one plot in there. Simple is really the key word.

Sometimes, you don't even necessarily need a full-fledged plot for a short stories-- just a theme. If you have a theme and interesting characters to work with, you can pull off the story by just capturing a snapshot of their lives.

And simple, although good for shorter stories, doesn't mean you write things like: "She started walking. She stopped. The sky was blue." Simple doesn't mean sacrificing descriptions and explanations. But it does mean toning them down, and learning when you can afford to slow the story down with description and when you can't.

Best of luck! I wish I had your problem. =P I'd love to be able to finish a novel.

Sometimes you go to the supermarket, buy a bottle of milk, have a realization about the meaning of life, and return home.

Sometimes you go to the supermarket, but it's late and they're closed, so you drive to another supermarket in the next town, and they don't have any skim milk left. This strikes you as odd, and so you wander behind the selves into the storage area in search of the manager, and you see a murder take place, and realize the supermarket is a mafia front. Finally, you may or may not have the realization about the meaning of life.

This is the difference between a short story, and a novel. You shouldn't be trying to change your writing- good writing is good writing, and even novels should be concisely written.

EDIT: I'm saying they're... shorter. That's pretty much the mindset.

Kurt Vonnegut gave a good piece of advice: "Start as close to the end as possible." Don't waste time with dancing; just tell the story.

And of course, Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Smorg: Are you trying to say that in short stories nothing interesting happens? Who wants to read about a trip to the store to buy milk?

Pork

I know what you mean Firestalker. So, I'll try to help out as much as I can.

Answers to the questions you asked,

1. Basically, you have to choose an idea on which you can develop a good enough short story and also end it without making the reader bewildered or making the reader too bored. So, the idea should be long enough to make the reader read the story and short enough to qualify it as a short story. Try to get someone else's help when you if want an idea as it would be better than thinking of ideas yourself. Inspiration is the key to writing any story.

2. Remember our school exams. Well, in this case also you have to do the same, but without any time limits, and also a greater word count. As you said, keep the descriptions of characters to minimum level, so it won't make your story bigger. Add some description of the places, but limit that to two or three lines. Another thing is the dialogue. I never include dialogues in my short stories, as they seem irrelevant when I write a story. But you might want to include some. Your choice. And its important to make the reader believe what you have written.

3. Plan the whole thing in your mind. The start, the plot, the characters, their personality, the ending, and everything else. Omit whatever things you feel that is not necessary. Planning is most important as in a short story, its very easy to get caught up in a story into which you have introduced too many twists and turns and so many interesting characters that you've actually got enough material for a three volume novel.

4. Get an abrupt starting like, 'It was raining outside, the room went dark.......' or 'I was in my room gazing outside the window. I hear someone come into the room......' This is why I said to get someone else's help, because in your own mind, things like these won't come.
Okay, get this kind of idea, and then, plan the other characters. No need for a appearance, just the personality and what part would they take in the story. Next, see if it will be a first person story or a third person story. And then make the plot. It should be a begin here-go with it-end now plot if you get what I mean. Make it small, believable and good.
The ending should not be fantastic. Like your character being hit by a missile and still come out smiling. The ending should not be abrupt either. It should go with the pace of the story and end it in a way the readers didn't even know that it ended.

5. I don't think you forgot anything. And I think this information is enough for the time being.

So, good luck and tell me how it went. PM or call me if you need more help.

Thanks a lot guys. Conrad, Rosey, Evi, Smorg, Pork and C. You guys really helped me a lot. I never thought of getting so many tips and helping hands in one day or less. I certainly owe you guys big. If there's anything you need help with I'd be more than happy to help.

Thanks again guys, I'll start writing my hopefully-good Short Story now. And I can show it to you guys if your interested

Anyway, Thanks yet again to all of you,

-Fire-

Maybe I'm a little late here, but I thought I'd pitch in my two cents.

1. Scope. A short story has a smaller scope than a larger story. It's best to avoid long, sprawling stories with multitudes of characters and deeply involved plot twists in a short story. It can be done, but it's wickedly hard. Another thing to consider is time. It's easier to write a short story that takes place in a short amount of time than to write a short story that takes years. This isn't an unbreakable guideline, but hopefully it will help!

2. When it comes to short stories, you have to focus your style, but not necessarily change it. Really think about what matters and pay attention to your language. The shortness of your piece will draw attention to individual sentences so it's good to really think about how your sentences sound. Style gets a magnifying glass in short stories.

3. As I've said, limit your scope. Think about time. And write it all out first--even if it goes over the word limit. If you have to, cut it. I would not worry so much about length until you have a first draft and you can work with it from there. You need a starting place before you can get into specific style issues and such.

4. Me? I outline--as weird as it is. I draw an arc of events in the story, draw lines and decide where my end and beginning are. Then, after letting it fester in my brain or two, I write it all out in one or two days, just getting out whatever I can. Then I spend weeks making second, third and fourth drafts and messing with things. But it all depends on what kind of person you are how you got about it.

5. Write it!

Hope that helps! Best of luck!

Thanks Writersdomain, your help is greatly appreciated by me as usual.

Okay, so I am a huge fan of short stories, though I dont write them all that often, and I've read quite a bit on how to write them. Short stories usually whittle down to this: A day in the life of...
whatever your story, you have to think small scale. You'll explode if you try to squish a novel into the space on an average short story. A short story is almost like a subplot with the main plot hinted at.
For instance, you might right about an insurance agent in a world where there are superheroes; he is for an agency that sells insurance to large companies that would protect them from the cost of having their buildings and offices destroyed during one of the frequent rampages. Maybe our agent is not doing very well in his sales pitch, when from outside a battle rages and the superhero throws a car at the villain.... only to miss and hit the factory of the person the insurance agent is pitching to. He sells the indurance for double its regular price.

You see, that is just a moment in time; a short story is usually an isolated incident in a world that essentially becomes a reflection of that incident in the reader's mind.
And the story above could have been almost all dialogue, with snippets of rumblings and vague foreshadowing of the destruction to come, and then the act itself.
So that's the advice I have for you, friend.