Sometimes you may find yourself with a story idea and realize it doesn’t have the strength, or the legs to fill the pages of a novel. Ok. Instead of tossing the idea away take another look it. Can you perhaps turn your idea into 25-50,000 words? Congratulations! You have the makings of a short story. You may find writing short stories a very rewarding experience. Time to get to work.
- Who is your Main Character - This is easy. Who are you writing about. When you think about your story who is it that pops into your mind. That is the person you want to concentrate on.
- What is the Point - You had an idea when you envisioned your story. Why? What was the point? What is it that your main character is going through that you wish to convey to your reader.
- How will it end - You know the who and that what. Now comes the “How”. When all is said and done what lesson was learned? That is a major part of “the point” but you can’t get to it if you don’t know how to end it.
You don’t necessarily need to jump in with a fully fleshed out outline, but answering those simple questions will serve as the perfect starting point for your short story.
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Laurie 06.03.08 at 9:30 am
Wow! A taylor made blog post just for me! Thanks. I will start the process you’re outlining here and keep you posted. Thanks for the person attention!
Laurie
Joe Nassise 06.03.08 at 3:40 pm
A short story? That’s not a short story, that’s a novella. A short story is more in the 5K-15k word range. (And you can sell a novella for a lot more than you can a short story!)
Rick 06.04.08 at 5:25 am
Thank you for stopping by, Joe. Your body of work is very impressive. Congratulations on hitting the Swiss bestseller list!
Joe Nassise 06.05.08 at 10:18 am
Thanks for the kudos, Rick. I enjoy your blog - keep up the good work.
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