Introduction
Writing, in any capacity, can feel daunting if you don’t have any idea where to start or what words to put to paper. In Writing Flash Fiction, we described how best to tackle bringing to life a very short story, chock full of action and deliberate writing choices and twists and turns.
Short stories themselves consist of prose that is traditionally anywhere from 1,500 to 7,500 words long, which is usually a couple of page lengths long and generally takes form in fictional writing. A short story can also be its own work of art that can be separate from a novel or preexisting world.
It can be self-contained and still become a gripping work of beauty with the right awareness of what it needs to contain to keep the reader interested. Writing doesn’t have to be long to hold meaning; it simply needs a vision and the fearlessness to take the first step to writing it.
“A short story is the ultimate close-up magic trick—a couple of thousand words to take you around the universe or break your heart.” — Neil Gaiman
Necessary and Optional Elements
There are some essentials that every story needs to have in order to be well-constructed and easy to follow. A confused reader is lost to the prose entirely, so make sure to include the following elements to keep your short story clear and concise:
Protagonist
A good rule of thumb for writing a short story is to keep the number of characters to a minimum, but there does need to be at least one character in order to drive the story forward. This character should be the protagonist—this just means that this designated character is the principle character in the work. Your protagonist should have a certain desire or need that will propel them through the plot of the story to obtain this thing that’s driving them forward.
Problem
To create interest in the story, a specific problem should be defined, whether that’s an obstacle blocking the character’s path to the thing they want, an unexpected event delaying them, or a wrong turn taken that leads them in the complete opposite direction than the one they want to go. This dilemma needs to be resolved by the protagonist; the backstory as to how the dilemma came about isn’t particularly needed in the instance of a short story. The only thing that matters is that there’s a conflict created, either physical or metaphorical, that the main character needs to overcome by the end of the story.
Decision
To conquer this problem that has arisen, the character must decide what they’re going to do about it. It can be a good decision or a bad decision, but if it is your desire that the character surmounts this obstacle, then a decision must be made. How are they going to go about solving their problem? What are they going to do?
Climax
The climax is the point in the story where the decision the protagonist made meets the problem, resulting in the highest peak of action in the story, and the reader gets to see the outcome of the main character’s choices and how it affects the story as a whole.
Resolution
After the climax comes the resolution, which is the outcome of the story. How did it end up affecting the main character? Do they think any differently now? Are they a different person than they were when they started this journey?
Only one of these elements can really be optional for a short story; lack of a fully rendered resolution could create suspense and leave an open ending, like in "The Lady, or the Tiger?" by Frank R. Stockton where the reader is left to decide which door the protagonist opened—the one with the lady, or the one with the tiger.
There are other elements that can be considered for the story as well, like the setting or alternating points of view, but depending on the story, especially if it’s a short story, they aren’t necessary to get the point across. Keeping to the main idea of the story and losing the extra fluff of setting descriptions or separate viewpoints of the same event will help the story stick to its intent of being short.
“The great thing about a short story is that it doesn’t have to trawl through someone’s whole life; it can come in glancingly from the side.” – Emma Donoghue
Consider the Structure
When it comes to writing a short story, it obviously has to be short. It’s best not to branch out too far from the main story created through the problem-solution approach as short stories rarely have subplots, if ever. They won’t expound on details in the same ways, with not much room to breathe between scenes. Short stories are compact bites of literature that pack a punch (though perhaps not quite as hard a punch as flash fiction) and lead you through action for nearly the length of the story.
Think about the pacing of the short story as well. As a general rule, the short story should be fast paced, both to hold the reader’s attention and to keep the story from dragging on. It’s also important to avoid being slogged down by flowery descriptions and over embellishment. Leading with action and propelling the story forward with prompting dialogue or adding sudden events are good ways to keep the pace upbeat and moving.
A good way to start with action in your short story is to start the story as close to the climax as possible. Doing this allows you to jump right into the scene with the establishing problem for the protagonist to deal with. Always keep the dilemma of the story in mind and start at a point where it’s relatively easy to get to the conflict or highest tension quickly. With this tactic, you can pull the reader in immediately, catching their interest within the first few lines.
“A short story must have a single mood and every sentence must build towards it.” – Edgar Allan Poe
Conclusion
Writing short stories doesn’t have to be scary. Identifying the necessary elements for the piece can be useful to set you off on the right path, offering a steppingstone, and considering the structure in the beginning of your writing journey will help you get to the true meat of the story. Another big part of the process is remembering the pacing and that it’s not meant to be like a novel. With the tips and tricks explored today, it won’t be long before you’re writing your own short story!
If you have any questions about the content of this blog, feel free to comment in the comments section or email us and we’ll get back to you ASAP.
Resources
How to Write a Short Story: The Short Story Checklist — Rosemary Tantra Bensko and Sean Glatch elaborate on their checklist to writing a good short story.
The Top 10 Tips For Writing Great Short Stories — Willie Handler shares his top tips for writing a great short story.
How to Write a Short Story In 5 Steps: Writing Tips for Great Story Ideas — MasterClass expounds on their techniques for coming up with ideas for a short story and how to write it.
How to write a short story — Jenn Ashworth explains her connection to short stories and the best ways she’s found to write them.
Madison Eigel is a junior editor for A.E. Williams Editorial who is working on breaking into the writing and editing industry. As a former visual effects artist and writing hobbyist, she can offer various creative perspectives to the blogs that she writes. You can connect with her on the company Facebook, LinkedIn, or through email.
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