TECH: How To Write A Short Story

[mbarker.livejournal.com]

Original Posting Aug. 7, 2015

How can you resist reading something with that title, eh? Over here

http://madgeniusclub.com/2015/08/05/how-to-write-a-short-story/

Sarah Hoyt talks about how to write a short story, even if you are a natural novelist.

1. A short story is not a short version of a novel. You can't just cram it all in!
2. A short story is not a chapter in a novel.
3. A short story is... "a complete and coherent emotional experience." Time frame, focus, make that one incident pay off, make that one choice and consequences shine!

Pick an emotion or experience you want to convey and focus! Essential past in flashbacks.

"Pick an incident that involves choice and/or action on your character's part and one whose consequences can at least be foreseen after the choice is made, or whose consequences are pretty immediate."

Something that can play out in about 6K words. Put that incident under a microscope. You want it to be significant, and evoke emotions in your readers. Don't skip the try-fail cycles, and make the decision important and not too obvious. Oh, and don't forget the usual advice -- show, don't tell.

Go read Sarah's piece, then pick an incident or decision, and write a short story.