how To Write Short Stories

The following article suggests tips on how to write short stories, which all budding writers will find immensely useful. Read on.

One of the first and foremost tips for writing a short story is that it should be fast paced. Unlike a novel, wherein you get a lot of time to introduce your characters or build up the plot, in a short story, the reader has to be engaged quickly! Sometimes one or two paragraphs is all that you might have to get your reader interested. This can be quite a task, especially if you are writing for the first time. Scroll down for some more useful writing tips on how to write short stories.

Tips on How to Write Short Stories

Decide on the Story Idea
The first thing that you have to arrive upon when fiction writing is the story idea. What is it that you want to write about in your story? Is there a particular situation that you want to bring forth or you want to write about the life of some fictional character? Look around yourself and you will find many inspirations for short story ideas. Always carry a notebook with you wherever you go. You never know when you might come across a unique story idea! You can find inspiration in anything - perhaps in some incident in your family or some funny situation in your college or in something deep narrated to you by a close friend!

Start Writing
Considering that in your head you have some basic idea of what you want to write about, now is the time to start writing the story. The introduction to the story has to be very gripping, in fact so interesting that the reader cannot help but read through the whole story. The introduction should bring forth the time and setting of the story as well as introduce the characters, especially the protagonist. In a short story, keep the number of characters to the minimum and do not spend much time introducing them, otherwise the readers might feel bored. Start with the action or main events of the story as soon as possible. Here, one of the tips on how to write short stories for kids and beginners is to write a rough story plan. Jot down all the possible characters, events, situations that will occur in your story along with the end. Refer to this story plan while writing the actual story. You may further refer to short story ideas for kids.

Keep the Characters Real
A writer should know his characters very well. Only then he will be able to describe them to others. When creating characters in a story, keep them very real. As nobody's perfect in this world so how can your characters be? Keep this in mind while developing the characters in the story. Along with their good points, mention their flaws, any peculiarities, etc as well.

Keep the "Plot" Crisp
When writing the plot of the story, refrain from the tendency to give any unnecessary information. Write only relevant things. The story should start with an introduction and then quickly move on to the real "action", before resulting in climax and then the final conclusion or end. One of the most effective of tips on how to write short stories plots is to keep the reader guessing. In the middle of the plot, do not reveal anything about the end. Instead, build up the climax with some interesting and clever use of words and incidents.

Write Everyday
When you are writing on any of the short story topics, you have to be at it everyday. Devote a lot of time to writing the various elements of a short story. There will be times when you do not like what you have written. At these times, do not feel disheartened. Instead, scrap what you didn't like and start writing again. If you are facing a writer's block and unable to write some days, simply go for a walk or stay in nature's company, till you find your inspiration back. Also, it is usually seen that first time writers have this tendency to use flowery language to impress others, little realizing that it is one thing which is not needed at all. When writing your story, use very simple and direct language, which the readers can understand easily and feel connected to.

Do the Editing
Once you have written a short story, edit it. Look for any mistakes that you might have made. See that the story flows without any hiccups or that the characters are written well. If you know someone who writes, a good idea is to get the editing done by that person. Also, have your friends and family go through the story. if they have any suggestions and you too agree with them, incorporate these in your short story.

These are some tips on how to write short stories. In the end, if you feel that for some reason you are not able to do creative writing at present, do not feel disheartened. Inculcate the habit of writing a journal every day. When you meet people, if you find something interesting or peculiar about them, make a note of that. When surfing the Internet or watching TV, if you come across some incidents or situations, around which you feel you can develop a story, keep a written record of these. As you go through life, the more you see the ups and downs, the more experience you gain. This will certainly add to your creative and deep thinking, increasing your possibility to become a good writer!