Short stories can be an
excellent way to break into the competitive field of fiction publishing. Novel
publishers are more willing to look at work written by an author whose work has
already appeared in print. Magazines and periodicals love the short form, so
selling the work can often be simpler than pushing an entire novel manuscript.
Readers are more willing to pay money for work from an author they are already
familiar with. Most importantly, though, short stories provide a fertile ground
for bigger ideas to spring from.
The difficulty lies in mastering
this challenging form of writing.
Some shorter stories manage to
leave a lingering impression on readers long after the final word was written.
Others leave readers with the feeling that they have missed the point entirely.
So how do you strike a balance
between writing an effective, memorable short story and creating a short,
aimless length of prose?
To make your short stories more
effective, try to keep in mind these following points.
Theme
Establish a clear theme before
you begin writing. What is the story about?
That doesn't mean what is the plot line, the sequence of events or the
character's actions, it means what is the underlying message or statement
behind the words. Get this right and your story will have more resonance in the
minds of your readers.
Snapshot
An effective short story covers
a very short time span. Picture it as a snapshot of a particular moment in the
life of the story. Of course, the character has a history and will often have
consequences to face after the story's conclusion, too. But for the sake of
this short story, only the explanation of the event is relevant. This explanation
should be the illustration of the underlying theme to your story.
Bang!
Begin your story with a conflict
scene. Throw your protagonist in the deep end. Open with the action. Hook your
reader into the story by beginning in the middle of something big. Forget the
scenery, or the bad guy who got your hero into this mess in the first place, or
the reason your protagonist is dangling by his feet from a sheer cliff. There
will be time to sprinkle those details throughout the story later. For now,
concentrate on forcing your readers to wonder how he got into that situation. A
reader who wonders this is a reader who will continue reading to find out!
Characters
Don't overload your story with
too many characters. Each new character you introduce will bring a new
dimension to the story, but it can also add unnecessary length. Too many
diverse dimensions (or directions) will dilute the theme. Have only enough
characters to effectively illustrate the theme.
Description
Space is extremely limited with
short stories. Many publications adhere to strict word-counts and will not
accept longer pieces. You need to make every word count. Edit your draft
carefully and remove any obsolete words or phrases. Find a more compact way to
say want you mean. Dig through a thesaurus to find words that more accurately
convey what you want to say. Finding one perfect, strong noun can be more
compelling than a whole descriptive paragraph.
Focus
The best stories are the ones
that focus upon a narrow subject line. History, external details, surroundings,
other characters – all extraneous details should fade into oblivion while you
focus on your story's central theme. It can tempting to digress, and often more
tempting to expand the fledgling idea into a full novel-length work. The
tighter you squeeze the focus of the story, the more the reader will be pulled
into the event you have drawn.
Twist
Surprise your readers. Add a
little twist at the end of your story that leaves them wondering about your
protagonist long after the story ends. Avoid the overtly predictable ending and
make publishers remember your style.
Denouement
Don't leave your readers hanging
in the dark at the end of your story. Be sure that your conclusion is
satisying, but not too predictable. Readers need to be left with a feeling of
resonance, a feeling that they long to know what happened to the characters
after you wrote that last word.
If you can successfully
incorporate these tips into a compact, focused story, you just might find that
you have created a memorable short story that lingers in the minds of readers
and editors alike, long after they've finished reading!
Copyright 2002 by Lee Masterson
Lee Masterson is a full-time
freelance writer from