Write a fantasy story in 1500 to 4000 words. DO NOT EXCEED THE WORD LIMIT.
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Here are some final tips to help you write a great short story.
Don’t be afraid to let your characters learn a lesson during a short story.
They don’t necessarily need to discover the meaning of life (unless that is part of their conflict, of course), but they might realise something about themselves or others that helps them to overcome the conflict or grow as an individual.
If we use the earlier example, Joseph may realise that he needs to have a closer relationship with his son or that by proposing, he’s not just asking for a future spouse but a future member of his family, which would affect more than just him.
Read, read, read, read, read!
The best way to learn any new style of writing, and to become a better writer in general, is to immerse yourself into a range of literary forms. If you want to learn what a short story should look like and how to write a good one, you need to read short stories. Likewise, if you read a short story that you don’t enjoy or think is bad, rather than dismiss it, ask yourself why you didn’t like it and what you would have done differently.
Short stories require editing too.
Just because it’s short doesn’t mean that it doesn’t require a lot of effort. Any piece of writing requires work (expect a post on 1st drafts soon), and short stories are no different. If you’re looking to submit short stories, be prepared to cut down on words to meet a tight word limit (more on that here). Even if you don’t plan on submitting, you should still edit to make sure that your short story is as good as it can possibly be.
Be patient.
You will become more comfortable writing short stories in time, but it’s going to take some practice. It can be frustrating trying to get used to a new style of writing, especially during those first few attempts, but eventually you’ll become more comfortable in coming up with good ideas and be able to recognise how a short story should look and feel.
Unorthodox advice: the short story A to Z challenge
I’ll confess, I’ve yet to complete this challenge but that doesn’t mean I don’t see the benefits of doing it.
Come up with a word or phrase that starts with each letter and then write a short story around that theme. As a quick example, I chose ‘Aging Superhero’ after the Newton Faulkner song. The resulting story was terrible, but it allowed me to practice structure and learn just why it was so bad.