Well with this handy guide of How to Write a Short Story, you will be able to let the creative juices flow and craft a personal piece you can be proud of.
It would be foolish and arrogant to assume my advice could transform Michael Bay into Ernest Hemingway, but these steps should help inspired writers focus their many ideas into a single story.
I will be using my story Fletcher in the Lie as an example throughout this article. You can still follow along without reading it, but here is the link if you want to know the references:
http://hawkinit.blogspot.com/2011/05/fletcher-in-lie.html
Determine Your Subject Matter
The first things to do when beginning to write a short story is decide what your main topic will be. This does not have to be as difficult as finding a thesis for a term paper; it should actually be quite easy.
Everyone has thousands of stories inside him/herself. Most of these are based on real events and are considered “non-fiction.” But honestly, most fiction is based off of true life.
Drawing from events in your own life is the easiest way to write fiction. I would love to write a story about being a soldier in Iraq, but without the experience it would be total BS.
When I write a short story, I like to find a common element to craft the story around. Sometimes it is an emotion, like love or frustration, a person I know, or an event that actually happened.
For example, in Fletcher in the Lie, my idea originated with a friend that always told lies, even when it was actually more beneficial to tell the truth. From that concept, I developed the basis of the story.
My second idea came from living in LA, with its major industry, Hollywood, designed to make money through the creation of stories.
Why is This Story Worth Telling?
As mentioned, everyone has great stories inside them. When you tell one of these to another person, or a group of people, ask yourself “why”?
• Why is it important for others to hear? Is it funny? Sad? Relevant?
• Why this story versus a different one? What makes this story better than any of my other stories?
• Why would people want to hear this story?
Knowing the answers to these questions will help you figure out why you want to write down this tale and turn it into a short story.
For me, I wanted to turn my two ideas into one cohesive story and they blended well. The two characters are discussing a friend, Fletcher, who always lies, while they walk down Hollywood Boulevard, which is notorious for imitation and the embodiment of fakeness. I also knew it would make a solid short story, but wasn’t deep enough for a full novel.I wanted to make my readers to ponder the characters’ discussion and see the hypocritical nature of their argument versus their lives.
Know Your Characters
Characters are the driving force behind 99% of stories (rough estimate). They are the ones that create the conflict and eventually grow/change/evolve as they learn a lesson.
All of the characters must display your main theme, either by adding to it or acting as a contrast. They push the story forward so that the reader/audience picks up on the theme.
In my story, the narrator (he’s never named, so let’s call him “Guy”) is trying to justify Fletcher’s rampant lying while his girlfriend Susan thinks Fletcher is untrustworthy. Their opinions are contrasting, which creates a dilemma for the readers where they must take sides according to their own beliefs.
Develop a Complete Story Around Your Central Idea
With your topic in mind, develop a story that revolves around it. This means using it as a theme that runs throughout the story.
Ask yourself; what is the purpose of this story? What do I want my readers to feel after their done? What do I want them to think about at the end of the book, and have crawling around their brains for weeks afterwards?
As stated, Fletcher in the Lie pits two characters against each other in their views on telling stories, but it is the scenery that reveals the author’s true intention. Through the use of the costumed street performers, the message is that the every aspect of life is a performance, and therefore a lie. People merely take their place in it and often don’t realize it (or, to quote Shakespeare, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women are merely players”).
The Situations
With the characters and theme determined, you now need to set up scenarios that will test your characters. Ask yourself: What does the character do faced with this dillema, and why?
First, decide on a situation for your characters to be placed in. It could be anything; a war, a breakup, dealing with the death of a relative, whatever. The key is that it must be able to test them in some way.
Next, you have to decide how the characters would respond when put in that situation. They could become cowardly in the face of gunfire, gain strength from the rough breakup, or completely deny the relative’s death, as examples. No matter how the characters respond, you want your readers to take something away from their experience.
Here is a passage from Fletcher:
We hit the end of the tourist section and were about to head into the poorer part of town. The buildings in this area lacked the glitz and glamour we had just walked through. They were mostly comprised of grey apartments and small businesses. Susan asked if we could turn around, and I agreed.
Given the choice of continuing their walk into the “poorer part of town” or returning to the fantastical Hollywood area, Susan chooses to stay in the lie and Guy agrees to follow her.
All in the Details
This may not arise until you have established a writing style, but once you have practice you will want to pay attention to the minutest factors that contribute to a good story.
A seemingly arbitrary segment of Fletcher in the Lie goes, “The sun peaked out from behind a cloud, so I put on the glasses hanging from my shirt collar. I noticed I was the only person around not already wearing them.” It appears to be a random detail on the surface, but I meant it to be a subtle hint at the theme, because people in LA wear their sunglasses not to block the sun from their eyes, but as a fashion statement.
Later a similar situation arises; “The sun had retreated behind the clouds, and I considered removing my shades before ultimately deciding to keep them on.” In this scene, we learn that Guy is just as consumed with his image as everyone else, meaning he too wants to maintain a deception.
Be Willing to Adjust
Things will not always go the way you planned. As I write, I always learn new things about my characters. The key is adjusting on the fly.
Sometimes you tell a story with the ending pre-planned. That is how jokes work (called a punchline), and they make for excellent entertainment. But when I sit down with a pen and paper (laptop and coffee), I often do not know how the story will end until it, well… ends. I have learned to accept that changes will occur and write according to that philosophy. Do not force a bad ending, as this will ruin an otherwise great story.
In my example, I had originally planned to have Guy be aware of his surroundings and transcend the whole phony world, like Holden Caulfield (yes, that is where the title comes from, along with Fletcher being named after a famous liar; bonus points if you identify who). But while writing, I realized that he is just as clueless to his surroundings as Susan and content to live in their fabricated world. Thus, the ending is both of them being happy to live in a fictional world and be able to “stare out of tinted lenses.”
In Conclusion (Not of the Short Story, Of my Advice)
Hopefully this helps your future creative endeavors. One thing to note is that writing does not come easily- to anyone. It takes time and practice to hone your skills and improve, as well as reading as much as you can.
To start your creative process, I would suggest writing a true story and then adding in details that didn’t happen, just like Fletcher does. Use metaphors or exaggerations, like you would when telling a great story to your friends. This will allow you to practice learning how to write a short story and soon you will be able to script amazing pieces of fiction. Good luck!
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