Writing Short Stories: 7 Excellent Tips for Writers

“A short story is a photograph; a novel is a film.” ― Lorrie Moore

The above quote from L. Moore perfectly captures short stories’ nature: while short stories are brief, they can leave a lasting impression on readers, especially when they’re well-written. 

However, this sounds counterintuitive but short stories are not exactly easy to write. Why? Because a short story has a limited space and word count. It can’t be a novel now, of course, nor a novella. Rather, it has to be shorter than that, about 1000 to 7000 words. That’s why, pulling up a good story within a limited word count requires skill and mastery.

If you’re looking forward to writing a short story but need some guidance to get started, this guide will provide you with actionable tips that you can follow to ensure your efforts bear fruit.

Tip 1: Open With a Strong Idea

Unlike novels, most short stories don’t have the time and space to build up slowly. They need to open up with a strong beginning and accelerate relatively fast. So, if you’re writing a short story, you need a concept that sparks interest and sets the tone right away—slow build-ups in short stories can complicate things for you as an author and also bore readers.

Speaking of sparking interest, a strong idea is often built around a moment of change, tension, or discovery.

Tip 2: Work With a Small Cast

A large cast requires more words and space to be introduced and described, posing a challenge to keep the story short and concise. More people also means more divergence, possibly less coherence, and less depth into individual characters, which can confuse readers as to who is whom and how they relate.

Additionally, a large cast makes it challenging to keep track of characters and their relationship, potentially leaving them scattered, underdeveloped, redundant, or unnecessary.

That’s why short stories are better focused on a small cast because they don’t have the time to introduce and focus on peripheral characters.

Compared to a large ensemble, a smaller one allows for more intricate character arcs within the limited word count, which can help readers connect deeply with the individuals. Instead of needing to cover every individual’s personality, which requires more development and work on the plot, you can zero in on a few characters and keep things relatively concise.

For example, if the main character is a boy who gets trapped in a fictional world of games with his friends, you don’t have to introduce the boy’s class teacher, sister, or pet.

Crowding the story with unneeded names and backstories not connecting well weakens the emotional core.

Tip 3: Jump Into The Action

A short story requires momentum from the beginning. There’s little or no room for lengthy exposition and slow-building setups. But “action” doesn’t necessarily mean a physical activity, like a monster attack or a murder. Action can refer to an internal conflict, a striking image, or a piece of intriguing dialogue.

Starting with a conflict will not only pique readers’ interests but also give your story a fast momentum. For this, you need to avoid generic openings like “Once upon a time, there lived a boy…” Instead, start with something that’s already grounded in momentum. “Three seconds changed everything for Austin as he crossed the road: one to read her goodbye text, one to realize his life was over, and one to meet the truck that would prove him both right and wrong…”

Too much exposition slows down the story’s momentum. So, let the reader catch up as things unfold.

Tip 4: Focus on One Main Conflict

It’s easier said than done. Focusing on a single conflict means having no other conflict to fall back on and keeping the story focused on the limited scope—building tension and creating a satisfying resolution without diversifying it. As such, every word and sentence written should serve the main conflict.

However, a single main conflict favors short stories, because of their limitations. The plot has only one thing to zero on, such as a falling relationship or a suffocating struggle, making the narrative focused, engaging, and tight.

Instead of introducing the misery of work life and existential questions along with a romance development, you could focus the plot on a confession.

However, while a single main conflict is the ideal choice, having subplots that are linked to the main conflict can serve as a means of tension building and character arc.

Tip 5: Avoid Over-Explaining Emotions

An important skill in creative writing, especially story-telling is the use of sensory detail to convey emotions rather than explaining them through exposition. A story is much more intriguing when there’s much emotion to be understood through actions, responses, and atmosphere, rather than direct explanations.

For example, instead of saying “Robin seemed jealous on hearing about Amy’s success,” you could say “Amy’s success news left Robin speechless. But his eyesight, stopping at anything but Amy, said more than enough.”

Too much telling creates distance. However, showing something invites readers to experience the story firsthand.

Tip 6: Have a Start, Mid, and End

If you don’t know how to structure your story, you can stick to the basic story structure: Start, Middle, End.

All stories follow a framework, all of which rely on three core parts: a starting part, a middle part, and an ending part. This fundamental structure ensures your story has a logical flow, guiding the narrative from setting the stage to building the tension and then climaxing.

• Start: The starting part is mainly focused on introducing the characters and their situation that hooks readers.

• Middle: The middle part focuses on tension building, where the character struggles with the problem, making choices, uncovering truths, and developing.

• End: The ending part focuses on resolving the main conflict—putting it to an end and releasing the tension buildup, leaving readers with a strong impression.

This basic framework ensures a focused and satisfying story. However, feel free to experiment and explore other options.

Tip 7: Revise, Revise, Revise!

Short stories may be short, but that doesn’t mean they need no revisions. All pieces of writing, even poems, benefit from thorough revision. A lot of times writers skip revision thinking their work has no errors, only to regret it later.

So, don’t make this mistake. Ensure your story is properly revised before you upload or turn it in. Here’s how to do it:

• Examine each sentence and question its value. Ask; What purpose does this sentence serve? Does it add value to the story? Is this description necessary? Is this dialogue advancing the plot or is it redundant?

• Prune unnecessary scenarios, sentences, words, adverbs, adjectives, or anything that doesn’t serve the story, such as repeated phrases, off-topic dialogue, excessive description of characters, environments, or scenes, or exposition inching away from the topic.

• Read your story out loud to check for any awkward phrasing. Use an AI paraphraser, to rewrite sentences with a better flow and clarity.

• Seek feedback from readers, seniors, friends, and loved ones.

Additionally, aim for at least two to three revisions instead of one to double-check everything.

Conclusion

Even writing a story as short as up to 1000 words requires skill and focus. These seven tips will guide you to writing an impactful short story that leaves readers with a lasting impression.