Writing Tip #10 – How to Write a Short Story

In October, I uploaded a blog about the benefits of writing short stories. This week, I wanted to share with you guys how I write short stories. Though I think most writers create short stories relatively the same way, I figured I could throw in my two cents on how I make them.

Let’s get started!

 

TO BEGIN, I open the story either shortly before or after the action. On rare occasion, I like to start in the middle of the action, usually before the end of everything. I know there are some writers who say never to do one of the three, but I disagree. Think about it, a short story needs to be short. Hence the name short story. Therefore, it would be best to open the story as close to the climax as possible. This doesn’t always mean that you should begin the story with your character staring down the barrel of a sawed off shotgun, unless it is necessary and makes sense.

FOR SCENE SKIPPING, I use a decorative line and keep writing. This, however, is limited to when I am writing a short story that is a little on the long side. For short stories, I like to keep things moving so that there is no need for time skips or breaks between scenes. Personally, if I can’t keep the story moving smoothly then I need to find a way that I can.

FOR POINT OF VIEW SWITCHING, I use a decorative line and I also jump forward in time if I find it suitable. For one short story, I used a point of view switch to carry the story onward and to give it more feeling as the story is finished off by another character. This is a great way to use scene skipping to move the story on smoothly.

WHEN ENDING THE STORY, I never really close my story. I leave it off on a note that allows me to pick up the story again if I decide to, thus allowing the reader’s mind to wander long after they finish the story. If the story requires an end, however, I tend to either kill off one of the main characters or end the scene on a note of finality (Or, at least, I hope I do). What I mean by that is I put an end to whatever matter I am writing about.

For instance, in one short story, I put an end to a matter but having character one prove that they truly love character two. Character two heads back into the forest to go home and character one follows behind them, In the mind of character one, I use the phrase ‘I love you and only you’ before ending the story. I put an end to matter at hand. The issue being: Does character one love character two? If so, how much?

 

That’s all I have for today’s blog post! I hope this was enjoyable and informative. ‘Til next time, keep writing!

Quick Tip #10 – What I Learned From Writing

Even though I am not a published author, I have been taking my writing seriously over the past two years. Over the course of those two years, I have realized a few things about writing.

1. Confidence

Never would I ever believe that writing could give someone confidence. For those who write, I’m sure you can feel yourself going through a character arch with your fictional characters. As they grow and develop, you find yourself growing and developing with them. You can go from a very shy and self-conscious person to a confident and bold person. It’s amazing that you can grow and develop with the help of your own characters.

2. Healing

When you write, especially pieces that come straight from the heart, you blow off steam. Whatever hate, hurt, or unrequited love that you are harboring tend to cool down. It’s not a secret that if you were to write your heart out all the time, you would find yourself healing. By writing, you work your brain muscles. Then, over the course of a single writing piece, you could go from utter despair to calm and ready to fight. Writing and other forms of art are the best healing process, mainly because it’s free, it’s something no one can take away from you (since it will be forever in your memory), and no one can watch you do it.

3. Drive

If you even considering doing anything that requires effort, you eventually develop a drive to go after whatever it is you want to do. You will be more willing to stay up all night, to reschedule your time with friends, and fight for what you want. This I have noticed within myself. I have found it much easier to go after what I want as I’ve made writing an instrumental part of my life. This has also spread into different aspects of my life. I find that my drive to do anything has increased, therefore I have a lot more time on my hands and I can do what I love to do everyday; write.

 

It’s Sunday! This is probably the first Sunday in a while where I actually posted a Quick Tip but I’m happy I did it! I hope this was a quick, informative blog article. ‘Til next time, keep writing.

Writing Tip #9 – Creating Chapters

When first writing a story, we are often used to just writing.

And writing.

And writing.

We continue to write without really feeling the need to separate one group of scenes from another group of scenes. Once we finally realize that there is a need to separate the group of scenes, things get a bit confusing. We aren’t always sure of where we should be ending one chapter and starting a new one.

So, what can we do to help us with starting and ending chapters?

1. What Is In a Chapter?

First order of business is to figure out what should be in a chapter.

Think of each chapter as a short story or a mini novel. There is a beginning, middle, and end or climax (if you use cliffhangers). Therefore, no chapter should be aimless. There needs to be a goal in the chapter that you wish to meet. That way, your novel will progress rather than reach a stalemate or regress.

For example; in chapter one, you introduce the main character and some hints or details about the plot. Then in chapter two, you introduce the character to a problem then use the remainder of the chapter to solve said problem. So on and so forth.

2. How Long Should a Chapter Be?

This is where things get tricky. Chapter lengths vary from one book to another and some are more eventful than others.

Personally, I do not worry about the length of my chapters. I simply plan out each chapter and once I decide that there is enough happening in each chapter, I move on.

This doesn’t work for everyone.

This is also a great reminder as to why writing your own novel is a beautiful thing. You can decide how long you want our chapters to be. Whether you want them all to be the same length or to have a length that varies, it is all up to you. You can always see how other writers separate their chapters if you wish to have a guideline to look at.

3. When Should a Chapter End?

The ending of the chapter can be decided in a few ways. It can end once you achieve the goal for that chapter or if you reach the length that you wanted the chapter to be. I do remember a fellow writer telling me that she chose the ending of a chapter when she felt there would be a considerable time-lapse before the next scene would take place. There is also the cliffhanger idea, where you leave the readers eager to read the next chapter. Again, this is decided by you, the writer.

 

That’s all I have for this blog article. I’m not going to lie, I wrote this out last night only to find that it didn’t save to all of my devices, therefore, I’m trying to write what I remember from the night before. I hope this helped the little bit of readers that I have. ‘Til next time, keep writing!

Quick Tip #8 – Old Writing Pieces

When I first started writing, I had a habit of getting rid of some writing pieces that I did not enjoy or that I felt were not worthy of keeping. At that time, a friend of mine would always tell me “You should keep your writing pieces!”
I don’t know if it was the fact that she was younger than me or the fact that I didn’t see the value of my work, but I was a bit reluctant to do as she said. So, at first, I threw out a few pieces of writing. Then, as time went on, I started saving pieces of writing that I either never finished or didn’t like.
Fast forward to 2017. I find myself looking through my cloud storage and what do I stumble upon?
Old writing pieces.
After taking a few minutes to reread my old work and cringing at some of the sentences I had thrown together, I came to realize that an extremely important thing for a writer is to keep hold of their old writing pieces. No, I am not saying this because it’s great to reminiscence or to make examples of our old work. Our old pieces of work are quite valuable even when we grow as writers.

Benefit 1 – Notice the Growth
One benefit that I have gained from keeping and looking over my old writing pieces is confidence in my writing. When I first started writing, I made a bunch of rookie mistakes in my work. I overused dialogue, bent my characters to the will of my story, and I used a lot of dialogue tags. Comparing my old writings to my current work shows just how far I have come in the last few years. I found that I managed to apply all the tips and tricks I have learned and there is an improvement in my writing. This really boosted my hope for a writing career in the future seeing how I am still learning how to improve my writing.

Benefit 2 – Discover What You Want to Write About
The second benefit that I have gained is that I now realize what I truly want to write. I noticed that my old pieces and some of current pieces revolve around the same general idea. However, I have been trying to convey that idea and I couldn’t figure out how until recently. This clarity has helped me to edit my work so that I can create a piece that can convey everything that I need it to. If I had not decided to keep my old writing pieces then this story idea would have never found a way out.

Please do not think that the benefits gained from keeping your old writing pieces is limited because it is not. This is merely the beginning of the benefits that I have recognized. I’m sure that there is way more benefits that I have yet to acknowledge. ‘Til next time, keep writing!