How To Write A Short Story In Simple Steps
Remember it is all about your heart into the idea of writing a story. Just close your eyes, hold your heart and think of that particular idea you wish to write about.
- Know Your Heart
The most important thing is to find the key emotion of the story. It can be love, heartbreak, kindness or any emotion you want to show in the story. The key emotion in your story is the feeling or impression you want to give your readers that will stick with them, possibly for the rest of their lives.
The best way to find the key emotion is the one from your life, it can be already in your mind or any of your experience. If you are struggling in finding one then you must read as many short stories of your favourite genre. The most important thing in writing the story is that it must be compelling, meaningful and the writer must be fully convinced with the idea.
- Make a Draft
After knowing the key emotion of your story,you must go for the drafting of your story. You need to make the right tone, introduce your characters and keep your storyline interesting for your readers. As it is a short story, it must be crisp and interesting. You can add a different flavour of words, make it more interesting and engaging with the audience.
- Create Characters from the People You Know
Now creating characters will be an important task. Your characters need to be relatable, interesting and the ones who can always be on people’s mind after reading your story. Pen down your important characters, think about their names and imagine them in your head playing their roles as you want them to. You can also add some good adjectives for them to define their personality. As it is a short story, adjectives and words will always play a key role so choose your words wisely and here you can take help of various sites and apps to get better with your vocabulary.
- Get Writing
Start writing your scene in a captivating setting. Define your characters, frame dialogues and start writing while imagining your story. If required, read similar stories and get ideas around which you can frame your own storyline. A short story must have a single mood and each sentence must be towards that. Be consistent with the key emotion of the story and here you go!
5. Structure the Story
Structure the short story accordingly. You can rearrange your sentences or even add or delete some dialogues. You may wish to add flavor to your sentences by writing them in changed voices. This will give a fine structure to your story. Ensure the perfect timing of dialogues, scenes and characters. The structure also very much depends on the genre of the story. If you are writing a suspense story then remember to maintain it till the last.
- Ensure a Satisfying Ending
Nothing can disappoint a reader then a great narrative with its weak ending. Ask yourself how you wish to read the ending of the beautiful tale you have written. Ending of the story must be like a dessert, the best thing which you eat at the end of the meal and taste remains even after! Even if you’ve known your ending since day one, you still need to execute it for maximum emotional effect the final push for your key emotion. Try using dialogue to end your story, or reveal a twist in the very last sentence, leaving the reader reeling.