Short Story Writing - Simplified

Here are some of the key requisites for writing a short story (Tailored for Beginners)

1) SELECTING THE PLOT:

Just like how nucleus is the core of an element, the 'Plot' is the quintessential part of any story. Be it a short story or a full fledged novel, you need a solid plot to make the readers flip those pages.

Selecting the theme of the plot is the first thing you should do before picking up the pen to write. There are so many genres to choose from. Fiction, YA, Crime, Thriller etc. But not all genres are suitable for a Short story.

For example;

Love - Love, as we know, is a divine feeling. It's something which is really really hard to express in the form of words. The biggest constraint which you would face during the course of writing is - The Word limit. If you decide to introduce romantic elements into the story, you are just asking for trouble. In my opinion, love portions/scenes shouldn't be rushed up. For the reader to smell the true effervescence of those elements, you have to be a lot descriptive and must sacrifice the pace of the story.

Fantasy - Fantasy by definition means - 'A speculative fiction set in a Fictional universe'. Read that line again and let the meaning of it sink into your mind.

'Fictional Universe' is something which requires a great deal of time, effort and imaginative prowess to construct. The mind of a reader is a blank canvas. Through your story, he/she paints his own version of the characters, setting, the turn of events and happenings - all in their head. So if you want to write a fantasy story, you might as well be able to describe the entire fictional world within the word limit. If you are half-hearted about the whole deal, I would kindly advise you to shelf the idea and come up wit a fresh one. No one likes a half baked story do they?. Of course, many have successfully written short fantasy stories. But my advise is intended for those writers who are fairly new to this form of story writing.

Non-Fiction - When you pick up this genre, you must handle it with care. It can be about an Incident from the world around you, it also can be about an eminent personality

But the 'How to' or 'Effective ways of ' types clearly don't qualify as a story. They don't have a beginning, story or an ending. They are just your opinions/knowledge about a particular subject. People can always agree to disagree over such things. They come under the 'Self help' genre which is the subcategory of 'Non-Fiction'.

When you write a story based on actual events and incidents, tampering of facts should be avoided at all costs. Bending around it just to enhance the narrative is a big red flag and people will rip you apart if they come across any sort of factual fallacies. Sticking true to the truth, you must be able to narrate the event/happening in a structured way.

I'm stating this again just to make sure we are all on the same boat. "It is totally okay to write a short story based on the above 3 genres. But as a beginner, it's better to follow the most trodden path"

2) CLASSIFICATION OF SHORT STORIES:

The Short Stories can be broadly classified into the below types.

i) Moral Story: As the name implies, these are stories that come with a solid message or moral. Usually it is disguised throughout the story and it is revealed to the reader towards the end to create a lasting impression. Make sure that you get a good and powerful message across the board. The last thing that a reader wants, is to find a message of little or no relevance in the end.

Fable is pretty much the same thing as the Moral story, except for the fact that the message is conveyed via animals rather than humans. Example: Aesop's Fables

ii) Dramatic Story: It usually includes a host of well sketched characters with prominent roles in the story. They are the figures who actually drive/propel the story forward. They develop or rather mature over the course of book. The Drama can be about how the set of characters respond to the eventful happenings that take place Exhibiting the different shades of a character requires a little bit of finesse but once done, it can really give birth to some impactful personas. Example: Shakespeare's plays.

iii) Weird Story: At least once, you might have come across a short story or a novel that might not have made any sense. You would be scratching your head wondering what must have been going through the mind of the author whilst he was writing the story. Hard to accept, but stories CAN have 'weirdness' written all over them and still manage to earn their place in the good books of the reader. It all hinges on the kind of mess you create. Pick up a random theme for the story and introduce a potpourri of eccentric persons, each characterized by their own wacky traits.

There you go. You now have your own mess.

Sounds easy. But making it a 'Beautiful Mess' is the real deal.

You can experiment with the setting, characters (they can also be insane and nuts). BUT, they must amuse the reader in whichever way possible. You can achieve it through witty or humorous dialogues/conversations between the characters etc. Their perceptions need not be aligned with the masses. Be it books or reality, people always seek variety. So when you present them a story with such eccentricity, they would find it refreshing. But don't under play it or over play it. Striking a fine balance is the key.

iv) Intriguing Story: It's a story that is completely plot driven. It is laden with so many mysterious elements (Shady characters, dark setting etc.) You must try to weave a story around the core plot in a way that forces the reader to unravel it by themselves. The story should progress with an air unpredictability surrounding it. Any writer can spark the interest of the reader but transforming that spark into a wildfire totally depends on how you spin the story. Especially in a short story, try to keep it simple. The more twists and turns you bring in, the more tedious you make it for the reader to get to the bottom of it.

3) LIMITATIONS:

The biggest limitation for a short story writer is - 'Word Limit'.

A typical short story is under 30,000 words. Although it can vary depending upon the need of the plot. It is very hard to write one if you constantly remind yourself about the limit. So I would advise you to adopt this strategy and check if it works out for you.

Similar to your thesis paper, Start off by writing the Keywords. They are nothing but the highlights of your story.

For example:

2019 - New York - Murder of Bank Employee - Secret informer - 2 suspects - No positive - evidence - detective Mike joins hands with police - tracks whereabouts of suspect one ...

You get the gist? Once you are done with that, move on to write a blurb - what the story is about. It's basically a short summary of the story.

You can also prepare a list of all the characters who play a role in your story. As the popular saying goes, 'Too many ingredients spoil the dish'. Make sure that the story revolves around a small set of characters.

Create 'x' number of chapters based on your story.

For example:

Chapter 1 can be the part wherein your lead character gets introduced. In Chapter 2 you can describe the setting of the story, the surroundings, the time period etc. You can refer the keywords and can plan accordingly. Murder incident taking place in one chapter while the investigation stuff takes place in the next chapter.

Once you do this, you can rev the engines in your mind and get going with your story.

4) BOTTOMLINE:

So that's what Short story writing is all about?
No! It is an art and no where you can find a single page manual which could teach you the A to Z of it. The above furnished points are my own suggestions and i'm in no way declaring that this is the ultimate guide to write a short story.

To sum it all up,

* Select a theme/genre (Avoid Romance/Fantasy at all costs)
* Come up with a plot (Refer the 'Types of short stories' )
* Sketch the characters (Make them appealing and it should have your trademark stamp in it. Adding a part of yourself in them makes it unique and that will be your signature style). Also, be sure to limit the number of characters.

* Fix the setting. (1960s, 80s, or 2050s. Totally upto you)
* Ultimate Takeaway - What is it you want your readers to gain by reading your stories? Do you want to convey a social message? or do you want them to take notice of the stellar characters/setting which you have created? or is it a mystery which you want them to decipher? Once you decide the Ultimate Takeaway, you can then weave a story around it.

* Write the Keywords/Highlights -> Short summary -> Create Chapters
* Finally get your creative juices flowing on the paper

If you manage to adhere to all the above steps, the end product would definitely qualify as a short story. Even if it exceeds the limit, it's easier to just nip the over growth that aren't required.