Description

This book will show you how to write a short story that works.

A short story that works is a story which, at the end, makes a reader chuckle, or brings a tear to the reader’s eye, or makes the reader’s jaw drop open in amazement. In other words, it’s a story that generates emotion. The story works in the sense that it makes the reader feel something. The more powerful that feeling or emotion is, the more likely it is that a story might win a prize, or persuade someone to publish it, or cause them to recommend it to someone else – the so-called word-of-mouth effect.

Unlike most books on writing, this one is not going to make any silly promises. It won’t guarantee to make you rich and famous in seven days.

What this book will do is show you how to write an effective short story. It will do this by providing you with a proven technique for developing your ideas into perfectly workmanlike pieces of short fiction.

Michael Allen can draw on over fifty years experience as a writer in all the media. He is the author of sixteen novels (some written under pen-names) which have been published in hardback and paperback editions in the UK, USA, France and Denmark; he has written one volume of short stories and also had drama scripts successfully produced on the stage, television, and radio. He has written two other books about writing, both of which are also available free online.