TIPS FOR

WRITING A
SHORT
STORY
How to Start your Story:
Writing the First Paragraph
How shall I begin?
Three ways on approaching the
beginning:
 The artistic question;
 The logistical question; and
 The psychological question.

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The artistic question

› What is this story about?

› What’s the idea you want
to explore?

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The artistic question
› You may have an entire
plot worked out in your
head already, or you may
have only a character or
a situation in mind.
› Whatever it is, something
has motivated you to
write.
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The logistical question
› Who’s telling the story?
› What verb tense will you
use?
› What voice is the story
in?

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The psychological question

How ready are you to write

your story?

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How to approach
fiction?
› Use the old fashioned
5Ws of journalism

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Who
 Who are your
characters?
 How are they related
with each other?
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What
 What is the story
about?
 What happened in the
story?
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What
 Do you have a larger
theme you want to tell
or are you just telling a
tale?
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Where
 Where is the story set?
 How important is the

setting to the entire

story?
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When
 When is the story being
told in relation to when it
happened?

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When
 Is the narrator telling it in
present tense or in past-
tense?

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When
 If the narrator is telling it
in past-tense, there is a
benefit of a hindsight or
an understanding of why
things happened.
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When
 If in present tense then
you can put it with some
sense of immediacy or
suspense.

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When
 At what point will you begin
your story?
 Will you tell it
chronologically? Or will you
move forward and back in
time?
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Why
 Why do the characters do
the things that they do?
 Why are they in the
situation?

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How will
you open?
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Once you have answered
your 5Ws, decide on
whether you will open with:
 A description that depicts
the scene?
 An exchange of dialogue?
 An interior monologue?
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Once you have answered
your 5Ws, decide on
whether you will open
with:
 An action?
 A combination of both?

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Keep in mind that:
 Some prefer to write with
outlines, some prefer to
improvise as they work.
 Writing a story does not
have to be linear.
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Keep in mind that:
 You do not have to write
it the way the reader will
read it.
 You can start anywhere
until the picture becomes
clearer.
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Keep in mind that:
 If you use outlines, you
do not have to stick with
it. Be open for happy
accidents.
 Whatever works for you.
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Developing
Your Plot
and
Characters

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 Show don’t tell.

 Writing fiction by showing

and not by telling, means
bypassing the logical and
going for the gut or the
reader’s feelings.
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 Evoke the experience for the
reader.
 Telling means you appeal to
the rational and analytical
mind.
 Showing means drawing out
the memories and
imagination of the readers. 26
 Showing means drawing out
the memories and
imagination of the readers.

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In telling the story, you make
your readers witnesses. In
showing the story, you make
them the participants.

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What is the right way to
evoke your readers?
What details should you
include?

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Include as much
detail as you can in
your early drafts. You
can start narrowing it
down later.

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Later on ask yourself:
 Does the detail tell
something that the reader
does not even know?
 Does it advance the story?

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Later on ask yourself:
 Does it say something about
the character that it is
specific to the scene?
 Are the details concrete or
does it affect the senses?

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• There are really no rules in
language use.
• However in creative writing,
strong, active, and specific
verbs work better than adverbs.
• Use adverbs only when it is
necessary.

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Example:
She hurried quickly
across the room.

He pounded the table

angrily

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Ernest Hemingway used short
sentences, short paragraphs,
concrete nouns, action verbs, and
vigorous prose to narrate stories.

He used adjectives and adverbs

sparingly.

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Create a Three-Dimensional
Character
2D Characters
• Simple and unexplained.
• They appear and they do things,
yet you do not know them as
people.
Create a Three-Dimensional
Character
2D Characters
• Stories can get away with 2D
minor characters, but if major
characters are 2D the whole story
will fall flat and lack credibility.
Create a Three-Dimensional
Character
3D Characters
• Believable.
• They appear as credible
people who you might know.
Create a Three-Dimensional
Character
3D Characters
• Like humans, they have
flaws and failings.
• They are individual and also
seek to relate to others.
Create a Three-Dimensional
Character
3D Characters
• The trick of creating a 3D
character is to add detail that is
not strictly necessary for the
plot, yet which helps to create a
sense of reality.
Two-dimensional Three-dimensional
Perfect Flawed
Fits neatly in story Has own story
No history Has a unique past
Predictable Irrational
Logical Quirky
Often non-social Often social
Archetype Individual
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 Five methods
for creating
three-dimensional
characters:

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1. Allow for “out of character”
characterization.
• Don’t limit your characters to a
certain set of behaviors so that
your shy character is ALWAYS
shy, or your outspoken character
is ALWAYS loud.

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1. Allow for “out of character”
characterization.
 Instead, be open to unexpected
character traits.
 Ask yourself: Are your characters
surprising you with their quirks?

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2. Give them a sense of grace,
destiny, or belief.

Allow your character to feel like he

or she has a greater purpose in life.

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3. Pair conflicting emotions.
› Human beings are naturally
conflicted in the emotions
department.
› Why not translate that reality to
your characters?

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4. Use a character’s physical
appearance as an expression of
inner feelings.
› There is a superb literary device
known as pathetic fallacy, which
uses the outside world to express
the inner, and sometimes hidden,
emotions of key characters.
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5. Draw from your own
experiences.

To make a character three-

dimensional is to make him or her
more believable.

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5. Draw from your own
experiences.

What better way to place your

character firmly in reality than
by using your own life
experiences to influence your
character’s?
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Writing Dialogues for
Your Characters
 Use quotation marks.
 Each speaker must have its own
paragraph.
 Make sure that you reader knows
who is talking.

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 Do not overdo with dialogue tags
 Veering too much beyond "he
said" and "she said" only draws
attention to the tags and you want
readers focused on your
compelling dialogue, not your
ability to think of synonyms for
"said."
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 Your dialogue should sound real.
Listen to how people talk to each
other.
 Try to keep the instance of your
dialogue with just one sentence.

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 If you have a second sentence,
your character has become an
explainer. The character delivers
the information rather than
involving the reader in the
information.

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 Avoid small talks. The dialogue
should propel the plot. The line
“How’s the weather?” although
realistic may not move the story
forward.

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Example of dialogues

Incorrect:
"Give me that," Jane said, reaching
for the hammer. "What do I get if I
do?" he asked.

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Correct:
"Give me that," Jane said, reaching
for the hammer.

"What do I get if I do?" he asked.

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Incorrect:
"Give me that," Jane said, reaching
for the hammer. John jerked it out
of her reach and grinned.

"Geez, would you just give it to

her?" Allison asked as she rolled
her eyes.
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Correct:
"Give me that," Jane said, reaching
for the hammer.

John jerked it out of her reach and

grinned.

"Geez, would you just give it to her?"

Allison asked as she rolled her eyes.
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Creating
Conflict

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 Conflict brings together two
opposing forces, the protagonist,
one who struggles for, and the
antagonist, one who
struggles against.

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 To create conflict, give your
characters clear goals. Just ask
yourself, what does my character
want?
 Let you characters fail. Nobody is
perfect, even in fiction.

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2 simple approaches to conflict:

(1) Accomplishment story

The protagonist is trying to
accomplish something against
great opposition.
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(2) Decision story
The protagonist has ta choice
between two courses of action
with different sets of values.

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4 Principles of Fictional Conflict

1. Conflict must be of obvious

importance to the characters
involved.

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 4 Principles of Fictional Conflict

2. The two opposing forces much

be equal in strength. The conflict
is developed and there will
be suspense until the end.

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 4 Principles of Fictional Conflict

3. Unity. Everything—conflict,
character, theme, point of view—
is functional, and related to the
story’s basic purpose. The
conflict is logical in development.

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 4 Principles of Fictional Conflict

4. Plausibility. Characters act and

react to familiar principles of
human behavior. The resolution
of conflict must adhere to basic
facts of existence.

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Writing the
End for
your Short
Story

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 All stories must end with
resolution.
 There must be some answer
to the central conflict.

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Three frames for ending a
short story:
1. Denouncement
2. Realization
3. Epiphany

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 Denouncement- can be
closed or open ending.

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 Realization – less powerful
that epiphany, the character
gains some insight and can
be enlightened; the
character then can make
some change.
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 Epiphany- a “felt” or
“magical” moment that
permanently changes the
character.

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What should your ending do?
› Must tie-up loose ends of
the story.
› Must be a logical outcome.
› Should answer the central
conflict of the story.
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How do you write your
ending?
 Look to your beginning to
find your ending.
 As you write the draft, think
about how it might end.
Then write a provisional
ending.
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How do you write your
ending?
 Once the story is written,
you can revise the content,
including the ending
 Avoid the tendency to
summarize.
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How do you write your
ending?
 Don’t be preachy or
didactic. In other words,
don’t tell the reader what to
think about the story.

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How do you write your
ending?
 Be generous with your
readers. They have
invested in you and your
work the entire way. Give
them a proper payoff.
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How do you write your
ending?
 Make it unpredictable but
fair.
 Never settle. If you’re not
happy with every word,
scuttle it until you are.
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How do you write your
ending?
 If you have too many ideas
for how it should end, don’t
despair. Just make yourself
find the best one.
 Rewrite it until it shines.
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