The Art Of Writing Short Stories

Writing short stories is an art form in itself, and is separate from other writing forms, such as novel writing. Short stories and articles, can range in length from several hundred words (such as the stories, articles, and essays on this website), to many thousand of words. It is also a starting point for many aspiring writers, and an ideal medium to begin with. There's no necessity for writing long outlines, or complex character development, and the number of characters can be kept to a minimum. In a short story, the action should start pretty quickly, since there is no room for many scene changes or elaborate development of a plot and sub-plots. It's also important not to become too wordy about unnecessary, unrelated topics, but to stick closely to the main theme.

One of the things which needs to be decided from the outset, is whether the story will be written in the first or the third person. Each of these gives the story a different flavor and feel. Whichever you use, it is important to be consistent, and not to change persons during the story. When writing novels, on the other hand, the technique of changing between first person and third person narrative, can sometimes be used to good effect.

If you don't already have an idea for the story, start brainstorming around topics which interest you, and on which you have some opinion or feeling. If you have trouble coming up with ideas, here's a technique which can result in a flood of things to write. This will work whether you are looking for topics to write about, or whether you already have a topic, and are trying to create a good story.

Sit down in a comfortable place with a tape recorder. Start the tape recorder, and picture in your mind the topic you are considering. Now describe what you are seeing out loud, as if you were trying to relate it to another person, and you want to make as vivid a description as possible. Be sure to use all your senses, so that you describe the colors of what you see, what things feel like to the touch and taste, and the emotional impact of what you are witnessing.

As you speak, the scenes will change, and other scenes, views, and characters may appear. Continue describing everything into the tape recorder, using all your senses. In the end, you should have a wealth of material, either as topics for a story, or the story itself

We have gathered together here a collection of one page short stories, fiction, essays, articles, and opinions on various subjects. Hopefully you will find something interesting, or useful here, and will return often to visit us.

Have you ever wanted to be a writer, or just to write your own book for the fun of it. Click on the following picture, and you will find a course that makes this easy. Or you can read our review of Novel Writing Made Easy. If writing is not your thing, but you are more interested in reading, then just pick a subject from the menu bar on the left to start your journey.