Short story writing

alexward1981 · Mar 23, 2012

Hi Guys,

I'm currently in the middle of writing two novels, however I'd like to try my had at writing a couple of short / flash fiction stories. Do any of you know of any good guides on how to write a short story? I've heard it's quite a different process than writing a full novel.

Thanks in advance

HoneyBadger · Mar 23, 2012

The 'Writing with Uncle Jim' threads (stickied in the Novels forum) are priceless. He talks about shorts vs novels a bit and explains some of the big differences.

The Short Fiction forum likewise is a trove of good information.

Silver-Midnight · Mar 23, 2012

HoneyBadger said:
The 'Writing with Uncle Jim' threads (stickied in the Novels forum) are priceless. He talks about shorts vs novels a bit and explains some of the big differences.

The Short Fiction forum likewise is a trove of good information.

+1

Jamesaritchie · Mar 23, 2012

Like anything else, the first step is reading a thousand or so short stories, and study as you read.

There are many good how-to books on writing short stories. Type "Writing the short story" into Amazon, and a bunch of good how-to books pop up. My favorite is probably The Writer's Digest Handbook of Short Story Writing - Volume 2.

readitnweep · Mar 23, 2012

Get some good anthologies, like Norton's, of short stories and read them first. Once you've begun and feel you need some finer points on it, then go back and read how to books on the subject.

celticroots · Mar 23, 2012

I agree with what others have said. Find an anthology and read a lot of short stories. You could check out some books on short story writing at your library too.

dangerousbill · Mar 23, 2012

alexward1981 said:
I'm currently in the middle of writing two novels, however I'd like to try my had at writing a couple of short / flash fiction stories. Do any of you know of any good guides on how to write a short story? I've heard it's quite a different process than writing a full novel.

It's different, but sometimes I use short stories to aid me in 'interviewing' a character before committing them to a full novel.

Sometimes it's to get an intrusive line of thought out of my head. Write it down, and it's gone, usually.

The main differences between novels and short stories are that you generally omit character development and introduce them fully formed, and the plot structure is simple. There are lots of exceptions to both, as always.

If I'm not careful, a short story will morph into a novel against my intentions.

Silver-Midnight · Mar 23, 2012

readitnweep said:
Get some good anthologies, like Norton's, of short stories and read them first. Once you've begun and feel you need some finer points on it, then go back and read how to books on the subject.

This is a really good idea. I have a Norton's anthology, and it has some good short stories.

If you already have an author in mind that you like, you try finding them on the following sites. You might even get lucky, and find an actual collection of their work; these books are free by the way. I say again, it's best to have a writer in mind that you like though:

Here's the link to the short stories page; you can also try searching for the writer's name on the side bar-like area :

http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Short_Stories_(Bookshelf)_Authors_A-E

Here's the short story collection part of another site: http://manybooks.net/categories/SHO

And the actual short stories from the same site:

http://manybooks.net/categories/SST

Let me know if these help.

jaksen · Mar 23, 2012

dangerousbill said:
The main differences between novels and short stories are that you generally omit character development and introduce them fully formed, and the plot structure is simple. There are lots of exceptions to both, as always.

I do agree with this part of Bill's post. As to the exceptions, that is.

I do the same process with a short story, a novella or a novel. I sit down and write. I don't change my thinking or attitude or the way I put together words to make descriptions, dialogue or narration. I just keep it shorter. Usually you keep a short story to one main plot, but then again I've read shorts with subplots. Mine often have a subplot or two.

Or maybe I'm doing something wrong.

alexward1981 · Mar 26, 2012

Wow! Thanks for the responses guys, I never expected so much help!

Some great advice there, I have read quite a few short stories in the past but generally they have been closer to novellas than actual short stories.

I had a go at writing one this weekend. I'm quite happy with it, once I've reached the 50 post mark I might post it on here to see what you all think

Libbie · Mar 26, 2012

Best thing you can do, of course, is read as much short fiction as you can get your paws on. I love short stories. There are many sources out there for excellent short fic if you know where to look.

Short story writing

alexward1981

HoneyBadger

terribly loud, emotionally distant

Silver-Midnight

Jamesaritchie

readitnweep

celticroots

dangerousbill

Retired Illuminatus

Silver-Midnight

jaksen

Caped Codder

alexward1981

Libbie

Worst song played on ugliest guitar