How Do You Write Your Short Stories? (discussion)

[Psychoclown]

The seeds for my short stories vary. Sometimes it's a specific character voice or setting that I then attempt to craft a story around. Other times it's a premise. Sometimes I even have the general arc come to me all at once, and I only have to plan on the details of how to get there. I've even had a line of prose that just pops in my head and I'm like, "Oooh, I should build a story to work that into."

And of course, things like songs, TV, movies, and other stories/books can provide inspiration as well.

I think my strength is voice, mood, and atmosphere. Being more towards the pantser side of things (I do some pre-writing planning now to try and avoid writing myself in corners or dead ends) I also enjoy the shortness of the format. If something doesn't pan out, I haven't invested loads of time/effort. It gives me the freedom to experiment with various things as well.

The modern size limits can be a little difficult if publication if a goal. Since it gets more difficult to publish stories above 5K and very difficult if you go beyond 75000 words.

 

[OthaWrites]

From the pacing, to the style, to the focus, to preferred embellishments and vocabulary; how do you write your short stories?

Do you focus on characters? Is it their actions, ideals, or development that you write about? Or perhaps you care more about the setting, and what the surroundings are like; describing the place to set the mood. Maybe you put special attention towards the idea or lesson of the story.
What is the pacing like, is it slow with a handful of scenes, or quick with a long time span? The cliffhangers leave the audience hooked while a rounded end gives proper closure. Is it mystery for the reader to understand what they are reading, or is it explained in the beginning?
What are your prefered vocabulary words or phrases? Every writer has a favorite (or multiple) embellishments they use. Child, adult, humor, romance, etc. which is your target audience and genre?

What do you struggle or excel in writing short stories? The smaller word count may frustrate you, or having a well rounded climax and resolution may challenge you. What do you like about your writing versus what do you wish to improve? Why do you write short stories? Do your works have one style and theme, or are they mixed?

Possibly take a closer look into your stylistic choices and see what input, tips, and tricks others might have for you! This was opened to explain your stylistic choices for your writing, what you like about it, and what you what to improve.

I don't go for consistency from one story to the next. That's why I like writing short stories - I can go with the flow and be unconcerned with having a consistent style or form.

 

[DarkWriter223]

I usually start with an idea and then go from there. Also I have delved into meditation to really focus and read a lot of self-improvement books on how to train my mind to focus on getting the right verbiage along with the ability to dig deep with my writing. Though I don't try too hard but I am writing one short story called Hereditary and I hope to get it done soon. Hopefully when I am not messing around with ESO lol.

 

[Notablegnome]

I usually start with a character and their motivation. Without this I find the character simply becomes an eye watching and an ear hearing. This is sometimes good in itself, and I would like to return to short stories primarily about settings. Otherwise a motivation in a character is very important. I would say most of the time when I have identified a character's principal motivation, then the story seems to broaden without thinning out, because the root of the principal character is fixed.

 

[Maryn]

I tend to come at short stories backward. I know the ending and usually the POV character, then figure out how I can reach that point. It's weird as processes go, but it usually works. And when it doesn't, I haven't invested too much time.

Maryn, who started as a short story person

 

[JGregory]

As a chaotic pantser, I like writing short stories in response to a submission call. That gives me something to shoot at; it also suggests ideas. They’re usually vague. Once I have a notion where I want to go, plot and characters grow around the little bit of sand in the mantle that was that first idea.

I like writing for submission calls too. The word length, due date, genre, details, all of that helps. I'll brainstorm for a few minutes and get writing with a few different openings. That helps me figure out the ending, so it's just the middle that take longer to work on.

I like to think of them as movie/tv episodes so I tend to visualize the place, location, and dialogue.

Now if you want to write short-short, like micro fiction or flash fiction, Novella in Flash by Michael Loveday is a great book. I've got it on my bookshelf, and it's a really cool way of approaching short story in a way.

 

[Sully317]

I haven't used the same approach twice, but I'm just starting. One story was an exercise in learning story structure. Another a study in brevity. If there's a theme it's that I've hit on a situation or idea I find interesting.

 

[ScottyWriter]

I'm another one who hasn't got a set process. I just put it down to my newness but it seems to be pretty common here. I, too, like a prompt. I can't pluck an idea out of thin air for the life of me. In fact, I've started collecting prompts- I tick the ones I feel have feet and then use them. I like it when the theme is given to you. I've just submitted to a sci-fi mag that had one called 'Creature'. There's a competition I'm entering which is 'Words have consequences' and I've just done the second draft (although the ending is a bit too sharp).

 

[Notablegnome]

From the pacing, to the style, to the focus, to preferred embellishments and vocabulary; how do you write your short stories?

Do you focus on characters? Is it their actions, ideals, or development that you write about? Or perhaps you care more about the setting, and what the surroundings are like; describing the place to set the mood. Maybe you put special attention towards the idea or lesson of the story.
What is the pacing like, is it slow with a handful of scenes, or quick with a long time span? The cliffhangers leave the audience hooked while a rounded end gives proper closure. Is it mystery for the reader to understand what they are reading, or is it explained in the beginning?
What are your prefered vocabulary words or phrases? Every writer has a favorite (or multiple) embellishments they use. Child, adult, humor, romance, etc. which is your target audience and genre?

What do you struggle or excel in writing short stories? The smaller word count may frustrate you, or having a well rounded climax and resolution may challenge you. What do you like about your writing versus what do you wish to improve? Why do you write short stories? Do your works have one style and theme, or are they mixed?

Possibly take a closer look into your stylistic choices and see what input, tips, and tricks others might have for you! This was opened to explain your stylistic choices for your writing, what you like about it, and what you what to improve.

When my short stories start they just start as an explosion of typing - a quick page of text to break the silence of the white screen. Then when I have a rough seeding of initial ideas I tend to be very critical. I need to know whether there is a sense of a character's motivation, a feeling of what they want. If I can't find that then I worry about the piece going on aimlessly and wasting my time. I know that I am very susceptible to being happy with a setting, a house or a landscape, and then filling it with characters. Because I am a fine art landscape painter I am often drawn to wide scenes but this can be a mistake. What I mean is that imagery can expand indefinitely and so as a counterbalance there has to be some kind of concentration, and that concentration is found in what the main character aims or needs to do.

The other thing I would say is that I am often having to remind myself that I am writing a short story. I must not allow plot lines to extend too far. I am very poor at long fiction and I discipline myself to avoid it.

Finally the decision to go with 1st person or 3rd person is something that has to be thought through before I allow a new story to develop. After the motivation of the character (which is the fuel within the story) deciding on 1st or 3rd person is what delivers the story to the reader. I find 1st person easier and I take on 3rd person only if 1st person is not practical.

 

[akhooper]

Add me to the list of people who don't yet have a set approach. There's almost always a seed of an idea, either character or setting related. Once I've let it simmer for a while, I'll sit down to write and start riffing on that idea. From there I'll either try to get to a complete draft without editing, just see where the story wants to go. Or, I'll write a short block based on my seed and polish it for a while, then see what new insights it gives me.

Sometimes I even have the general arc come to me all at once, and I only have to plan on the details of how to get there.

That's what happened with my current WIP. The shape of the story appeared fully-formed, and I wrote a rough draft in one sitting. I've been refining it and experimenting with voice since then. So far this story has come more quickly than many of my others, but I'm not sure I've stumbled on a workable approach as much as I just got lucky.

What do you struggle or excel in writing short stories?

I like stories that hint at larger worlds. I think I'm good at painting a scene and escalating the story. Where I struggle is creating those hints without making the story too big and unwieldy. It's a tricky balance to achieve.

 

[Thecla]

Usually it starts with an image. Then it's just writing and trying out ideas until a story coalesces around that image. Hoping a story coalesces. There's one I started ages about about mirrors that hasn't yet and I'd love to know how it ends. Once I have a complete story, then it's a matter of tweaking until it's written from the right viewpoint in the right voice, with all the events happening in the right order.

I'm good at atmosphere and emotion. I struggle with plot,

 

[SecretsofStag]

I usually write a short story then it becomes a flash fiction piece the more of cut word for word. I don't know why. But that happens. Also, every time I write one it ends up becoming a flash fiction piece so I am left with that.