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The Long And The Short Of The Short Story
Congratulations! Youve spotted a great short story competition and decided to enter. Youve had a go at a few short stories in the past and youve been wanting to tackle a novel for ages, but the idea was way too daunting so youve just shoved that to the bottom of your lifes To Do list. A short story is a much better idea, isnt it? Its just like writing a novel only shorter. Right?
Not exactly!
Its been said that its not that a short story is long, its that it takes a long time to make it short. The idea that a short story is just a mini novel is an idea that will mean certain death to the success of your short story, before youve even written the first sentence.
There is an art, and a process to writing a short story, just like theres an art and a process to writing a novel, a non-fiction book or an essay. Success is a matter of knowing the basic principles, and then applying these to write the best short story youre capable of.
The question is, do you have the stamina to make your story short?
That question is easily answered by walking step by step through the writing process.
1. Planning
No matter what you are writing, you need to have a plan. Would you attempt to build a house without plans? Or would you set sail on the high seas without a map and compass? Writing stories is exactly the same. Set out without a plan and you will undoubtedly become lost in a forest of your own words.
Some simple questions to ask yourself at this early stage include:
* Who is your main character and what is their predicament?
* What do they want? How can they get out of their predicament?
* Who or what is stopping them getting what they want?
* How can you apply pressure to your character to force them into making tough choices in pursuit of their goal?
* What will your character learn over the course of the story?
Beginning by answering these few questions will help you know who your character is, what they want, and how they are going to go about getting it.
2. Writing
Once you have a plan for your story you are ready to write it. When you are writing, you are just writing. You are not editing and you are not planning, You are writing. This specifically means that you dont stop to wonder if this way sounds better than that way. When you are writing you are capturing the essence of the action in your story. You are writing a draft, not a finished product. At this stage dont even think about your word limit. Just write the entire story as you have planned it. Well take care of the word limit in the editing and rewriting stages.
The writing stage is similar to mining a diamond. When a diamond is mined it is a chunk of rock, with a few glittering pieces to show it is actually a diamond. You dont mine a beautifully cut and polished diamond from the side of a mountain, do you? No, you have an amazing piece of raw material, which you then take to a jeweler who will cut and polish it to show its beauty to its greatest advantage. In the writing process, the jeweler is the editor.
3. Rewriting
Once you have completed the first draft, the very best thing you can do is walk away. It can be difficult to get any distance from your own work, but it is virtually impossible if you try to plan, write, rewrite and edit your story in one sitting. If possible dont look at it again for at least another day. This allows your story time to rest and breathe, and when you return to it you will see it in a fresh light.
When you are ready, re-read it straight through once without stopping, and without making any changes or marks in the margins. Once youve finished the first read, ask yourself one question: did I write the story that I set out to write? If the answer is no, dont panic. Its amazing how the real story you are meant to write comes out in the writing. At this stage your main focus is to ensure that the intention of the story equals the result. In other words, the story has to make sense, and must flow from beginning to end, with all questions raised at the beginning being answered by the end. It is quite common to do comprehensive rewrites of the first few scenes, as the story you really wanted to write didnt surface until after youd really got cracking. Thats ok. Just go back and rewrite any scenes you need to, to make the story flow from beginning to end.
Some other important questions to ask at this stage are:
* Are there any great leaps in time or place? It is generally best to keep these leaps to a minimum in a short story.
* How many characters do you have? Its never a great idea to have more than three major characters at the most, and Ive read great short stories where there is only one. Save the huge cast for your novel.
* Does the story continually move forward? Its very easy to have two or maybe even three scenes showing the same thing about your character. A scene is a unit of change if a scene doesnt move the story forward, it needs to be cut or rewritten.
So rewriting is re-seeing and re-sculpting. The main purpose of this stage of the process is to make sure the story makes sense. There is a logic to story, and if there are any great leaps in time or place, you may need to add some small linking phrases. Once you are happy that the story flows in sequence you are ready to move to the final phase: editing.
4. Editing
You now need to step entirely out of your creative right brain and into your logical and analytical left brain, to refine and polish your story.
Firstly, look at your word count. Are you way over, way under, or pretty close to the mark? Never submit a story that is over the word limit. Respect the requirements of the competition and keep within the word limit.
Now read your story again, this time with your red marker in hand and a critical eye on the page. Some questions you need to ask at this stage are:
* When does the action begin? This is where your story begins. Its tempting to set the scene and show character but the reality is, you dont need to. The story always begins where the action begins. If there is anything that needs to be explained you havent written your action properly.
* Is all the action on the spine of the story? Edit out any superfluous material. Again, save it for your novel.
* Show dont tell. This means, dont tell us about someone, show us their character by putting them into difficult situations and let us discern their character by the choices they make.
* Edit out all explanation. As a general rule, ask yourself, is it an image? If its not its probably explanation and needs to be cut.
* Is there a solution to the story? Does the story deliver what it promised?
* Now is the time to ask, is this the best way to say this? If not, write it again, and say it better.
You may find yourself rewriting, editing, rewriting, editing over and over. This is completely normal! Most good short story authors do at least 15 drafts of their short stories before they are happy with the result.
So, youve made it through the process and youre ready to send your story off to the competition. Make sure you double space it, that the font size is big enough to read easily and that youve put enough postage on the envelope!
And good luck!
BONUS : The Most Important Rule Of Writing
I just finished a set of conferences with my students which inspired me to write about the most important rule of writing -- writing is a process.
So many of difficulties struggling writers face occur when they ignore this simple rule. Once you embrace the fact that writing is a process rather than an event, once you recognize that the more time you give the process to work the better, then not only will writing be easier you will also write better.
Writing is a process. While that process varies somewhat based on the task and the individual writer, the basic steps it includes are the same no matter what.
First is the initial brainstorming process. No actual writing takes place in this step although there may be some note taking or non-stop writing exercises. The more time you give yourself for this process then the easier the next step will be. Experiment with various forms of brainstorming and prewriting to determine which works best for you and your various writing tasks. What may work in one type of writing may not work as well with another. The more you experiment then the more likely you will find the optimum brainstorming process for you.
Second is the drafting process. That first rough draft should be a quick and painless draft. Your main goal at this point is simply to capture the fruits of your brainstorming in one document. Just write until you have tapped your brain. Do not hold yourself back by rewriting, revising, or editing. Do not pause to worry about spelling, grammar, punctuation, or word choice. If you are conscious that you will need to fill in gaps then simply hit return twice (my usual technique) or write in all caps MORE LATER then move on. The important goal at this point is simply to capture your ideas in one place as quickly as possible. It does not have to be pretty and likely it will not be pretty, but it will be done.
Third is the revision process. This should take more than one draft to accomplish. Again, do not spend time worrying about spelling, grammar, punctuation, revising or editing. Fix the obvious errors that are distracting to you as you rework but that is not your main goal. Your main goal with this part of the process is to look at the big picture. Is your thesis clear and well supported? Are your ideas well organized and fully developed? Are there any gaps in the writing or logic? Do your ideas transition well from one to another?
Fourth is the editing process. Now is the time to worry about spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word choice. Zoom in your focus from the big picture to the sentence and paragraph level. This effort may take one or more drafts to polish your writing to the desired level.
If you are creating a more in-depth project then you may also need to add a step between brainstorming and drafting that includes research and organization which would make the writing process include five steps.
The most important part of creating your own individual writing process is to let it evolve as your skill grows. The more you refine and polish your process then the better the work you produce. The key to developing a successful writing process it to give yourself time -- time to let your process evolve and time to let your writing develop. This means not to rush the development of your writing process. Let it evolve over many different projects. This also means not to rush your actual writing. Allow days to pass between various stages and drafts. The more time you allow to pass then the more work your subconscious will do for you and the fresher eyes you will be able to bring to the project.
I promise that if you remember the most important rule of writing then you will improve as a writer. Developing your own individual creative process and giving it time to work will make you a better writer.
I just finished a set of conferences with my students which inspired me to write about the most important rule of writing -- writing is a process.
So many of difficulties struggling writers face occur when they ignore this simple rule. Once you embrace the fact that writing is a process rather than an event, once you recognize that the more time you give the process to work the better, then not only will writing be easier you will also write better.
Writing is a process. While that process varies somewhat based on the task and the individual writer, the basic steps it includes are the same no matter what.
First is the initial brainstorming process. No actual writing takes place in this step although there may be some note taking or non-stop writing exercises. The more time you give yourself for this process then the easier the next step will be. Experiment with various forms of brainstorming and prewriting to determine which works best for you and your various writing tasks. What may work in one type of writing may not work as well with another. The more you experiment then the more likely you will find the optimum brainstorming process for you.
Second is the drafting process. That first rough draft should be a quick and painless draft. Your main goal at this point is simply to capture the fruits of your brainstorming in one document. Just write until you have tapped your brain. Do not hold yourself back by rewriting, revising, or editing. Do not pause to worry about spelling, grammar, punctuation, or word choice. If you are conscious that you will need to fill in gaps then simply hit return twice (my usual technique) or write in all caps MORE LATER then move on. The important goal at this point is simply to capture your ideas in one place as quickly as possible. It does not have to be pretty and likely it will not be pretty, but it will be done.
Third is the revision process. This should take more than one draft to accomplish. Again, do not spend time worrying about spelling, grammar, punctuation, revising or editing. Fix the obvious errors that are distracting to you as you rework but that is not your main goal. Your main goal with this part of the process is to look at the big picture. Is your thesis clear and well supported? Are your ideas well organized and fully developed? Are there any gaps in the writing or logic? Do your ideas transition well from one to another?
Fourth is the editing process. Now is the time to worry about spelling, grammar, punctuation, and word choice. Zoom in your focus from the big picture to the sentence and paragraph level. This effort may take one or more drafts to polish your writing to the desired level.
If you are creating a more in-depth project then you may also need to add a step between brainstorming and drafting that includes research and organization which would make the writing process include five steps.
The most important part of creating your own individual writing process is to let it evolve as your skill grows. The more you refine and polish your process then the better the work you produce. The key to developing a successful writing process it to give yourself time -- time to let your process evolve and time to let your writing develop. This means not to rush the development of your writing process. Let it evolve over many different projects. This also means not to rush your actual writing. Allow days to pass between various stages and drafts. The more time you allow to pass then the more work your subconscious will do for you and the fresher eyes you will be able to bring to the project.
I promise that if you remember the most important rule of writing then you will improve as a writer. Developing your own individual creative process and giving it time to work will make you a better writer.
