Writing a Short Story.
My 10 tips for those who have ears to hear.
1. Choose one episode to relate - not a life story.
2.The problem is the backbone of the story (Goal)
3. Give the MC a catalyst to thrust him into the story.
4.Place obstacles in his path
5.Out of the frying pan into the fire - (External Conflict)
6.Place your main character 'up a tree and throw rocks at him'.
7.A max. of three or four characters works best.
8 Action comes before reaction.
9.Give your characters a moral or ethical dilemma (Internal Conflict)
10 Create a dark moment when all seems lost.
plus one complementary.
11 The character should grow and change in the course of the story.
1. Choose one episode to relate - not a life story.
2.The problem is the backbone of the story (Goal)
3. Give the MC a catalyst to thrust him into the story.
4.Place obstacles in his path
5.Out of the frying pan into the fire - (External Conflict)
6.Place your main character 'up a tree and throw rocks at him'.
7.A max. of three or four characters works best.
8 Action comes before reaction.
9.Give your characters a moral or ethical dilemma (Internal Conflict)
10 Create a dark moment when all seems lost.
plus one complementary.
11 The character should grow and change in the course of the story.
Writing Exercises
•Take a picture and write about it for 15 minutes without allowing your pen to lift off the page,
•Describe your hand
•In 2 paragraphs make your protagonist act out of character.
•Turn off the monitor and free write for 15 minutes without stopping. Don't turn on the screen until time is up.
•Find at least 3 figures in the clouds. Show how each figure has an emotional impact on your character. e.g a ferocious animal, a wizened face, a melting clock
•Type for 15 minutes then delete. Topic: Who am I - honestly?
•Get a group of friends to fire questions about your story, or a specific character, so that you have to answer them off the top of your head. You will think so fast to explain (or defend) you'll even make up information that hasn't happened yet. The result makes your story clearer to you, and you will be surprised how relevant some of the new input is.
•Describe your hand
•In 2 paragraphs make your protagonist act out of character.
•Turn off the monitor and free write for 15 minutes without stopping. Don't turn on the screen until time is up.
•Find at least 3 figures in the clouds. Show how each figure has an emotional impact on your character. e.g a ferocious animal, a wizened face, a melting clock
•Type for 15 minutes then delete. Topic: Who am I - honestly?
•Get a group of friends to fire questions about your story, or a specific character, so that you have to answer them off the top of your head. You will think so fast to explain (or defend) you'll even make up information that hasn't happened yet. The result makes your story clearer to you, and you will be surprised how relevant some of the new input is.
Self Editing
You've heard the adage: a great book is not written, it's re written. In the many rewritten drafts the story is moulded and polished.
Well, I've learnt another truth. To discover the real story within, one must 'dewrite', otherwise you can't see the wood for the trees.
It's in the deleting and the repetition reduction you get to differentiate between what you like about the story with what is truly
essential to the story in order to entertain the reader.
I guess it's a case of putting the reader's needs before the author's.
Well, I've learnt another truth. To discover the real story within, one must 'dewrite', otherwise you can't see the wood for the trees.
It's in the deleting and the repetition reduction you get to differentiate between what you like about the story with what is truly
essential to the story in order to entertain the reader.
I guess it's a case of putting the reader's needs before the author's.