Writing a Short Story
Writing a short story is so different from writing a novel where you have tens of thousands of words to tell your story. In a short story like “The Necklace”, you have only a few thousand. So, keep these guidelines in mind as you craft your story:
Drop readers into your world swiftly. Start with an action line to capture them.
Don’t waste words on explanations. Trust readers to make the necessary inferences.
Invent no more than a few characters, and put them in one place over a short period of time.
Focus on one conflict that engages the main character. What does the main character want and what is stopping him or her? Keep the conflict simple enough to resolve quickly.
What lesson does the main character learn? How does the main character change?
Read and re-read your draft to cut out unnecessary words. They’ll be more than you think.
The ending should deliver an emotional punch.
“The Deal, “ June’s first short story, is set in New York City in the near future. It’s about an elderly, wealthy couple who decide to get their brains transplanted into the bodies of recently deceased, young adults so as to have more time together. The story appeared in the Fall, 2020 issue of The Dark Sire, a quarterly literary magazine for enthusiasts of gothic, horror, fantasy, and psychological realism. “The Deal” was nominated for the magazine’s second annual award for horror. To read the story free, click here.
Komentarze