Herein, we will look at the top 4 things to know before writing a short story as they are of the utmost importance in writing a rich and engaging short story.
Did you know that short stories are in demand nowadays and will also be in the future? Yes! They are in demand by magazines, blogs, newspapers, and many such things.
So what all is important while writing a short story or what all must you keep in mind before heading on to write a short story?
Top 4 things to know before writing a short story
- Short story is not a novel
The first out of the top 4 things to know before writing a short story is that even while you are writing a short story or even before you start writing a short story, you will have to keep in mind that short stories are not novels and both of them are drastically different from one another. The name suggests ‘short stories’ which means to be short in length and content. However, novels and short stories have a few common characteristics like they need to be grammatically correct, should have correct spellings, and the story must have a flow.
No matter the length of the matter/content, it needs to tell a story. Many of you must have learned that a story must have an inciting incident, a rising action, a climax, and falling action; this applies here too! Remember that short stories focus only on one factor of the character’s life.
- Creation of Conflict
The second of the top 4 things to know before writing a short story is to know that every story or every short story needs to have a particular point of conflict. There must either be a dilemma in the character, revealing, or something of this sort. The conflict must have a good depth or gravity so as to keep the readers engaged and build interest and tension among them.
- Creation of strong dialogues
The third of the top 4 things to know before writing a short story is to remember that it is the dialogues of the short story that keeps the flow moving forward and keep the life of the story intact yet interesting. Good and strong dialogues help the story to come to life and can make a huge difference in making the story interesting. Keep your dialogues tight, clear, concise, and to the point.
- Edit! Edit! Edit!
A writer’s work seems to be amazing until he/she realizes that there is a lot of editing needed to make the story crisper and concise. You can do this by combining the characters whenever needed, eliminating the repetitive words, eliminating all the unnecessary words, and making every word count! That’s all!
