Short Story Characteristics

[Grace H.]

Hi everyone,

I know that a lot of the advice/articles on this website pertain to writing novels, from which I’ve learned a lot, but I was wondering if there are any principles or characteristics which apply specifically to writing short stories?

At the moment I’m working on a short story for my writing class (due soon) and it’s pretty solid so far, but I think it might be written in novel “language”, as it has a lot of details (the world’s been building itself the more I write) and maybe one too many scenes. At the moment I think it will end up around 3000 words. I’m not sure if the depth of the setting is a problem, but I’m unsure how to cut it down if that’s what’s necessary.

So my question is twofold: what should I know when writing a short story, and should my too-detailed short story (even if its short) be cut down in setting to emphasize something else?

@aratrea @daeus @dragon-snapper @dekreel @everyone-and-anyone

It's g-h, 2-4-6-8 twice, three 9's
literatureforthelight.wordpress.com

[LivGiordano]

@gh24682468999 I am getting into writing short stories right now, so I want to see what advice everyone else gives you. 🙂

Yeah, I would advise not really making the world super developed, and with lots of back story and such. With the setting, I really don’t know. It possibly could add a lot, and be important to your story, but I’m really not sure.

Also, try not to introduce too many characters. This would make it really long.

I may be wrong about this, but I would think it would have the same basic plot structure as a full-length novel.  Just not so detailed and in depth.

I hope that helps, at least a little. And I’m looking forward to what other people will say about it.

www.livforhim.wordpress.com

[Snapper]

@gh24682468999

Heh. You tagged me.

Welp, writing short stories is actually really difficult for me. The only thing harder than writing a short story for me is coming up with a character’s name. XD

But I’ll give you what advice I can from the few successful times I’ve written or read short stories.

So, if you do have a big story world, don’t try to go too much into detail, even if the world is wonderfully created. Even in novels, if you mentioned every factor of Lawbook 4 Section 3.5, we’d have it be far too long. Just go into what’s necessary to your plot line, and you can describe some of the setting around your characters here and there. Even if your reader is reading a lot about the world, the knowledge of the world in the back of your head will automatically become part of the story.

As for scenes, if you can combine certain scenes, do so. If you can cut off a certain scene, do so. Whatever you can cut down, do so. If it sounds like a novel, that’s okay, because maybe that’s just your style. Just so long as you don’t leave off in a cliffhanger.

And like @livgiordano said, you do want the same plot structure, but with less scenes and less internal conflict. Certainly, you can have internal conflict. Just not too much. If there’s too much, then you will have a novel.

 

I hope that helps some. 😀 And may the force be with you.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 10 months ago by Snapper.

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[Daeus]

@gh24682468999 I don’t recommend making your story short just to write a short story. Make the story as long as it should be. A story should be short when the concept, plot, etc are simple enough that a short story is all that is needed; a story should be long when the concept, plot, etc need more room to flourish.

Setting is important for any story, particularly to set the mood and help the story come alive. However, if you’re creating a complex fantasy world for a short story, it sounds like you should either cut down on the world building, or write a novella or a novel instead.

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[Grace H.]

@livgiordano Yes, that helps! Thanks 🙂

@dragon-snapper Yeah, finding a name is so time-consuming for me. Ugh. And my story is actually realistic fiction, so the details I’m mentioned are basically describing the setting and the actions of characters. Thanks, though!

@daeus Thanks! *face-palms* I have actually given that “write your story, don’t worry about length” advice before, but didn’t think to apply it to this situation.

It's g-h, 2-4-6-8 twice, three 9's
literatureforthelight.wordpress.com

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