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Hi, all!
I wasn’t sure whether to post this in Short Stories or here, so… Yeah. Anyways.
I am wanting to enter a competition that’s here in Australia, and one of the requirements is for it to be no more than 1,500 words. Normally I’d say that’s crazy, however the prize has encouraged me to try the challenge.
I’ve written a short story before, but it’s longer, so I can’t submit that, plus this contest asks for a specific theme: Light. Whether literal or figural or whatever.
Anyway, do any of you have any tips on how I can write a short story without rushing the plot or feeling constrained?
Any input is greatly appreciated! 😀
@daeus @bluejay @kate-flournoy @emma-flournoy @northerner @dragon-snapperCurrently reading Les Miserables
Um…Well, I can honestly say that I don’t know too much about writing short stories, especially not 1,500 word short ones. Yeah, that definitely is crazy. Probably why there is a reward in the first place. 😛 I had to write a short story once that was only 1000 words, and I managed to keep it down to 900. I really just wrote down whatever came to my head.
To save on words so you can develop more of the plot, I’d try to stay on the small side of descriptions, adjectives and adverbs. I don’t know what you have in mind to do with the light, but it may help to keep the words down to the minimum if the conflict was indeed figural.Good luck!
*reads post* Huh, I hope at least one word of that was helpful.
🙂☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
I shall return. Never fear. *disappears in a poof of smoke*
@perfectfifths What I would recommend is don’t think of this as if you need to plan a plot. Plot carries the connotation of something big. Just write one scene (i.e. a firefighter rescues a girl from a burning house.) It’s really not that hard to keep one scene short.
The thing then is making the scene meaningful. You can think of this scene as the climax of a character’s life or a season in their life. This means you will need some backstory. If you want to skip the backstory and save some time though, there’s this article that might help you: https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/boba-fetts-guide-writing-cool-characters/
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What @dragon-snapper said. Focus on vivid verbs for writing. Here’re some initial thoughts, @perfectfifths . . .
–The plot will be prime in a super short story.
–Characters have to make choices.
–A short story is like a one-act play or a short film. Every moment escalates the story until you reach the climax at the end.
–Keep dialogue sparse. But keep the vital parts.Remember that restrictions lead to greater creativity. So even if you’re not going for a contest try to restrict yourself once in a while.
I blog on story and spiritual things at mkami.weebly.com
@dragon-snapper (Having just seen the BFG, your name sounds like something he would say 😉 ) Yes, I have gotten the advice of keeping minimum description, etc, that is something I will keep in mind as I write.
@kate-flournoy *waves away smoke* *cough cough* I look forward to it!
@daeus Ah, I hadn’t thought of that before, writing a scene rather than a plot…
@mark-kamibaya All right-y, will also keep that in mind, Thanks for the advice.I’m wondering if I should write out the scene to be as long as I like (within reason) and slowly cutting it down each time I go through and edit it. Would that be a good method?
Currently reading Les Miserables
@daeus Wow, that article on Boba Fett was, wow 😀 I never realised before you can develop so much character with one line/thought/action/look. Thanks for that!
Currently reading Les Miserables
@perfectfifths. I know. It’s pretty sweet.
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@daeus Oh, and the blogger is a Christian. Bonus! I always love finding Christian writers – it’s a wonderful mix, isn’t it? 😀
Currently reading Les Miserables
@PerfectFifths um… well… what they said. 😛 Thanks guys.
I’ll come back if I think of anything else. 😉@perfectfifths Yep. She’s pretty sweet. A lot of people around here read her regularly.
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@kate-flournoy No smoke? That was anti-climatic 🙁 😀
@daeus Coolies; I should probably check out her blog more. Any posts you recommend reading in particular?Currently reading Les Miserables
@perfectfifths Not particularly. Most all of them are good.
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@PerfectFifths Looks like you’re in good hands. 😀
To your last question though—that sounds like it’d work, as long as you don’t make it too long to begin with and then don’t want to cut so much.I hope you win. 🙂
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