How To Write A Short Story (Part 1)

Writing short stories can be very valuable to your writing career. Short stories are also very quick ways to put on paper what you’re feeling about something. Starting to write short stories can be a tough project but the more you write the better you will get at it. In the next couple of weeks I will be submitting a 10 part series on how to write your short stories. This will be the first edition on writing short stories.

Getting Started
1. Write your list without stopping. Figure out your plots, tones and characters. Develop these things from things you know. Use things that make you smile and things that make you angry or sad. Now a story is starting to develop around your ideas.
2. Think about times in your life that were stressful or happy. Pick a few of them and write a paragraph on each one.
3. Choose a word that is going to be the main word of your story. Write it in the middle of the page and then start writing around it. Write any other words that come to mind and just keep writing. When you are sure your done you can circle all the words that you think link together and that you are going to use in your story.
4. Keep everything that you write. It doesn’t matter how messy or organized it is just make sure you keep it so you can look back and possibly use some of the material in future writings.
5. It doesn’t matter how you feel. You have to sit down and write every day. It can be for ten minutes or 4 hours. That doesn’t matter as long as you are writing something every day.
6. Don’t be scared to use other people’s stories. I don’t mean plagiarizing but I mean listening. Just listen to what people are saying. The stories people have can be very interesting and can be great topics for your short stories.
7. Read every day. I don’t care how much or what but you should be reading every day. This will give you insight into what other people are writing about plus it will show you different styles of writing. You cannot be successful at writing if you don’t read.
This is the end of my first article on how to write a short story. I make these tips available because I think there is an author in everyone. Just because you write doesn’t mean you have to get paid for it. You should first and foremost write because you love it and everything will eventually fall into place.
Dale Mazurek

Dale is in the process of getting his first novel published. You can read some of his short stories and more writing tips at his writing blog at http://stcajo-readshortstories.blogspot.com/ You can also check in on a couple of his interactive blogs at http://relationshiptidbits.blogspot.com/ and http://fishingtutor.blogspot.com/