I received a Finalist placement in Writers of the Future recently, which I was jazzed about. There is a lot of high-quality competition there and it’s an achievement. As I’m in short story mode right now, I thought I’d throw in a couple of recent thoughts I’ve had on the topic:
Simplify. I’ve tried converting ideas for novels into short story ideas and run into problems that needed fixing. Not that it can’t be done, but a key thing to keep in mind is keeping characters, speculative elements that need explaining, and plot lines to a manageable amount. For example, if there are eight types of magical talent or devices in the world and each one requires a steep reader learning curve, maybe whittle it down so the story only mentions one or two. Also, it is useful to keep the main internal and external plot tied together and clearly focused on in the story, for a simple focused tackle of it. And have a simple theme pulled out (this is easiest to do in edits after the first draft is done).
Anchor the story on an internal plot arc. One of the biggest shifts I’ve made is taking another writer’s advice on building the main plot line around a character flaw and tackling it. An internal arc rather than just a purely external one. One thing that made it easier for me to adopt this was when I realized that ‘character flaw’ was meant in a broader term than I had envisaged it originally. It wasn’t just that someone had a personality weakness that needed to be fixed. It could also be that they were just in a bad place mentally (grief, despair, loneliness, anger, etc) and needed to find a way to the other side. I don’t see that as a flaw as much as a state of mind, but broadening the way I looked at that helped me to incorporate it more.
Polish the Theme. A short story without a theme is like a donut without a pastry. It might be light and tasty, but it’s not filling at all. It leaves you feeling like you missed something in the meal, especially for a short story. It doesn’t mean you have to stretch to find a theme, almost every story will have one, particularly if you do the above with an internal plot arc, which tend to have theme overlap.
Have a core ‘cool idea’. I do fantasy and sci fi short stories, so this may be more important in those genres than others (although I suspect it might not be a terrible thing to strive for in any story). But a nice ‘what if’ is something that readers can mull on after the story is done. I feel like that is like a nice aftertaste to a meal, something that makes you think fondly back on it. Casual musings on the big idea can make a story memorable. Like a nice coffee after a sandwich.
I wonder if the food references are coming to me because I’m about to have lunch. And then a coffee. 🙂