What are your best tips for writing short stories?

[TheTrinary]

I'm working on a thing and trying to get as many perspectives as possible.

 

[Deleted member 57675]

I'm working on a thing and trying to get as many perspectives as possible.

Grab an idea. Then run off with it like the wind.

Don't stop until you finish writing it all in one go.

 

[AnonUnlimited]

Try to use less background and more action. The action should dictate the story since background and hard world building isn't necessary for a short story. Also, if you want to catch attention then stylize your writing in a way that it's memorable.

Those are my tips.

 

[Agentt]

I'm working on a thing and trying to get as many perspectives as possible.

Don't describe things much. Might sound like bad advice but you have to lean more on the tell side on the tell and show scale.

It's a short story, you are allowed to simply say things like,
"Rune was devastated, he was not handing the death of his wife well. His face was frozen at a frown, and he used to spend most of his time alone in his room, listening to the radio.

Jasmine, on the other hand, was more opportunistic. Impatient. She would visit Rune often, bringing in gifts and friendly chatter, and occasionally some sensual touches. She had a thing for men like Rune, hard to get men. She would've preferred that his wife were still alive so she could get Rune to cheat on her, but this was the second best thing.

Jasmine's advances were noticed very quickly by Alfred, the butler. He knew Jasmine as a woman with black heart, but thought a companion was what Rune needed at the moment. He just ensured the children weren't nearby lest they might learn something vulgar."

 

[BlackKnightX]

You have to have a clear point. What the story is about? Try to describe it in one sentence and then weave the story around that main concept.

A short story is a small window, so try not to stray off the main concept, don’t meander, get to the point. As for the actual writing itself, well, you just write one scene at a time until the end—the same as writing a long story.

 

[Deleted member 57675]

I think the best short stories were the ones that left you on a cliffhanger, except its an eternal cliffhanger since often there's no more chapter to discuss what happens next.

The next best ones are the wholesome slice of life that are one chapter short so it doesn't feel like a drag, but just enough to taste the fluffiness.

 

[Deleted member 19066]

I'm working on a thing and trying to get as many perspectives as possible.

I can tell you from the perspective of making short films.

Always have a hook.

When I say hook, that is not like having a cliffhanger or a twist at the end, but it could be.

But a hook-like if someone has watched/read it and has to talk about it with someone. There is a single sentence.... a single thing they can say and if the other person has also seen it can say "yep, I get you"

E.g that story in SUM by David Eagleman
"Remember that part where the MC was turning into a horse, he was all panicking.. but then he didn't care, coz he was a horse."

or in The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
"Yeah, she wasn't angry that she was going to die, she was angry coz what's-her-face cheated?!"

or in the Apple tree by Daphne du Maurier
"that fucking tree...."

 

[K_Jira]

I would say focus on the plot and action, no need for complex world-building and description of everything. When writing a short story, I usually need to know how I'm going to end it so I can notice when I write something unnecessary in the process. And lastly, I determine a fixed word count to forcefully limit the story's complexity.

 

[Ai-chan]

I'm working on a thing and trying to get as many perspectives as possible.

Why did you post this question in the writing prompt section?

 

[Deleted member 68927]

Leave no ends loose. Tie them all in about 10k words or less. If you leave something like a loose end in a short story, it can never be a real short story. Your readers will demand that you show them the conclusion of the plot line you left open, and the short story might grow to novella or book length.

 

[gaylolis]

my favorite thing about short stories is just making it as short and effortless as i could.

i often just put a couple of sentences and consider it done.

why, i guess it's partly just how i like it or i'm just lazy.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

Like anything else, write what you want to read.

 

[Viator]

When it comes to short stories, I pick an abstract idea, concept, or phrase I want to explore; I then write my characters and story with that in mind. I often think of characters with contrasting views on the subject as a sort of "conflict" and let my MC work through their own existential struggle with the idea as they encounter various obstacles.

You end up discovering a lot about yourself in the end.

 

[Erysion]

Write only what the reader need to know.

 

[Friendly_Kitty_Cat]

Write the ending and work backwards while setting a page limit-nya~

 

[Jemini]

For a short story, pantsing it is impossible. A well-thought plot and very tight writing are the name of the game with short stories.

 

[Nahrenne]

I'm working on a thing and trying to get as many perspectives as possible.

I would say have a theme, have a min/max word limit, and don't waffle.
'-'
Though, I think just practising multiple times is the best way of improving.
Maybe even take part in collaborative short story anthologies, like the one @BL_Palace is currently running, or the one that the Yuri Garden hosted by @Moonpearl is doing.
(^-^)

X

 

[lambenttyto]

I'm working on a thing and trying to get as many perspectives as possible.

Are you truly writing a "short story"? That's between 1,000 words and 7,500 words.

I don't really like short stories, but there is something cool about them. Pick a moment to show, and imply the beginning and the ending. You could potentially imply a novel's worth of content in the beginning and ending and then just show a specific conflict, or maybe write just the end of the story, the final conflict or whatever.

Personally, I like my stories to have a beginning and an ending as well, so I like the novelette better, which is between 7,501 words and 17,500 words. I also like short novels (novellas.)