How to Write a Short Story

From character development to brainstorming ideas, keeping your readers interested with an engaging story is no easy task. So, we’ll cover how to:

• Come up with an idea.
• Create your main characters.
• Outline your story.
• Write a first draft.
• Revise your story, and more.

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Here are a few steps that will teach you how to write a short story without spending hours trying to wrack your brain.

Come up with an idea. The first step to writing a short story is coming up with an idea. Unless you have a bank of ideas that are burning to get down on paper, this is probably going to be the most difficult part of the process, as it can feel like you have writer’s block before you’ve even started! If you’re struggling to come up with a story idea, there are some things you can do to brainstorm.

• Adapt a folk story. Take your favorite folk tale and change the setting and characters, then adapt the plot to your changes.
• Draw on real-life experience. Is there something that’s happened to you that would make a great story? Feel free to embellish the details to create a tantalizing adventure.
• Ask AI for writing prompts. Lean on an AI chatbot for prompts with a setting you want to write about.
• Try “freewriting”. Spend some time writing whatever comes to mind, and eventually, you’ll find something that inspires a story.

Once you know what your story will be about, put together the setting, plot, and end. It’s easier to write a story if you know where it’s going, but it can also change to fit the rest of what you write.

Create your main characters. It doesn’t matter what kind of story you’re writing; you’ll need to create characters. It’s helpful to create character profiles that highlight their personalities, struggles, and what drives them through the story. Even if it’s a small side character, they’ll be motivated to either help the main character in the story or antagonize them. Identify these aspects of your characters, then figure out their place. Creating character profiles also helps to ensure your characters stay consistent throughout the story. This way, you don’t have a villain helping your hero in a way that’s inconsistent with your story.

Outline your story. Every story, even a short story, needs to have a beginning, middle, and end. You need to include rising action and falling action to tell your character’s story. There are a couple of ways you can outline your story, so you have the skeleton to start with:

• Build a traditional outline. You can start building and organizing your story using a traditional alphanumeric outline. Use your points to ensure you’re hitting all the points and settings of the story you want. For example, if you’re writing a short story about a character adjacent to a historical figure, you’ll want to find ways to put them in the same place at the same time, so include a date and location of the historical figure in the outline. If you’re having a hard time making an outline, you can find a short story template that will help get you started.
• Write brief summaries. You don’t have to be ultra-organized to write an effective outline. Write summaries of each main point of your story, so you can track the flow of the story. Include dialogue or specific events you want to happen in each part, so you don’t forget about them later.

Write a first draft. Now it’s time to start putting it all together. Take the pieces you’ve built up to this point and put them together in your story. Keep in mind that it’s not common for a complete story to come together in one sitting, even if it’s a short story. Be patient with yourself and the writing process. While you might want to try to push through writer’s block or force some parts of your story, it’s best to let things come as they do. You might even find the plotline and characters take a turn and surprise you at different points. Don’t shy away from these moments, because these can sometimes be the best parts of your story.

Take a break. After you’ve finished your story, step away for a bit, take a break, and just breathe! Depending on your deadline (if you have one), let your story sit for an hour, a day, or even a week if you can. Stepping away will make it easier to effectively revise it when you’re ready.

Revise your story. After you’ve given it some time, come back and make revisions. It’ll be much easier now to read through your story because you haven’t just finished struggling through putting the story together. You’ll also have all the pieces to the puzzle in place, which makes it easier to change things here and there throughout to help with the cohesion of the story.

Writing short stories isn’t always easy. You might find that it’s difficult to tell your story in such a short space, but you’ll find that it does come together much easier if you spend time working it out before you start writing. As always, make sure you run a good spelling and grammar check. You may also want to have another person read your story. Get feedback and apply what you think is helpful!