Porthole

Short story guidelines and weekly goals

Weekly goals January 18:

1. write three poems or prose or short-stories. 3 poems, one flash fiction.
2. submit at least one writing to a contest. 2 submitted (one monthly)
3. old goal: design a trinket.
4. read. I've had a real problem focusing on reading. I read very little
5. Go out every day. Because I really don't want to. Visited friends all 5 weekdays.

6... exceed one of the above or finally finish an old goal.

Annette wrote about writing a short story. I've written 100 flash fictions but can't quite grasp how to do it write. These are her suggestions my response:

Ten Small Steps

Write a short story in ten easy steps.

1. A short story is not a novel.

Like novel, a short story needs to tell a story that includes the basic and expected storytelling elements of inciting incident, rising action, climax, and falling action. Unlike a novel, a short story will skip fluffy parts of storytelling. The short story focuses on one event, one aspect/problem/relationship of the main character.

Flash really pares it down to one moment, imho.

2. Frontload the action.

Pull the reader right into the story by starting as close as possible to the end. There is no need to describe mundane before events that have only a small relationship to the plot at hand.

I liked how my new fav Thai series started out with the main character dropping dead. The bits and pieces of the back story are revealed later but would have weakened the presentation. It's a bromance with a ghost... so we start with a ghost!

3. Short stories go fast.

Now that you started close to the end, keep the pace at the high speed that readers expect during the parts of highest action and highest tension.

I might disagree a bit. Not all stories are filled with 'action' and the tension can be mental-emotional-spiritual.

4. Short story equals small cast of characters.

Developing characters takes time and words. A hard hitting short story needs about three of them. The main character, an antagonist, and a relationship character who can drive the protagonist's or antagonist's character arc.

Again... not convinced that two 'characters' are needed. In flash it can be Character versus Time, Humanity, Nature... But the cast is limited to say the least.

5. Make the reader root for one of the characters.

The obvious choice for the character to root for is the protagonist. The reader will root for a passionate character, or one who leaves his comfort zone.

That or root against them. Anger is a strong emotion.

6. Conflict.

In a short story, one point of conflict is enough. The conflict might be a decision that has to be made, a revelation, or a dilemma to figure out. It's important to keep the tension high around this point of conflict to keep the reader invested and engaged in the story.

Yep. Focus. Short poems present this challenge as well. Neither can afford any extraneous words.

7. Backstory?

Not really. There is not going to be enough space to have an elaborate backstory in a short story since every sentence counts. However, you, the writer, have to know your character so well that his backstory can be glimpsed through the way he talks, acts, and behaves under tension.

Write it then cut it and save as a separate story. If you have time. There's no reason why a great character can't have more than one story! Same with poetry.

8. The five senses.

Give the reader as much taste, smell, touch, sound as possible so that your reader experiences your world as if he were there.

Yes. We rely too much on descriptive sight. Fragrance evokes memories. Sounds can trigger traumas (at least for me). Long descriptions are problematic. One word may suffice for each sense. Adverbs need to be avoided unless hyperbole is the point. A hyperbolic character might work... but word count...

9. Dialogue brings your story to life.

Tight dialogue can be a real good help for building drama, but read it out loud so that it doesn't feel stilted or unrealistic. Keep speech tags to a minimum and use "said" for the majority if you need a speech tag. Dialogue is more powerful when it's part of an action. Have your characters experience something as they speak to each other.

Movement. Always read out loud.

The easiest step (not)
10. Edit.

Editing is where the real heavy lifting comes in. Kill your darlings comes to mind. This does not have to mean that you have to kill a character that you're attached to. Although that's what it can mean. Another type of darling can be a specific description of something, an action that doesn't drive the plot forward, or irrelevant backstory details. The truth is: every word you put into that first draft is one of your darlings. Some of them have to die. It's a sacrifice you have to be willing to make.

The only problem with a 24 hour contest is time. But once written it can be edited days or years later and nproved upon. The following 4 suggestions are important, imho.

Can one character do the work of two? Kill one.
Too much set up before a scene? Cut that out.
Repetitive words? Strike them.
Each sentence has to be meaningful to the story.

I would add that keeping a copy of the first draft and anything cut isn't a bad idea. Cut sentences and scenes might be useful later.