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Short stories are generally written in a very specific way and follow a few basic rules. This is because they are usually only ten to twenty five pages long or a maximum of 10.000 words, which is not a lot of room to develop the major elements of fiction. A short story usually has a clear theme and deals with only one problem. The story tends to start as close to the conclusion as possible, and tends to get off to a fast start. It generally has a limited number of characters and scenes, covers only a short time period and uses only the details necessary to understand the situation.

In order to write an effective and interesting short story, it is important to keep the following in mind: Have a clear theme. It is essential that your readers know right away what your story is about. You have no room to digress and your story should be simple and to the point. What is the underlying message or statement you are making behind the words? What is the essential topic you are trying to get across? If you cannot answer these questions right away, your theme is not clear enough yet.

It is also important to not have too many characters. Every character you introduce needs a back story, to interact with your other characters and brings a new dimension to your story. Not only do you not have the room for many characters word wise, it will also make your story too complex. Make sure you only have as many characters as are needed to tell your story effectively. Usually short stories have no more than two main characters. Of course, you can add as many minor characters as you want, as long as you keep their descriptions brief.

A short story should cover only a very short time span. This could even be one single event. Alternatively, you could try a use a bigger time frame, but each new time added will mean extra words needed to explain the situation, or what has happened to the characters since we last read about them. Whatever you do, try to avoid jumping around in time, as this will make your story unnecessarily complicated.

It also helps to follow a conventional story structure. The basic aspects of a conventional story are that you create conflict and tension, build up to a crisis or a climax, and then find a resolution. Often short stories suffer from a lack of the building up of tension. There is usually some conflict and tension in short stories, and there is always some sort of resolution at the end, but not all writers manage to capture suspense very well. Or their stories simply lack a good dramatic turning point.

Finally, as with any type of writing, the beginning and the end of the story are the most important, so make sure they make an impact. Focus on writing a catchy first paragraph and remember that short stories need to start close to their end. Make sure you have the plot thought out before you start writing. The plot is what happens, the storyline, and it is the most important aspect of the short story. Without a good plot, you have nothing.

Learn more about this author, Bridget N. Watts.
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