《How to Write Stories People Will Love》Question 2: Writing short stories
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asks: "Any advice for writing one-shots?"
I have no idea why they're called "one-shots" in the Wattpad universe, but in the real world, they're called short stories, so that's what I'll call them.
Some people advise to use the same strategies used for novels, but on a smaller scale. I disagree. Short stories are a different breed from novels. You have a much smaller space in which to get your point across, so that is what I advise you to start with. Ask yourself: What is the point of my story? Is it a message or moral? Is it an unexpected plot twist? Is it a lingering image?
I have a few short stories posted here, so I'll use them as examples.
When I was on vacation, I wanted to write a short story using beautiful Cancun as the setting. However, a setting does not equal a plot. So I thought about what kind of ending I wanted. A girl goes on vacation with her parents... and then what? I decided I wanted a story where the parent actually ends up doing something cool, while still being a responsible parental figure. It wasn't something I saw often in stories.
With this in mind, I began writing. I didn't have a specific ending in mind yet, because my brain doesn't work that way, but I did have a vague idea for one. I also had a theme for this particular story, which was one lesson for every day of her vacation. This helped structure the story a bit. I was pleased with the end result, though I'll be the first to admit it isn't my best work. It was mostly a homage to my vacation in Mexico.
This one began life simply as a title. I thought, "Wouldn't it be cool to write a story called "Sell Fish", and it was about a guy being selfish? I liked the play on words, but it took me a long time to figure out a story involving fish and selfishness. I obviously wanted the story to give a "being selfish is bad" kind of message. It ended up being a fable where the selfish guy gets what he deserves. The reader pretty much knows this as they read, so it's no surprise something bad happens to him, however the mystery is what will happen to him?
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In a case like this where the plot is fairly predictable, you want to find some other way to be unexpected. How does the bad man learn his lesson? Try to come up with unusual ideas. The theme I used may have been unoriginal, but the execution was not.
I wrote this to submit to a contest being held by the Blue Man Group. For this one, I used a very alliterative style that I don't normally use. My goal was to convey images and sounds, because their shows are truly original feasts for the eyes and ears. My plot wasn't all that great, and I won nothing for this story, but I did accomplish the goal I set for it, which was to create something unusual that was fun to read aloud.
This is the short story I am most proud of. I woke up with the story idea in my head, but not much else. The idea itself was not very original: girl tries to stay alive during a zombie apocalypse. So how did I turn an unoriginal idea into an original story? I decided on a plot twist. In this case, I had to be very specific so that I could craft the entire story around this plot twist. (There will be a future chapter here on plot twists, so look out for that.) I mingled her thoughts with the action in a way that created a sort of mystery about why she was thinking these things in a time like this.
I also made a conscious decision to not use the word "zombie" anywhere in the story. This helped to take away the unoriginal feel of the story idea. (I did add a "zombie" tag to the story though, so people searching for zombies could find it.)
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Another thing I did was to make the main character talk to "you". It was an unusual choice, and a few of my readers felt confused why she was talking to them, but that also helped the story stand apart from the usual escape-from-zombies trope.
Then, in the end, I threw in the plot twist. It wasn't mind-blowing or anything, but the reader finally understood what the main character was agonizing about.
This was my submission into Wattpad's "12 Days of Reading" holiday anthology. The only requirement was that it somehow relate to the holiday season. I thought, "What if a grown woman wrote to Santa Claus? Why would she do that? How would it turn out? How can I make the outcome a feel-good ending with a limited word count?" I then proceeded to write the story to answer those questions. Although my writing style is still that of a pantser (instead of a planner), having some guiding questions like this helped me stay focused.
Thanks for indulging me while I blathered about my little stories. You can find all of them on my profile. Each one had a different goal, and I thought they helped to illustrate what I was saying. When you start a short story, think about its purpose. Its message. Then craft your tale around that.
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Sorcerer of the City
In the capitol city, Keystun, a political struggle begins to unfold in the city and the poison spans out to the very edges of the northern mountains where the elves dwell to the thick forests to the west and the dry deserts of the south. Rania, a mercenary-for-hire and an elf wielding magic, is pulled into the struggle when she helps a collection of bandits. On her own personal mission to discover what had caused her village to be attacked by trolls as a child, she is briefly forced to protect the bandits and help them all get to safety in the most unlikely of places - Keystun. With the bandits and an elven apothecary merchant with uncertain loyalties, Rania must not only assist in resolving the political corruption in Keystun, but discover the corruption of Nature that had begun in her village and has spread throughout the kingdom. In this, she believes she will find the truth of what happened with her people - and the truth behind elven magic. Cover Credit: https://www.deviantart.com/emkun
8 292Ocean of Dreams
Contestant in Royal Road Writathon Nov 2021 Book 2 of Universe Series Two quirky aliens from another dimension accidentally crash land on the planet of Beldora. One secretly manipulates the local population and accelerates technological development in the hope of recovering his ship and rescuing his trapped friend. Scientist and entrepreneur, Jejliard Castonea, plunges ahead with daring experiments, unaware he is being used by the alien. Beldora advances prematurely from the steam age to computerization and nuclear capability. Jejliard experiments with inserting a computer chip in an animal brain, then later his own, to enhance native intelligence. When it proves successful, he goes even further and implants one in his infant son, Tajlon, who effectively grows up with a supercomputer for a brain. After nuclear secrets fall into the wrong hands, a full-scale nuclear war soon threatens the planet. Jejliard decides the only hope is to leave Beldora. In a desperate attempt to escape the war, he restores the damaged spaceship where he stumbles upon the key to a new form of existence that transcends mortal life. His very sanity is at risk as he is seduced by the potential of unlimited power and the promise of immortality.
8 161House of the Dead
A mysterious party is hosted by a talent fanatic, inviting the best in their fields to a lavish party at his own manor. When Jason Harlon discovers such an invitation on the desk of his recently murdered boss, known as the world's best detective, he is conviced that this cannot be a coincidence. After arriving at the home of the eccentric, he is thrown right into a situation where only the best will survive, and with the world's best killer lurking about, it is only a matter of time until someone falls. How quickly will he be able to adapt to his new surroundings, this new game, and most importantly, the other players? Will he be able to find out who the killer is, or will they catch him first? And how many can survive in a game designed for a single winner?
8 81Tales from the Triverse
Tales from the Triverse is part detective drama, part fantasy adventure and part space opera. I’m influenced by the likes of Iain M Banks, Isaac Asimov and ND Stevenson and work including The Wire and Gotham Central. It begins with an incident two hundred years ago which crashed three parallel universes together. Portals open up in 18th century London, sending England down a very different path. We pick up events in the 1970s, with the Metropolitan Police having established a new department to handle portal-related criminal activity. The story is about intolerance, immigration, multiculturalism and power. It’s about what happens when incompatible viewpoints are weaponised to seed discontent, and the efforts of some to create a fairer world. In the tradition of the best science fiction, fantasy and crime fiction, I’m using the setting to examine themes that matter to me in the real world. Who is it for?If you like science fiction or fantasy, or a mix of both, this is for you. It’s my first foray into crime fiction, but I hope if you’re a fan that you’ll enjoy yourself - especially if you’re looking for something a bit different. I write fiction that is optimistic, progressive and empathetic. Bad things can happen to good people in the stories, but the overall arc tends to be hopeful. Note that if it were a movie, Tales from the Triverse would be a 15 certificate in the UK.
8 125Never Die
Michael, Sam, and the Frog brothers have gotten rid of The Lost Boys once and for all or so they thought. What happened when a mysterious figure appears after the boys have been killed and everyone has left the house for the night. Will they rise once again and seek their revenge or will Santa Carla for once be silence.Read to find out but just know a vampire never grows old, and never die!
8 98our princess || NCT 19th Member
"It's our Princess" "Don't call me that" "Princess""I love you Giselle" "I have to go, love you i guess""Get away from her" "it was an accident" "so you're telling me you accidentally ended up making out with him on stage?" "Indeed. A whole misunderstanding"Find out the adventures of NCT and their new girl member
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