!4 Things I Learned about Writing Short Stories
1. Spend time developing your story idea before writing. Play with it.
2. Have a clear idea of your characters. Character and scene sketches can help.
3. Hold conversations with your characters, get to know them. You’ll be surprised.
4. Imagine your story as a movie. Listen to the music, look at the opening shot, observe the
cinematography as the story unfolds. Observe the colors.
5. The first priority is to get it down on paper. Habits and routines will help you here.
6. The rough draft is merely a starting point, don’t waste time polishing it. Get it done.
7. Look at the rough draft and analyze the structure and development. Spend your
most time and energy on this crucial step before moving on. You need to have good
bones, good architecture
8. Make use of these two crucial opportunities: a good title and a great ending
9. Avoid info dumps. Weave the details into the story a little bit at a time.
10. Think of your story as a haiku - maximum impact, minimum words.
11. After you have written your second draft, go through and search for all your verbs
and adjectives. Upgrade them.
12. Look for sentences that are long or convoluted. Break them down into short sentences.
13. Have another writer give you feedback - find and correct your blindspots.
14. Every story you write could be better, but at a certain point you must stop
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