Step-by-Step Guide to Short Story Writing

Guide to Short Story Writing - Do you want to know how to write a short story? I will give you a step-by-step guide in writing a memorable short story. Although this guide to writing short stories is easy, you will create a short story that satisfies the reader.

Storytelling is one of the abilities possessed by humans because humans are endowed with language skills that other creatures do not have. With human language skills, everyone, including you, is basically a storyteller.

You can tell a true story or an imaginary story. A father who tells a bedtime story to his son is telling an imaginary story. A student who tells about an experience during his vacation is telling a true story. Every time we meet with friends, we tell stories. When someone has to testify in court, he is also telling a story. Storytelling is in every corner of our lives. Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that humans are creatures who tell stories.

A story, whether real or imaginary, can be divided into several types. Based on the emotional impact it produces, a story can fall into the types of horror, comedy, romance, and so on. Based on their size, stories can be divided into two sizes, namely short stories, and novels.

What’s a Short Story?

A short story is fictional narrative prose that is shorter than a novel, involves only a few characters, and consists of only one story climax or central conflict.

Although the theme in a short story can be developed, a short story that contains more than one climax can make the short story develop into a novel.

Both short stories and novels have the same elements, namely characters, settings, themes, plots, and conflicts. In narrative, the elements of a story are called in different terms.

Read also: How to Align Images in Blogger using CSS

Elements of a Short Story

Character

Characters are the actors in the short story. Characters can be humans or animals like in a fairy tale. Although the characters in the short story are animals, these characters are given human-like traits such as being able to talk, laugh, and cry, and so on.

In general, the center of a short story is the character; without characters, a short story cannot happen. Some other writings do not require characters like descriptive writing, but the character is a mandatory element in a short story.

Setting

The setting is the place and time where and when an event takes place. A story must involve setting elements so that the reader can imagine the situation and atmosphere of an event. Included in the setting are expressions that use metaphor and hyperbole in describing the situation of a place in the story.

Conflict

Conflict is the part of the story that shows the tension experienced or faced by the character (usually the main character). The conflict in the short story must touch the emotions of the reader. In general, conflicts are shown in the form of clashes between characters. One character may be confronted with another character, or a group of people, nature, or even with himself.

For example, a fisherman stranded on an uninhabited island is faced with wild animals, unfriendly natural conditions, hunger, and thirst, or frustration. The central conflict of the story could be an incident, anything, that could threaten the safety of the fisherman's life.

Plot

A plot is a series of events that lead the story or characters to the central conflict in the story. A good short story has a logical plot. Even if certain events in the story happen, it's as if, suddenly, there must be a part in the story that makes the sudden events make sense to the reader. This is common in flashback stories.

Theme

The theme is the central idea of a short story that gives color to the story. For example, the story of a fisherman stranded on an uninhabited island is a story with the theme "survival". Love, friendship, faith, trust, are examples of central ideas that become themes in a short story.

The elements in a short story cannot be separated from one another. For example, a conflict must have a plot, involving characters, and occur in a certain place and time.

Step-by-Step Guide to Short Story Writing

Choose a theme or central idea of the story

Choose a central idea that you will present in your short story. You can write about love, friendship, trust, faith, or survival.

Tip: complete the sentence "I want to write a story about..." or "This story is about..."

Limit the number of characters

A short story should only involve at most 3 characters. All characters should play their part in the story but your story should only have one main character.

Tips: is the main character of your short story a human, animal, male, female, adult, or child? Should the main character have a disability? Make sure that the attribute attached to the character "weakens" the character. For example, if the central conflict is survival on a collapsing bridge, what if the character is blind? This will amplify the emotional effect the story has on the reader.

Plan a central conflict

The central conflict of a short story must be planned from the start. Plan a conflict that will be experienced by the main character of the story. Make sure that there is only one central conflict in your short story. The central conflict should also be near the end of the story.

Tip: think, does the central conflict involve other characters? Does the main character defend against natural conditions such as earthquakes, floods, or landslides?

Create a logical storyline

A short story has a beginning, middle, and end. If you put the central conflict in the middle of the story, then make sure that from the beginning of the story there is a series of events that bring the main character (and the reader) to the central conflict.

Your story must make sense and not leave questions in the reader's heart. The reader's curiosity must be answered at the end of the story.

Tip: think, how did the story begin? How could the main character be in that place? Why did the conflict happen? How did the main character get out of the situation? How did the story end?

Write your story

Write your story by developing the storyline you have planned. Describe the setting and characters of the story. Use metaphor and hyperbole to dramatize the plot.

Tip: use clear and strong words and don't beat around the bush.

Use all senses

Describe each element of the story using all the senses (sight, hearing, smell, touch, and feeling). You can also use metaphor and hyperbole to describe each element of the story.

Tip: think, what words should you use so that the reader can clearly imagine the situation of the story?

Create emotional effects

Involve feelings in writing your story. You want the reader to feel what the main character is feeling, or at least be able to imagine it. Using metaphor and hyperbole in writing your story can amplify the emotional effect on the reader. Emotional involvement in writing the central conflict is very important so that your short story is memorable.

Tip: think, what words should you use so that the reader can imagine the fear, pain, anger, love, sadness, or happiness that the main character feels?

Finish your story

Even though your short story is so interesting, it has to end. Your short story may have a happy or sad ending. The ending of a short story should explain how the central conflict of the story ends.

Tips: think, does the main character end up dead or alive? Did they finally get married? Was the criminal finally caught? How did the main character get out of the situation safely?

Revise your story

Leave the story you've finished for a day or two. Then go back and reread your short story. Find in the story if there are errors that need to be corrected or parts that need to be added or removed from the story.

Revision is a very important last step so that the story you write is memorable. In revising short stories, you can use the revision checklist as a guide. You may want to improve your grammar, replacing some words you think are "weak" with words you think are "stronger". You may want to add attributes to the main character or change character names, settings, and so on. If necessary, ask someone to read your short story and let him or her provide some input to improve your short story.

By following this step-by-step guide in writing short stories, I make sure that your short stories are worthy of reading and memorable in the hearts of readers.

If you were to write a short story, what theme would you choose? Leave your answer in the comments section.