Any tips for writing a short story?

Question: Any tips for writing a short story!?

I don't write short stories much and I'm not very good at it!. I can write poetry well, I'm told, but my short stories tend to be as boring as watching grey paint dry on a wet Sunday afternoon!. See!? Even that simile was boring and completely lacking in any kind of flair!. I'm hopeless! Utterly hopeless!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Get a haircut!. Eat some cheese!. Go for a 200 mile sprint!. Do something really mundane and everyday and then go and write about it!. You say your poetry is good!? Build a short story on one of your poems!. You've got the general idea down in writing and you've got some phrases and sentences you could incorporate into your prose!. I imagine you need to write a short story for a specific purpose judging by how you're resorting to Yahoo answers and you say you're "not very good at it"!. Don't force or rush yourself!. If it takes you a year to write a short story, so be it!. Just do things your own way and don't worry about what others will think of your writing!. Be confident!. Stay focused!. Love writing!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Not everyone is cut out to be a writer, even then famous novelists have been known to get writters block!. You just need to have something to inspire you then put in descriptions to draw your readers in, sight, smells, sounds!.

e!.g!. "As she vacated the bright, airy lobby onto the street, she was buffeted by the smell of refuse from an overflowing garbage can!. She held her nose as she called for a cab!."

There i thought that up while i was reading your problem, basically you draw a picture for your reader and keep some information back to make the reader want to find out more!.

In this case, i haven't told you where she is going, this sparks up minor interest!. I could go on to describe her bit by bit through the journey through her actions, like fixing her hair, putting on makeup, straightening out her clothes, putting things in her handbag, etc!.

Basically, anything you can think of can be developed into a short story!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Don't panic, don't panic!.

If you can write poetry well, and I may be wrong, but you should be able to come up with a topic easily!. OR you could take a poem you really like and expand on the topic in a short story, even if it only deals with emotions!. If it's love, write a short story about a man expressing his love for a woman, even if it's as simple as him presenting flowers to her randomly (which I think is romantic)!. My short stories are generally incredibly simple and short (usually about a half page on MS Word)!.

I don't think you're hopeless!. You should find out what exactly is wrong with your short stories, what you don't like, be more specific about how it's so boring, etc!. Break it down and look at it!. That may help!.

Sorry I couldn't help more, but good luck!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

These are guidelines that i feel work for me pretty well, but then again i don't write that often!.

1!. Don't plan too much!. Just write a sentence or two about what will happen in your short story!. It's gonna be short, so you don't need pages and pages of planning!.

2!. Keep it simple!. It's a short story, so don't try and make too much happen!. Trying to fit a lot into a short story will just stress you out, because you want to keep it short so you can't write to the best of your ability!.

3!. Set yourself a word limit less than yor final word limit!. If you have a word limit, say 3000 words, set yourself a personal word limit of something like 2500-2700, that way you can go back after you've got all of the main events in and flesh it out a little bit with more description!.

4!. Don't put unneccessary scenes in!. It's a short story, keep the stuff that doesn't relate to it, out!.

5!. Don't stress yourself out about getting it perfect right away!. As they say, practice makes perfect!. Once you've written your short story, you can edit it or leave it for a while to edit it, whatever, but you move onto another one, and then another one, and then another one!. Writing ability doesn't just come in a day, unfortunately!. You have to write and write and write until you find your own style that you're comfortable with!.

Tip: I find that once i've finished writing something, it's better to leave it for a couple of days, weeks, months even, and then go back and edit it!. If you edit it right after you finish it you will be attatched to certain sentences or paragraphs, and you won't be able to edit objectively!.

I had this poet come to my writers group that told us it takes him upto seven years to complete a poem, because he will write a sentence or two and leave it for a while, coming back to it a few months later to add onto it and edit it and then leaving it again and it would continue like that until the poem was complete!.

I hope this helped you!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Write about something you are well known with or can relate to, at
least in the beginning!. With that you can toy with ideas etc
Don't forget about bringing details, emphasis on actions and try
to remember a goal of making a clear visualization for the reader!.
It's all in practice in time my friend!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I don't think "watching gray pain dry on a wet Sunday afternoon!." is boring !. You gave me a picture of sitting on a gray porch watch watching fat drops of rain chase each other down green leaves!. You are too hard on yourself!. When you get stuck on your story picture yourself talking to a friend!. Short stories are action packed thrills!. They are just stories and you obviously have talent!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

How often do you write short stories!? You can't expect to be Stephen King with the first short story you write, you need to write for years and years to get good at it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Pen, paper!. Or Computer!.

Oh and keep it short!.

:)Www@QuestionHome@Com

Don't give up! It is hard from changing from one form of writing or poetry to another, just give it time to think about a really cool idea which YOU would love to read about!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

If you can write poetry well
well,
write poetry well
Jack and Jill
went up the hill is a short story
in rhyme
do they have wells on hills!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

no you aren't the first thing you wan tot do is try reading your fav books and then write wht you wish would happen!. then make ur own story up!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

STICK TO POETRY THEN!.!?!?Www@QuestionHome@Com