Tag: Advice on writing short stories

When Writers Make Elements Work Double Duty

In a short story, it’s critical for every element to pull its weight. Every character, setting, and plot point must be employed for maximum effect. There’s no room for imprecise descriptions or dialogue that rambles. But even better is when writers make elements work double duty. If you are skilled enough to make them put in triple or quadruple duty, go for it.

What Is Double Duty?

I learned this concept from the excellent book by Ron Rozelle, Setting and Description. Double duty is when an element does more that it’s obvious assignment. When the main character describes a scene, the point of his description is to give cues for readers to imagine. But I can also convey something about the main character in the way he or she describes it.

For example, the main character is describing the arrival of students at a school in the morning.

The bell rang, and the buses flung open their doors. Kids poured out, laughing, chatting, hurrying for the glass doors to the middle school. The rising pink sun caught angles of the glass, making them sparkle, and threw brilliant shafts across the dusty red bricks. I shouldered my backpack and rushed ahead.

I haven’t said anything about the character describing this scene, but the description helps readers form an image of the person doing the describing. Here’s another way to look at this scene.

The bell screamed, and the buses vomited students. Kids talked frantically, like they had to get all their words about before the glass doors of the middle school locked them in. The rising red sun speared blinding light through the glass, highlighting every crack in the tired bricks. Bending under the weight of my backpack, I trudged at the end of the line.

Other Ways to Work in Double Duty

Dialogue reveals character. The way a character talks can reveal as much as what he says. For example, a characters that starts most sentences with “I” shows something about his personality.

Character reveals plot. A plot point can move the story forward as well as show something about a character’s personality. If the town gossip gets killed because she spread a story that was detrimental to the murderer, then that flaw in her character aids the plot.

Names reveal character. If your main character nicknames people, those nicknames shows something about both the receiver and the giver of them.

If you’ve written a short story, what tips can you offer? Or what are some of your favorite short stories?

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How to Write a Ten Thousand-Word Short Story in Two Weeks and Not Lose Your Mind

The best advice I can give you for writing a short story is summed up in this article I wrote for a few guest blogs when my YA mystery released in 2019. I’ve never published it on my site before, so I hope it offers you some help on how to write a ten thousand-word short story in two weeks and not lose your mind.

In December 2018, I was faced with creating a short story that actually made sense in two weeks. While I got ready for Christmas, taught Sunday School, and prepared for a visit from my in-laws. And I don’t write fast. It took me years to get my YA crime novel in shape.

But I decided to go for it. I met the deadline, wrote a 10,000 word short story, got accepted, and my YA mystery, “A Rose from the Ashes”, was published in Christmas Fiction Off the Beaten Path. Along the way, I learned some very important lessons about writing under pressure.

Know your theme and ending before you start.

I wasted one whole day because I wasn’t sure what the theme and ending of my story was. I wrote fourteen pages that were pretty much worthless. Once I knew the theme and how it would end, I directed all my efforts to reaching that conclusion. If my writing seemed to veer off course, knowing where I needed to end up got me back on track.

Write a synopsis.

“A Rose from the Ashes” is about nineteen-year-old Rae Riley investigating who tried to kill her pregnant mother twenty years before and if the attacker is the father she’s never met. Because my mystery hinges on a twenty-year-old cold case, I wrote out exactly what happened, like book report. Then I could keep straight what Rae knew and what she had to discover.

Tell your story to someone.

After I’d wasted a day, I sat down with my husband and told him my story. I am blessed to be married to an engineer. He looks at my plots logically, which is so important when writing a mystery. He was able to tell me what made sense and what I needed to work on.

Write the basic story.

My first draft was getting down on paper the bare bones of the story. If inspiration hit for a description, I threw that in, but the point wasn’t to write well. I just wanted to write the story from beginning to end and see how it hung together.

Rewrite with description

After I got down the basic story with the basic plot, I rewrote it with the idea of adding descriptions, both for characters and settings. I did this several times because each time I read through the story, I saw places that needed fleshing out.

Ask readers, not writers, to read your story

Writers read a story differently than non-writers. Writers usually read with their professional hats on, diving into all the technicalities of the writing craft. While I needed to put my story under that kind of scrutiny later, what I needed first was how my story appealed to regular readers, who read simply for enjoyment. I have a good friend and several relatives who love mysteries. I asked them to read my story for things that didn’t make sense or made them pause. Two of my sisters read a description they took for an insult. That wasn’t my intent at all and completely changed the nature of a character. So I changed the description.

Get a handle on your main character.

This should probably be #4, but I didn’t get around to it until late in the process. I wrote the story in first person. My mind was so deeply rooted into my main character that I didn’t realize I wasn’t putting all those thoughts and feelings on the page. After several drafts, I realized Rae was the sketchiest of all the major characters. I needed to get a handle on her, a way to sum her up. I enjoy photography and thought amateur photographer was a good way to describe Rae. It covered how she responded to settings and saw the people around her.

Have you faced a tight writing deadline? What lessons did you learn?

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Author interview with Theresa Van Meter

Always exciting to introduce to you a new author! In 2017, I met Theresa at a Serious Writer conference in Ohio. We’ve corresponded since then, and when I wanted to feature someone who writes short stories, I knew an author interview with Theresa Van Meter would be the perfect fit. Welcome, Theresa!

You are a sweet romance author. What makes a story a sweet romance?

For me a sweet romance story is filled with romance, and no sex.

Why do you write sweet romance stories?

I took my writing seriously in the ’90s with a goal toward publication, and I needed to focus on a niche. The possibilities were as wide open as an eight-lane highway. I could write anything. Despite my freedom, I couldn’t imagine, writing a scene that I’d be embarrased for my grandma to read. However, I knew that there was money in writing titillating stories and writing sweet could reduce my chances of publication. I wrestled with my decision and I even considered using a pen name. But, in the end I chose sweet.

After my grandma died, I no longer needed to worry about her reading a racy scene that I could write. However, I am a Christian now, and my road is narrow, so I still write sweet.

What a wonderful story! I understand the desire to write something your grandparents would be pleased to read.

What was the inspiration for your romantic short story, “Buried Treasure”?

Inspiration came to me when I saw a photograph in the local newspaper. It was a photo of children taking part in the annual treasure hunt at Lake Alma. There was a story there, but I needed to find my character’s names. Once I have the names, ideas flow for me.

I use an old phone book to choose their names. I have a routine that I use, so that the names I choose are random. The names chosen for this story were David and Della.

Those names sparked the idea for my fictional story. On a personal level, David is the name of my first love that I lost at the ripe old age of five. So, I wondered what might happen if my characters lost their first loves. Words flowed, and after days of rewriting and editing, the result was “Buried Treasure.”

I love choosing names for characters! Sometimes, if a character isn’t working well, I figure out I need a better name.

Why do you enjoy writing short stories? 

The simple answer is, it’s fun. But fun isn’t the only reason I enjoy writing short. I am a pantser. I don’t have a plan for how my story will start or end. In my opinion, it is easier to write short without an outline. I know it’s difficult to write a novel without an outline. I have a manuscript written by the seat of my pants and it is an editing mess. It may never be published.

By writing short, I can write many stories. I can enter my character’s lives and enjoy their story. Then savor the ending and move on to the next story. For me, it takes much less time to write a short story compared to a novel.

What are some of your favorite short stories?

This is a hard question for me to answer. I love to read. But the lack of free time limits my reading. However, one of my writing goals for 2021 is to have a short story published in The People’s Friend. I need to read that magazine again. The editors fill it with lots of well-written stories. Hmm, that gives me an idea for my website. I may create a list of my latest favorite stories from The People’s Friend.

It’s a hard questions for me, too, because there are so many I love different kinds of short stories. Click here for a list of some of my favorites.

*****

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By My Side brings you twenty of the best romantic stories from writers around the world.
Be transported to the past in the war-torn “Three Months of Summer” and back to the present in the gentle modern everyday situation of “The Pool Doctor.” Feel your heart racing through the ethical dilemmas in “Would You Shoot Me?” and the danger and drama of “Run From the Sun”. These stories will transport you to a world of love and romance and leave you breathless. In far-away locations or in everyday situations, there really is someone for everyone.

*****

Theresa Van Meter comes from a long line of storytellers and loves to spin tales of sweet romance. She has published her short stories online, and in magazines and her short story, “Buried Treasure”, is in the romantic anthology, By My Side. On her website, she enjoys interviewing authors about short stories. When she isn’t writing, she sells jewelry online, enjoys exercising, and playing board games with her family. Find more at Facebook or on her website. 

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Writing Tip — Guest Blogger, Ronnell Kay Gibson

GIBSONTo wrap up the month, I have author Ronnell Kay Gibson visiting for the first time. Although she has published many devotionals and short stories, “Those Who Stay” is her first story to appear in an anthology. Glad to have you here, Ronnell!

What inspired you to write “Those Who Stayed”, a drama set during a hostage crisis in a store?

“Those Who Stayed” was based on a dream I about just that, a gunman who walked into my local Christian bookstore and posed the same ultimatum, deny Jesus and you can live, but those who stay will be shot. In the dream, I was the 17-year-old boy frozen in place watching the events unfold. All the other details and characters were created as I wrote the story.

 Why did you choose a teenage boy as your main character?

I write a lot of young adult fiction and as I was writing, it just felt the most natural.

 Did you find any special challenges when you wrote your story?

The biggest challenge was trying to keep it real and not preachy. What would a person do if this were a real situation? Would a mother really let her young son stay behind? Most moms wouldn’t, so why does this one? I didn’t want to have trite or pat answers.

 What excited you the most about this story?

Each of the character’s unique voices came easily, and that almost never happens when I’m writing.

Since we’re in a holiday mood, what’s your favorite Christmas tradition? And/Or what’s your favorite Christmas story?

One of my favorite Christmas stories is the children’s book, Why Christmas Trees Aren’t Perfect. Just a sweet story about compassion and selfless giving.

My favorite Christmas tradition is our “Tree Trimming Night.” A night where our family gets together to put up and decorate our tree. Afterward we have pizza and everyone gets to open one present (wrapped in wrapping paper with Christmas trees on it, of course). As my kids have gotten older, we haven’t always been able to have our special night, but this year I’m hoping to bribe my daughter and her friends to come help.

I love trimming our tree, too, with my kids. Thanks for stopping by!

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From Christmas fiction off the beaten path:

“Those Who Stayed” by Ronnell Kay Gibson. Years ago, a gunman and a store full of hostages learned some important lessons about faith and pain and what really matters in life — and the echoes from that day continue to the present. 

Amazon, Barnes and Noble, 24Symbols, Kobo

*****

Ronnell surrounds herself with words and teenagers. She specializes in young adult contemporary with a sprinkling of the mysterious. She also writes youth and adult devotions and is one of the editors for HAVOK Publishing. Self-proclaimed coffee snob and Marvel movie addict, Ronnell has also titled herself a macaroon padawan and a cupcake Jedi. High on her bucket list is to attend San Diego Comic Con. Ronnell lives in central Wisconsin, with her husband, two teenagers, and two Pomeranian puppies. Follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and on her website, ronnellkeygibson.com.

 

 

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