In 2015, I created a simple plot formula for short stories. Instead of trying to make it broad enough to work for any story, I focused on making it easy to use. Rather than creating a grand formula targeted at novelists, I designed it forwriting short tales. However, the formula’s mo...
Like a novel outline, a shortstory outlineis a visual tool that you can quickly scan to track character arcs, storylines, thematic content, and logical consistency. A good short story outline will always include these five elements: 1.A problem: What is the key conflict that will drive your...
I lie in bed, exhausted, but a discomfort stops me from drifting off. The moonlit outline of my hand-fasting dress with its patchwork skirt and laced bustier hangs on the wall by my window as if watching over me, ghost of my future. The house rests in darkness, silent other than the...
This story can be read in the preview of The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. (92% into the preview) 3. "Girl" | Jamaica Kincaid A mother imparts advice to her daughter on how to behave and how to be a woman. This is a prose/poem hybrid; it’s one long run-on senten...
I have extracted the story from the 500+ pages of O’Brien’s anthology to make it easy: “On the Floor” (in PDF format) Categories Neglected Authors Tags Joan Jukes, short stories, women writers The Intellectual Lover and Other Stories, by David Freedman (1940) 18 March 2018 I ...
discussion, the book touches on such issues as the preferences of various age groups; collecting information and developing ideas; outlining a story (with a story and outline given); characters, dialogue, and titles; and, finally, editorial and marketing concerns. Fran Lewis, Albany P.L., New...
No matter how good your idea, writing a story or a book can be a long difficult process. How do you create an outline, come up with a great plot, and then actually finish it? My new book The Write Structure will help. You'll learn how to take your idea and structure a strong plo...
Parts for 16+ actors. Ten minutes long. Best suited for ages 9-13, however, this story is really ageless and may be performed by children all the way up to adults. (3 credits.) Doctor Mercury 16 characters. 8M, 8F, Flexible Cast; 8 pages in length. Approximately 5-10 minutes runnin...
Writing short stories is an invaluable way to grow your writing craft. Learn how to write a short story with this article.
I think there is a lot of room in “Zeta-Epsilon” to expand into a novel. Maybe I was disappointed because the story was too short. It could be an outline for a novel. But it needs to be dramatized. For example, how did Zep steal Ep and the spaceship? We’re just told it happ...