Intro
Did you ever have to write a personal narrative or short story in school? Were you completely aggravated while doing it? Chances are the school system forced you to write a 5 page narrative about the most boring topic like what you did for summer in 2 days, thus making you hate writing and giving you PTSD whenever you pick up lined paper and a pencil. What schools failed to show you is that writing a short story is actually really fun and beneficial when it’s not forced upon you. It opens up many skills for you in your mind and the best part is, they can be created in 8 simple steps!
Benefits
Writing short stories has many conveniences. For one, they don’t take long to create at all! They’re usually no longer than 10 pages and you can literally make them in a few hours or days. Writing short stories also grants someone “a moment to explore their creativity,” as stated by Ms. Mchale, a language arts and graphic novels teacher at WMS. She adds, “if they [you] write a personal narrative they [you] can reflect on something that has happened to them [you].” Adrianna Boneila, a student and avid writer at WMS reports that writing helps her, “express [herself] through characters.”
Writing unlocks storytelling skills and elements that can help with engagement and connection with life. You’ll also have a chance to challenge yourself by either starting to write in general or trying to write in a genre you’re not used to. Finally, you’ll have something to look back to in a few years. Something that’ll either make you proud or cringe profusely. Either way, writing short stories is a fun and productive way to spend your existence.
Now that you know the many benefits that come with writing a story, you may ask what you’re supposed to do next. Let’s walk through this baby step by baby step.
Get an idea
This step is self explanatory. You need to think about a story to write about. If you’re a literature freak like me you probably have a folder of ideas stored somewhere in your noggin. If you’re struggling though, Mrs. Mchale offers great advice. In order to help students who are struggling, she,“often use[s] Pixar’s little short films and I [she] show[s] them that even short little films have the elements that make up a good story.” Or, you could think of stories you think need fixing or need to be continued and expand upon them! Remember, you’re the driver! Any idea’s fine just as long as you’re happy with it!
Brainstorm
Alright, you got your idea! The next step is to brainstorm all the important story elements. These include characters, setting, genre, conflict, theme if you have one, and the BASIC plot. When I say basic, I mean like 2-3 sentences, pretty much paraphrasing your story. For characters, I’d label their roles in the story. For example, are they an antagonist or protagonist? Also make sure to have a clear time and place for your setting as well as a worthwhile conflict.
Conflicts are what makes stories stories. It’s the reason we even bother to read them in the first place. You don’t have to make your conflict the end of the world, but make it suspenseful enough to where the reader actually cares. Conflicts can be internal, character vs themselves, or external, character vs outside force. More often than not, even if you’re choosing to create an internal conflict, there’s always an external conflict that causes the internal conflict to happen.
Characters
Like conflict, characters are what carry stories. You can have a good conflict, but if you have bad characters nobody’s going to really care how your story turns out. Therefore, I like to create short character biographies in order to know visually who my characters are so I don’t write them inconsistently. The one thing readers hate is an inconsistent character.
Like I said, character bios should be short and sweet. They may be longer or shorter depending on what role they have in the story. A character bio should have a character’s role, personality traits, appearance, development and backstory (if necessary), and my personal favorite, their likes and dislikes (optional). Try not to make your characters unlikeable, unless that’s what you’re going for. If your characters are human like and you want to make them realistic, inspire them off people or already existing characters you know. You can even inspire a character off yourself! It gives them a sense of livelihood and relatability.
Plot
Now that you have your characters and dumbed down plot, it’s time to dive deeper into what your plot is going to be. Think of how it starts, the trial and error the characters go through, the suspenseful middle, the slow dissension from the suspense, and the end. A very helpful way to visualize a plot of through a plot mountain.
If you have too many ideas, jot them all down and cross off the ones you either don’t like or are unnecessary. If you can’t think of anything from the top of your head, just watch short films or read other short stories. Once you’re finally satisfied and have a clear timeline of what’s specifically happening in your story, it’s time for the fun part!
Write a Draft
Now you’re writing! Keep in mind that your draft doesn’t have to be perfect. This is just your first attempt at getting your story on the page. While writing your draft, it’s important to keep general writing principles in mind.
If you really want your words to fly off the page and come to life, it’s important to use descriptive language. This means describing a setting or what a character is feeling. Think of the 5 senses. A reader should be able to visualize what they see, smell, taste, touch, and hear. Make sure to also add figurative language, like similes, metaphors, onomatopoeia, and many more! It doesn’t just look fancy, but it further enhances a reader’s visualization of the story.
Try to keep paragraphs short and sweet. You’re writing a story, not an essay. Also make sure to add dialogue! Dialogue should not only move the plot forward, but expose the reader to their personality.
Speaking of personality, make sure to keep your characters consistent. You know those episodes of a show you watch where characters act nothing like they usually do just for the story? They’re annoying, I know. Don’t do that, it will drive your reader mad. That doesn’t mean a character can’t change throughout the story. There’s a difference between development and just changing at the flip of a switch.
Finally, make sure to have fun! This is your story, therefore you have full creative control. Make sure to make what you want and be happy! That’s the whole point of writing and art in general.
Proofread and rewrite
After you write your draft, you must reread it to check for mistakes or fix parts you don’t like. It’s important to get others to read your draft too, like a teacher, friend, parent, or guardian. Heck, even get a random person to read it, that way their feedback is 100% honest.
Once you get your feedback, rewrite your story accordingly. Fix the issues you and others had. I’d repeat this step at least twice to make sure it’s perfect.
Share your story
Once you’re finally done editing and perfecting your story, it’s now time to show the world what you’re made of! There’s many different websites like Wattpad that allow beginners to share their stories with the world. A lot of magazines like The New Yorker accept short stories and they even pay the authors! There’s also multiple short story competitions online. Or, you can literally just show your friends. Don’t be afraid to share your new talent!
Conclusion
In conclusion, writing short stories is a great way to let out your creativity and emotions. They’re easy and fun to make and it’s important that everyone does it at least once outside of a classroom. Let’s hope more people learn about the importance of literature and story telling.
