How to Write a Short Story

Writing a short story, as we have said, is a great way to practice and improve your writing. Like any novel, stories tell a story with a beginning, a middle, and an ending. To learn how to make a made-up story, it is important that you take into account the following aspects:

1. Choose the theme: before starting to write a story, it is essential to know what we want to tell.
2. Define the structure: As we have already commented, every story must have a beginning, a middle and an end. If you want your story to capture the attention of your readers from the very first sentence, it is important that start with a scene or phrase that impacts the reader and invite you to continue reading.
3. Work the knot well: the knot is also an essential part of the story, since all the action takes place and what allows your story to advance. Therefore, it is extremely important that you work it carefully, choosing important and meaningful scenes for the reader to move forward with interest. You must remember that a story should contain only the information that is really important For the history.
4. Shocking outcomeThe denouement is the last thing anyone who reads your story will remember, so it’s very important that you give it a surprising ending.
5. Get well in time: When writing a short story, it is important that you define a certain period.

There are many, many ways to start a story. If you want a good beginning for your story, you can choose between the following beginnings:

• The classic: surely, during your life, you will have read stories that begin with the typical: “Once upon a time …”. Believe it or not, this type of startup still works, even if it may seem little innovative. Use it especially if you want to tell stories with a touch of fable or magic.
• The description of a character: Another way to start a story is through the description of a character, usually the protagonist who will be key in your story.
• The flashback: starting the story at an advanced point in the story to go back and tell what happened before, it is a widely used resource when we want to tell stories, especially those of mystery or with detective overtones.
• From you to you: referring to our reader in the first person and in a colloquial tone, as if it were a friend, can be a very good idea. You can treat the reader as if you want to tell or confess something important.

How to write short stories can seem like an arduous task, since a story must achieve, with a few words, capture the interest of the reader and make them feel or live what it is intended to do. To achieve write successful short stories It is important that you take into account the following aspects:

• The action: In a short story, it is important not to elaborate or elaborate on each characteristic. If you want the story to flow, focus on the action and save the stylistic ornaments for another occasion. As we have anticipated, in a short story you should only tell what is essential for the reader, so leave the long descriptions for another type of story, as they will surely not be relevant to your story.
• One story is enough: a short story, as the name suggests, is just that. There is no place to tell more stories than the main one or more space than 2 or 3 main characters can occupy. If you want to tell a choral story or from many points of view, it is better that you leave it for a novel. Focus on a single character (or 2, depending on your idea) and focus your attention on the development of this, because nothing is more boring than a flat character that does not learn anything and that ends up as it had started.
• Suggest instead of telling: avoid telling everything in detail. Using the appropriate adjectives and nouns, you can create atmospheres and situations that express, without the need for extensive explanations, what you want the reader to perceive. Trust the reader’s imagination, because often the best thing about reading is letting everyone create their own world.
• Read to the bestThere is no better teacher or source of inspiration than the great short story writers. Ray Bradbury, Benedetti, Cortázar, Maupassant, etc. these are just a few examples of short story writers and teachers. Having references is essential to becoming a writer, so soak up the lessons of some of the best.
• Mark well the limits of your story: many writers sin of wanting to tell a lot in a small space, that is why it is important that you remember that less is more. Narrow down your story well, decide exactly what you want to tell, and try to keep it as simple as possible. You can always write more stories with more characters and other details.

Writing for children can be a good start to shaping your literary career. Knowing the basic premises on how to write a children’s story are very important if you want young readers to value your work.

1. Think like a childWhen you work on a story for children, you must remove all the prejudices that your adult mind has been harboring over the years and avoid not limiting your ideas.
2. Ask yourself questions about your readers: At what age is the story directed? What language is the most appropriate? How can I get them to understand this idea? Will you have fun with this scene?
3. Create your own world: be original and unique. Seek inspiration from other stories and authors but be genuine and find your own voice.
4. Visually imagine– A visual stimulus helps boost creativity.
5. read in loud voice: Once you have written something, read it out loud and share it with someone who is the age at which the children’s story is intended. For this step, it can be very useful to read about How to tell children’s stories to a child.

Ideas for children’s stories

If you want to find ideas for children’s stories, there are several resources that will help you foster imagination and combat the occasional lack of creativity:

• Random words: choose two or three words at random and try to form a sentence with them; Although the relationship seems ridiculous, surely you have some other original idea.
• Think conditional: “What if it was …?” It is a phrase widely used when creating a children’s or fantasy story, as it allows you to consider various options and ideas.
• Make a version of the classic tales
• Read other authors: Gianni Rodari, Roald Dahl, Astrid Lindgren, etc. They are great examples in the world of children’s literature that will help you to know, understand and decipher a very rich and always surprising universe.

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