How to plan a short story, write and publish
Devise an intriguing scenario.
Plan what publications you’ll submit your final story to.
Find the story’s focus before you start.
Outline character and setting details.
Choose a point of view for the story.
Write the story as a one-page synopsis.
Write a strong first paragraph.
Write a satisfying climax and conclusion.
Rewrite for clarity, concision and structure.
Pick an intriguing story title and submit to short fiction publishers.
1: Find the scenario for your story
Writing a novel gives you time to develop characters and story arcs and symbols.
Writing a short story differs. There is often a single image, symbol, idea or concept underlying the story. Some examples of original story scenarios:
In Roald Dahl’s famous short story ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’, a woman murders her husband with a frozen leg of lamb and serves the cooked evidence to the investigating officers
In William Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily‘, a notorious town recluse dies, leaving the town to discover her grisly secret
In Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s ‘The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World’, the way of life of an entire village is changed by the discovery of a mysterious, handsome drowned man who washes up on the beach
Find a scenario you can write down in a sentence or two. An interesting scenario that sets the story in motion has multiple benefits:
It sets up a range of possible developments and symbols (for example, in the Garcia Marquez, the plans the village makes for the man’s burial and the processes and emotions that follow the discovery of a body)
It gives you something to pitch to publications when submitting your story
On the topic of publishers:
2: Plan what publications you’ll submit your final story to
One of the benefits of writing short stories is that there are many publishing opportunities for short fiction.
You can publish short fiction in:
Literary journals and magazines
Writing contest anthologies
Anthologies curated around specific topics or themes
Online publications (digital journals, writing websites and e-zines)
Make a list of possible publications, once you have decided on your core story scenario.
When you research publications that accept short fiction, note:
Minimum and maximum submission word counts
Any specified formatting requirements
The contact details for the person in charge of submissions
The themes and topics most frequently featured by the publication
It’s wise to have these guidelines for formatting, word count and areas of interest worked out before you start. This will enable you to make your story meet requirements for acceptance. This will save time later when it comes to revising.
So you have the story idea worked out and a list of publications and their requirements? Now it’s time to find your short story’s focus:
3: Find the focus of your story
The scenario of your short story is the idea or image that sets the story in motion.
The focus of your story matters. What do you want to say? Why write a short story on this subject in particular?
The first step of Now Novel’s step-by-step story building process, ‘Central Idea’, will help you find your idea and express it as a single paragraph you can grow.
Explanation:
