Hi my fellow writers. I require your guidence. I seem to be having trouble writing a short story. Any guidence for me. It all seem to end up like the first chapter of a book and too much going on. Thanks a lot.
Hi my fellow writers. I require your guidence. I seem to be having trouble writing a short story. Any guidence for me. It all seem to end up like the first chapter of a book and too much going on. Thanks a lot.
I've faced this in the past and one of the things I have found most useful is to plan the story out! Every story has a beginning, middle and an end, and if you have a target, for example 4000 words, you can figure out what needs to happen where. Knowing your plot is also essential, so that you can ensure any specific plot points take place and move the story along.
I usually go slightly over the word count I have set, so that when I edit out the fluff or superfluous words I don't need, I fall back under the target word count and can have an entire story.
You don't always need to have a definite end, either. Sometimes you can leave things hanging, making the reader wonder what happened next or even allow them to imagine their own ending!
There are also many useful resources to give advice on writing short stories on this website and others. Hunt around online and see what you find.
I hope this helps!
A short story is an opportunity to experiment, to play around with structures etc that you wouldn't normally use. E.g. diary extracts, writing all in the second person, etc. Unleash yourself!
Why not continue writing then? See where it takes you, maybe you'll stop with enough for a novel.