Sneak Peek
Learn to Write Short Stories
- stories that focus on just one theme
- less elaborate stories with a single plot (no sub plots)
- stories that can be read in one sitting
COURSE CONTENT & STRUCTURE
LESSON 1 WHAT DO WE MEAN BY SHORT STORIES?
A notebook or two
Short stories defined
The history of short stories
Different types of short stories
Choosing a genre
Useful Terminology
Literary fiction
Children’s literature
Examples of CVC words commonly used in early readers
Short Stories in the Classroom
The increasing popularity of short stories
Lesson 1 additional reading
Types of story openings
Distinctive Voice
Tense
Action or dialogue
Background information
Introduce the main character
Common elements to all stories
Tension
Literary devices
Authorial Voice
What is creative writing
How does creative writing differ
Information and creativity
Types of story openings
Distinctive voice
Tense
Acrion or dialogue
Background information
Main character
Common story elements
Tension
Literary devices
Authorial voice
LESSON 2 STRUCTURING A SHORT STORY
Strategies for creating story ideas
Remember - Always, always keep a notebook handy to write down your ideas.
Free Writing
Role play
Brainstorming techniques
What if?
Developing Characters
Building characters
How is a character created?
Setting descriptions
Word building
Science fiction
Image boards
Planning a short story
Connecting characters
Using/adapting existing story structures, worlds or characters
LESSON 3 WRITING MICROFICTION AND FLASH FICTION
Writing flash fiction
Chat Fiction
Writing Micro Fiction
Sudden Fiction
Vignette
Plots
Memoir
Biographies
Reflective Stories
Historical
Sense of Place
Opinionated Stories
Dramatic stories
LESSON 4 WRITING FAN FICTION
Fan fiction’s popularity
Tropes
How to plot a fan fiction story
Bob and Ellie’s Story
Constructing timelines
LESSON 5 WRITING SHORT STORIES, NOVELLAS AND NOVELLETTES
Plot Devices
Writing Novellas and novelettes
Advice for writing great stories
Opening Lines
The Unexpected
Engaging readers
Last Lines
LESSON 6 GETTING YOUR WORK PUBLISHED
Editing
Competitions
Social media
Writing platforms
Self-publishing
Anthologies
Consistency
Publisher specifications
Consistency
Final Assessment
Don't Rush Developing a Short Story
Developing a short story is a process that takes time if you want the final product to be good.
Short stories which are most successful tend to have a very tight structure. Getting the story structure to work usually means the author has spent a lot of time planning the story before they start creating full sentences.
Every story contains characters. Some characters will be the main characters in the story, others will be relatively minor. All characters mentioned in your story should have purpose; but the number of characters should be limited. It is easier to keep the story short if there are fewer characters.
When we start our story, we need to decide who the characters are. They must be believable though; so time must be given over to properly developing each character, and having an understanding of the person you are writing about whether fictional or real. Key characters may be heroes and protagonists; or perhaps something else.
Studying this course can help you develop a logical and effective approach to developing characters and plots, then building that up into a quality short story.