Short stories have held sway over people’s imaginations for centuries.  They may have been in the form of plays, odes, or any other myriad forms of written expression.  Writing a short story requires not just skill, but the ability to captivate and wow the imagination of the reader with a very frugal use of words.  Think of all the short stories you’ve read.  The underlying beauty of a short story is its inherent brevity and cutting-to-the-chase kind of quality.  No beating around the bush.  The characters come to life instantly, a big-bang effervescence, garner your total and unique attention, and then even before you realize it, you’ve probably shed a tear or two or had a good laugh or just smiled wisely and nodded.  That’s the magic of a short story.  So, it stands to reason that short story writing itself requires a kind of sleight of hand with words to charm, entice, mesmerize and take the reader down the rabbit hole every time, not just once.

Here are some key points to remember when attempting to begin a short story.  Of course, there may be many more, but these should serve one in good stead when hunched over the starting block of letters.

1.  A Clear theme.  Have a very very clear theme in mind before putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard.  What is your story going to be about?  This, of course, doesn’t in any way call for a celebration that you’ve landed yourself a plot for your story.  The theme of a good short story lies in its brevity and ability to capture the reader’s attention right from the very first word.  The theme has to reflect the underlying message or statement behind the words of the story.  The moment you get your theme right, your story will have more staying power and will endear more in the minds of your readers.  Again, remember, a very clear theme.

2.  A Short Time Span.  An effective short story covers a short time span.  The story may revolve around just a single event, an even so momentous and unforeseen, an event that is extremely pivotal in the life of the character of the story.  It is important to remember that this event, this turning point, or flashpoint, is what will be used to illustrate and enunciate the central theme of the story without being repetitive or monotonous.

3.  Too Many Pieces of The Puzzle.  Like a puzzle, a short story that has too many characters will leave the reader confused and totally disinterested in what you have to say.  Each individual character would only hasten to add and bring a new dimension to the story, and for an effective short story, too many dimensions will actually end up diluting and undermining the theme.  So, once you’ve decided on your theme and time span, create only that many characters that are enough to effectively and lucidly illuminate the reader’s intelligence with a very clear understanding and illustration of the theme.

4.  Brevity.  This is like being a doctor in an emergency room and having to make a life and death decision about a patient on the table.  You really don’t have much time to tell your story, so, dear short story writer, make every word count.  Don’t try to be too elaborate when not required.  Keep your descriptions short and self-explanatory without any room for unnecessary expansion.  If each word in your short story does not work towards putting the central theme across the horizon of the reader’s mind, don’t hesitate, delete, edit, rewrite and come up with the shortest sentence or word possible.

5.  The Core.  In case you’ve noticed, the best stories are the ones that wind down a narrow subject line.  I mean what’s the core of your story?  And this brings us back to one thing, the theme.  The core and the focus of your short story is its theme.  Although it may be very difficult to say “get thee behind me Satan” when words are flowing eloquently across your page, don’t digress from the core.  Follow the straight and narrow path.

That’s it dear short story writer.  Follow these simple rules and you’re there, waiting in the wings to be the next big short story writer.