How to Write a Short Story in 6 Steps
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Jerry Jenkins outlines a six-step process for writing compelling short stories, emphasizing that they are an ideal starting point for new writers. He suggests reading great short stories, finding inspiration in everyday life, writing a first draft without concern for perfection, narrowing the story's scope, following a classic structure, and offering a satisfying ending. Jenkins also highlights the importance of rigorous editing and offers a free guide to help writers overcome blocks and finish their stories.
Takeaways
- 😀 Starting with short stories is better for new writers than beginning with a novel.
- 📚 Read as many great short stories as you can to learn from the best in the genre.
- 🧠 Come up with a compelling idea by asking 'what if' questions and drawing inspiration from people you know.
- ✍️ Write your first draft without worrying about perfection; focus on getting the story down.
- 🔍 Narrow your scope to keep your short story concise and impactful.
- 📖 Use a classic story structure, such as Dean Koontz's four-step approach: plunge your character into trouble, make it worse, create a hopeless predicament, and finally resolve it.
- 😊 Offer a satisfying ending that feels natural and emotionally moving, avoiding forced or contrived conclusions.
- 🔧 Edit your story rigorously, focusing on grammar, punctuation, sentence construction, and engaging readers' senses and emotions.
- 📈 Use proven fiction writing techniques and gain confidence by treating early efforts as learning experiences.
- 🚫 Avoid wasting precious reading real estate with excessive setup or backstory; get to the problem or quest quickly.
Q & A
Why should a new writer start with short stories rather than a novel according to Jerry Jenkins?
-Jerry Jenkins suggests that starting with a novel is like attending graduate school when you should be in elementary school. It's a big mistake because there's a lot to learn, and you'll progress faster if you start small, like with short stories.
What is the free bonus offered by Jerry Jenkins at the end of the video?
-The free bonus is a guide to help overcome writer's block, start your short story, and most importantly, finish it.
What is the first step to writing a compelling short story as suggested by Jerry Jenkins?
-The first step is to read as many great short stories as you can find, especially the classics, to familiarize yourself with the best in the genre and emulate their work.
Which author does Jerry Jenkins recommend to look up for modern-day short story mastery?
-Jerry Jenkins recommends looking up the work of Brett Lott, a modern-day master of short stories.
What are some of the classic short stories mentioned by Jerry Jenkins?
-Some of the classics mentioned include 'The Tell-Tale Heart', 'The Fall of the House of Usher', and 'The Pit and the Pendulum' by Edgar Allan Poe, 'The Gift of the Magi' and 'The Ransom of the Red Chief' by O. Henry, 'The Necklace' by Guy de Maupassant, 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County' by Mark Twain, and 'The Lady, or the Tiger?' by Frank Stockton.
What advice does Jerry Jenkins give about being 'bad' at reading short stories initially?
-He advises to give yourself permission to be bad at reading short stories at first, as it should inspire you to try your hand at writing them. Treat your first efforts as learning experiences, and eventually, you'll refine your skills and get better at it.
What are three strategies to generating story ideas for a short story according to the script?
-The three strategies are: 1) Learn to recognize the germ of an idea, such as a person, problem, or tension, and ask 'what if' questions about it. 2) Create characters from people you know, mixing and matching their characteristics. 3) Write your first draft to get down the basics of your story without worrying about grammar or other details.
How does Jerry Jenkins suggest narrowing the scope of a short story?
-He suggests focusing on a single scene or incident that carries the weight of the story, avoiding unnecessary descriptions, and eliminating scenes that merely transition characters from one place to another.
What classic story structure does Jerry Jenkins endorse for writing a compelling short story?
-Jerry Jenkins endorses Dean Koontz's four-step approach: 1) Plunge your character into terrible trouble as soon as possible. 2) Everything your character does to get out of trouble makes it worse. 3) The predicament appears hopeless. 4) The hero uses what they've learned to succeed in the end.
What does Jerry Jenkins say about the importance of a satisfying ending in a short story?
-He emphasizes that the ending should not seem forced or contrived, nor should it give the impression that the story has ended too soon. It should be emotionally moving and leave a lasting impression on the reader.
How does Jerry Jenkins describe the editing process for a short story?
-He describes the editing process as being a ferocious self-editor, examining and revising every element of the story, including spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence construction, word choice, flow, cliches, and redundancies.
What is the key takeaway from Jerry Jenkins' advice on writing a compelling short story?
-The key takeaway is that writing a compelling short story involves reading and studying great works, generating strong ideas, narrowing the scope, employing a classic story structure, offering a satisfying ending, and editing rigorously.
Outlines
📚 Starting Small: The Journey of a Writer
Jerry Jenkins introduces a six-step process for writing a compelling short story, emphasizing the importance of starting with short stories rather than novels for new writers. He likens writing a novel early in one's career to attending graduate school instead of elementary school, suggesting that short stories are a more manageable way to learn and grow as a writer. Jenkins also mentions a free bonus at the end of the video, a guide to overcoming writer's block and finishing a short story.
🎨 Crafting Ideas: The Art of Storytelling
The second paragraph delves into the process of coming up with a winning story idea. Jenkins advises writers to train themselves to recognize compelling story ideas in everyday life and suggests three strategies for generating ideas: asking 'what if' questions, creating characters from people they know, and writing a first draft without worrying about perfection. He stresses the importance of narrowing the scope of a short story to focus on fewer elements and establishing a character's status quo before the main event.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Short Story
💡Writing Process
💡Character
💡Story Idea
💡Scope
💡Story Structure
💡Editing
💡Emotional Impact
💡Writer's Block
💡Perfectionism
💡Reading
Highlights
Starting your writing career with a novel is compared to attending graduate school when you should be in elementary school.
Reading dozens of great short stories, especially classics, is the first step to writing compelling short stories.
Familiarize yourself with the best in the genre and try to emulate their work to find your own voice and style.
Brett Lott is a modern-day master of short stories and a good starting point for study.
Embrace the learning process and give yourself permission to be bad at reading short stories initially.
Compelling story ideas are everywhere; train yourself to recognize them through 'what if' questions.
Create characters from people you know, mixing and matching their characteristics to form unique personalities.
Write your first draft focusing on the plot without worrying about grammar, cliches, or redundancies.
Narrow your scope by focusing on a single scene and character status quo in a short story.
Eliminate unnecessary scenes and focus on a poignant incident that reveals the story's point.
Employ a classic story structure with four steps: plunging into trouble, worsening attempts, apparent hopelessness, and eventual success.
Dean Koontz recommends starting the story with the character in trouble to avoid wasting reading real estate on backstory.
A satisfying ending should not seem forced, contrived, or rushed; it should emotionally move the reader.
Editing is crucial; become a ferocious self-editor, examining and revising every element of your story.
Editing involves checking spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence construction, word choice, flow, cliches, and redundancies.
Recognize when you've improved your story to the best version and avoid making it only different.
A free bonus guide is offered at the end of the video to help overcome writer's block and maximize writing time.
Transcripts
hi Jerry Jenkins here talking about
writing today I want to show you a
proven six step process for writing a
compelling short story way a short story
had not a novel I'll have a video on
doing that too but frankly the biggest
mistake you could make as a new writer
would be to start your career with a
novel a novel should not be where you
begin but rather where you arrive in
fact starting your writing career with a
novel would be like attending graduate
school when you should be in elementary
school there's a lot to learn and you'll
progress much faster if you start small
like with short stories you'll face many
of the same obstacles and dilemmas and
questions you'd face when creating
fiction of any length and you'll learn
to work with an editor and be critiqued
and you just might get a quarter million
cliches out of your system ideally
you'll learn proven fiction writing
techniques and gain confidence and
momentum now before we dive in let me
tell you about a free bonus at the end
of this video a guide to help you
overcome writer's block start your short
story and most importantly finish it so
stay with me to the end to get that
special bonus all right the first step
to writing a compelling short stories to
read as many great ones as you can find
and I mean dozens and dozens of them
seriously especially the classics
familiarize yourself with the best in
this genre study what works for the
experts then try to emulate their work
soon enough you'll find your own voice
and develop your own style where to
start with the work of Brett Lott a
modern-day master look him up online and
dig in then google classic short stories
and you'll run across several of my
favorites the tell-tale heart by Edgar
Allan Poe but fall of the House of Usher
also by Poe the pit and the pendulum
also by Poe the Gift of the Magi by oh
Henry
the Ransom of the red chief also by oh
Henry the necklace by Guy de Maupassant
the celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras
County by Mark Twain
the lady and the tiger by Frank Stockton
and one of my all-time favorites the
most dangerous game by Richard Connell
I'll leave that slide up for you for a
bit if you want to jot those down but of
course you can always pause this
recording to now this may sound like
strange advice but it's important give
yourself permission to be bad at reading
short stories at first reading the
modern-day masters and the classics
should inspire you to try your hand at
this which is the point of this video
but your first efforts are not likely to
match the quality of the best short
story writers in history but think about
it you don't remember learning to walk
either but you've seen toddlers do this
they plop down dozens at times before
they finally get the hang of it same
with learning to ride a bike or dance or
bake a cake just treat your first
efforts as learning experiences and
eventually you'll refine your skills and
get better at it the second step to
writing a compelling short story is to
come up with a winning idea at its core
fiction writing isn't about rules or
techniques or someone else's idea it's
about your story well told compelling
story ideas are all around you so train
yourself to recognize them here are
three strategies to generating story
ideas first learn to recognize the germ
you might remember a person a problem
some tension a time of fear ask yourself
what if questions about it what if that
had turned out differently what if I
didn't have an alibi for a devastating
accusation what if my loved one had died
stories are born from such questions
then create characters from people you
know friends neighbors co-workers and
relatives form the basis for the
characters who inhabit your story but be
sure to mix and match their
characteristics you might use one's
gender another's age and others looks
another's tone of voice you name it
you'll wind up with a character with
recognizable traits but no one who can
be assumed to be your soul model
lastly get your story down write your
first draft to simply get down the
basics of your story without worrying
about grammar cliches redundancies or
anything but the plot you'll get back to
it later so you can edit and revise it
all you want but for now just get it
down this requires taking off your
perfectionist cap while writing so you
don't slow yourself to a crawl trying to
fix things as you go okay the third step
to writing a compelling short story is
to narrow your scope naturally there's a
drastic difference between a full-length
novel and a short story containing about
two percent of a novels number of words
a novel can accommodate decades and an
extensive cast of characters subplots
and all the rest a short story must pack
an emotional wallop with dramatically
fewer elements the best short stories
establish a character status quo often
only one scene that also bears the
weight of what it is you're trying to
say about his life before whatever
happens in your story so here's how you
can tighten your story if your main
character needs a cohort or a sounding
board don't give her two combined
characters where you can avoid
description of settings or characters as
a separate element rather write just
enough to trigger the theater of your
readers mind eliminate scenes that
merely get your characters from one
place to another the reader doesn't care
how they got there or they can assume it
so you can simply write late that
afternoon Jim met Sharon at a coffee
shop we don't need to see him getting
ready arranging a ride at cetera the
goal is to get to a resounding ending by
portraying a poignant incident that
reveals your story and its point the
fourth step to writing a compelling
short story is to employ a classic story
structure I endorse the approach Dean
Koontz recommends in his book how to
write best-selling fiction
he suggests a simple four-step approach
first plunge your character into
terrible trouble as soon as possible
second everything your character does to
try to get out of that trouble makes it
only worse
until third the predicament appears
hopeless and then finally everything
your hero learns from trying to get out
of the terrible trouble he uses to
succeed in the end now of course
terrible trouble means something
different depending on your genre in a
thriller it might be life or death in
our love story the trouble might be
emotional
regardless it should be the worst
trouble you can conjure for your
character then it's crucial to avoid
wasting precious reading real estate
setting up your plot or providing a lot
of backstory give your readers just
enough to make them care about your main
character then get to the problem the
quest the challenge the danger whatever
it is that drives your story I'll write
the fifth step to writing a compelling
short story is to offer a satisfying
ending it can't seem forced or contrived
or give the impression the story has
ended too soon
here's an example of a great short story
ending in a modern-day version of the
prodigal son called the ride a character
calls his father and leaves a message
that if he's welcome to return home his
father should leave the front porch
light on otherwise if he finds the porch
light off he'll understand and tell his
cab driver to just keep going the rest
of the story is him telling the cabbie
how deeply his life choices have hurt
his family the story ends with the taxi
pulling into view of his child at home
only to find not only the porch light on
but also every light in the house and
more out in the yard on long extension
cords that ending needed no elaboration
we didn't even need to be shown the
reunion the embrace the tears the talk
the lights said it all that's the kind
of ending you want
you may have heard me say this before
but readers enjoy being educated and
entertained but they never forget being
emotionally moved the sixth and final
step to writing a compelling short story
is to edit it as if your life depends on
it
when you've finished the writing the
real work has just begun it's time to
become a ferocious self editor put on
your perfectionist cabin examine and
revise every element of your story
spelling grammar punctuation sentence
construction word choice flow cliches
redundancies you name it tightening adds
power omit needless words also pour over
the manuscript looking for ways to
engage your readers senses and evoke
their emotions all writing is rewriting
do whatever you have to do to give
yourself the best chance to succeed and
remember what makes you a writer is
learning when you've gone from making
your story better to making it only
different strive to recognize when
you've hit on the best version all right
that's it for today if you found this
video helpful like it comment on it and
share it you can also click the
subscribe button below to be notified
whenever I release a new writer training
video now here's that free bonus I
mentioned earlier click on the link on
your screen to get my guide how to
maximize your writing time this will
help you overcome writer's block and
eliminate distractions so you can not
only start your short story but also
stay motivated to stick with it until
it's finished and as good as it can be
all the best with your writing and I'll
see you next time
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