From Character to Short Story Plot

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: Not every story starts with plot—some start with character. Rayne Hall shares tips and exercises to develop your short story idea by developing your character.

Today, I want you to pick out one of the short story ideas dancing around in your head. Most writers have a lot of half-formed ideas, all demanding to be written. Choose one of them, and I’ll show you how to refine your idea by focusing on the main character

1. In the scenario of your vague idea, who wants or needs something?

Choose her as the main character, and write the story from her perspective character. (I use the female pronoun; you can of course choose to write about a male.)

Choose the Setting for Your Short Story: Location, Weather, Atmosphere

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: With a short story, you don't have a lot of time or space to develop your setting. Rayne Hall shares tips and exercises on how to get the most out of your short fiction setting.

Where does your story take place?

Consider giving your story an unusual, quirky setting. This will make the piece memorable and vivid. What’s the weirdest possible place where the events could plausibly happen?

If this is a romantic story about a first date, how about these two people don't go to a predictable meal in a restaurant, walk in a park or movie in a cinema, but a Ferris wheel ride at the funfair, rollerblading in a deserted car park, or picnicking on a mountain top?

Getting Your Short Story Published: What You Need to Know About Submission, Rights and Payments

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: Writers are on their own when it comes to the business side of short stories. Rayne Hall explains what you need to know when submitting and publishing your short fiction.

We’re in a ‘golden age’ for short stories, with more opportunities for short story authors than ever before. This doesn’t mean that getting your tales published is easy, or a way to earn riches fast.

You need to be sure that your stories are good, and you need to submit them to the right markets.

Where To Submit Your Story

If your story falls under a category (a ‘genre’), focus on markets specializing in that genre, because there your chances of acceptance are greatest.

Give Your Story Meaning with Inner Conflict and Theme

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: No matter the size of your story, a theme can deepen it and make it stronger. Rayne Hall shares tips on finding and developing your story’s theme.

Do you want your story to be meaningful and memorable? Then give it a theme.

Although there are many ways of creating and exploring a theme, here's the one I find the easiest as well as the most powerful.

'One Purpose/Ideal/Value' versus 'Another Purpose/Ideal/Value'.

For example:

• Love versus Safety
• Patriotism versus Friendship
• Faith versus Integrity
• Honesty versus Compassion

Plotting a Short Love Story

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: Short fiction is a great way to satisfy readers between novels. Rayne Hall shares tips on how to write a compelling romance short.

Readers enjoy short Love Stories in collections, anthologies, magazines, websites. But Love Stories are among the most challenging tales to write. 

The Challenge: A Relationship in a Short Space

The challenge is the length. A Romance novel follows the couple as they form a relationship to the level of commitment. How can you do that in the limited space of a short story?

How to Write a Short Story Spin-Off from Your Novel

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: Short stories can be a fantastic marketing tool for your novel. Rayne Hall shows you how to use your novels to create short story spin-offs.

Do you want to create short stories as spin-offs from your novel? This can be a great marketing strategy. When readers who discover your short story on your website or in an anthology and love it, they will look for more fiction by this author. This can strengthen your reputation as an author and boost your novel's sales. 

Can you use the novel's main character for spin-off stories?

How to Write a Spooky Ghost Story

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Ghost stories both thrill and chill, ad readers love them no matter what time of the year . Rayne Hall shares tips for writing a spooky tale.

Ghost stories have always been reader favorites. They appeal to a wider audience than most other stories: children enjoy them as much as adults, and even people who normally cringe at the thought of Horror fiction gain pleasure from a good ghostly yarn. How can you write an entertaining, creepy story?

Plot and Backstory

All good Ghost stories consist of two tales. The first is the past tragedy which keeps the ghost haunting in search of atonement or vengeance. The second is about the person whose life gets thrown off course when the ghost intervenes.

The Ghost story needs more pre-planning than most other dark fiction, because you need to weave these two strands together.

13 Tips for Writing a Halloween Story

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: Drawing inspiration from holidays is a great way to spark a new story. Rayne Hall shares 13 tips for writing a Halloween tale.

A Halloween story has two characteristics: it must unfold on or around the time of Halloween, and it must be scary in some way. Here are some ideas and tips for creating your own scary Halloween story.

1. The story features a Halloween ritual – but not necessarily a predictable one.

The story plot needs to involve Halloween customs or rituals. However, these don't need to be the conventional trick-or-treating, carved pumpkins and fancy-dress costumes. Consider the seasonal traditions of other cultures, regions and religions and draw on them for inspiration.

11 Reasons Why You Should Submit Your Short Stories to Anthologies

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: Submitting a short story to an anthology has a lot of benefits. Rayne Hall shares 11 reasons why you should give one a try.

Getting short stories published in anthologies (collections of stories by multiple authors) can be a big stepping stone in your fiction writing career.

Here are the reasons why you should try:

1. As a Yardstick

If an anthology editor selects your story, it proves that your writing is good enough to be published. New writers can't judge the quality of their own writing, and friends and family aren't unbiased judges either. So if an independent editor chooses your piece over others, it confirms that your writing has reached an important threshold. Of course, some anthologies have higher standards and are more difficult to get into than others. While getting accepted by any anthology is great for a novice, seasoned writers will seek to get into one of the top anthologies of their genre.

Twelve Story Ending Twists That Don't Work

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: Some twists have been written to death. Rayne Hall shares 12 endings you should avoid.

Certain short story endings will almost inevitably lead to rejection. What are they, and why should you avoid them?

1. "And then I woke up. It was only a dream."

You've created an exciting story, and your readers sit on the edge of their seat to await the outcome... and then you reveal that none of it happened. What a let down!

In my role as an anthology editor and contest judge, I've received quite a few of those, mostly from novice writers who are submitting their first stories. Other editors and writing contests judges are fed up with them, too. Often, when I chat with editors and judges, one of them says, "Today I got a big batch of 'it was only a dream' submissions," and the rest of us just roll our eyes and groan in sympathy.

Goal and Motivation: What Does Your Story Character Want, and Why?

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: Goals and motivations drive every story, but they're critical in a short story. Rayne Hall discusses character wants and needs and how they keep readers hooked.

Today, I want to share a professional trick for hooking readers from the start and keeping them hooked until your story's ending.

Give your main character a goal and an urgent reason to pursue it. Perhaps she wants to or win a prize in the village flower show, rescue her daughter from the kidnappers, get her suitor to propose marriage or raise money for her business.

Make this as important as possible: she doesn't just want it, she needs it. (I'll use the female pronoun in this article, but of course the main character in your story can also be male.) Give her a compelling reason (or better, several) for needing to achieve this.

How to Keep Your Short Story Short

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: If you’re used to writing novels, switching to short fiction can be rough. Rayne Hall shares tips on how to keep your word count down.

Shorter stories are quicker to write. This means, you can produce more stories, and multiply your chances of getting them accepted for publication. But stories often expand as we write them, trying to grow into novels, demanding more and more words. How can you keep your short story short?

Here are six techniques professional short story authors use. Apply them when you start plotting your yarn.

1. Condense the time frame.

Let the action play out in the shortest time possible a weekend, an afternoon, perhaps even just an hour. Plots spreading over weeks, months or years tend to grow into novels. Curb this by making everything happen quickly.

How to Win Short Story Contests: Insights from A Writing Competition Judge

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: Thinking about entering a short story contest? Rayne Hall shares tips on how to improve your chances at winning.

Contests are great for short story writers, because they motivate you to create more stories and to revise them until they sparkle like diamonds. If your story wins, you'll gain recognition, validation that your writing is good, a boost for your credentials. You may also reap a cash prize, and perhaps a certificate, trophy or plaque to display.

So how do you make your story stand out in the eyes of the contest judges?

Of course, you need to write a really good story. All the usual guidelines for story writing apply: character, goal, motivation, conflict, structure, dialogue, hook, satisfying ending and more. Unless you've mastered the craft of short story writing, your chances of success are small, and no insider tricks will help.

But here are several steps you can take to draw the judges' attention to your good story and win their favor.

How to Publish Your Own Short Story Collection

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: If you have a lot of short stories written, publishing a collection might be a great idea. Rayne Hall shares tips on how to publish a successful short story collection.

Do you want to gather your short stories in a book? Here are insider tips for publishing a successful short story collection. Whether you’re looking for an agent or publisher, or plan to self-publish, these tips will put you ahead of the game.

1. Stick to one genre

Short story collections sell best if they focus on one genre, for example, romance, fantasy, historical or horror. Collections within a sub-genre are even more popular, e.g. paranormal romance, urban fantasy, mediaeval historical or psychological horror.

How to Fan Your Short Story Idea Sparks into a Bright Fire

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: When you've trained yourself to think "big" when creating story ideas, it can be hard to think "short." Rayne Hall shares tips and questions on how to turns your idea sparks into stories.

How often have you thought, "I want to write a story about this”—and then waited for the muse to come? You may have visited an intriguing place, listened to a friend's marital vows, chuckled about a social media post, or heard about an astonishing true-life event. These ideas are like sparks, hot, bright and fascinating—but how do you get from idea to story, from a mere spark to a bright flame?

Staring at the spark, waiting for the muse to come and fan it into a fire, rarely works. The sparks die, and all that's left is a cold crumb of ember. To build a fire, you need tinder (crumpled newspaper, birch bark, cotton wool balls) which ignites when touched by a spark. Without tinder, you won't get a flame, and without a flame, you can't light the kindling which sets the logs on fire.