How to Write a Short Story | Writing Tips
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- Опубліковано 9 лип 2024
- Welcome to Short Fiction 101!
MORE SHORT STORY STUFF:
~Write a short story with me: • Video
~Write a short story with me (part two): • Video
~My short story process: • Video
~How to get started with short fiction: • Video
~All about my short story collection: • Video
→All My Published Work: linktr.ee/shaelinbishop
→If you want to support my channel, you can tip me on ko-fi! ko-fi.com/shaelinbishop
MY SHORT FICTION:
☾"I Will Never Tell You This" in The Puritan: puritan-magazine.com/never-tel...
☾"Solarium" in The Minola Review: www.minolareview.com/shaelin-b...
☾"Barefoot" in The Fiddlehead [print only]: thefiddlehead.ca/issue/282
☾ "Wishbone" in PRISM international [print only]: prismmagazine.ca/2020/04/19/pr...
SHORT STORIES I LIKE:
~The Maenad by Eliza Robertson: granta.com/the-maenad/
~Mountain Under Sea by DW Wilson: www.cbc.ca/books/mountain-und...
~Apollo by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
~Dogs Go Wolf by Lauren Groff: www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
~Insta by Kelsey Robbins Lauder: puritan-magazine.com/insta/
~Cold Little Bird by Ben Marcus: www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...
~On This Side by Yuko Sakata: iowareview.org/from-the-issue...
MORE WRITING TIPS: • Writing Tips
WRITING VLOGS: • Writing Vlogs
WRITING CHATS & DISCUSSIONS: • Writing & Authortube D...
BOOK REVIEWS: • Recent Reads
Check out more writing and publishing videos from me over @Reedsy!: / @reedsy
OUTRO MUSIC: "l u v t e a [acoustic]" by Autumn Keys
SOCIAL
Website: www.shaelinbishop.com
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If you'd like to learn more, I've made a follow up video talking about 12 easy short story tips for new writers! ua-cam.com/video/rOj7Ko_3vwg/v-deo.html
2:55 Crux/Character revelation
4:08 Event over theme
6:27 Change
7:05 Goal/Desire
7:28 Antagonist
8:00 Template
15:02 Ending
15:52 Beginning
17:11 Share the information (Exposition)
18:00 Character
You are definitely knowledgable. Keep doing what you do. I am passionate about the craft and can talk all day with someone like you who is also passionate about storytelling. Good luck with your endeavors.
Thank You! 😊
Watching this at school because education
Schools r lame
@@alialhakam2821 then you're a dumbass
@@polpogiorno1115 XD I'm sorry these replies are just....oh my god..
@@cloudynites1679👌
Poor you.
step 1: Have a natural talent that you've been nurturing with hard work and constant writing since youth.
step 2: cry
Ragnarok and still be a nobody making comments on UA-cam. And clearly doesn’t write in the humor section....
It's more to a hobby
I don’t believe that you need a natural talent to write. I had Cs and Ds in writing last year, but I have worked on it and now I have an A+ in writing and I actually enjoy writing, unlike previously when I would avoid writing until the last day possible
I think this videos has scared a lot of people off and it is certainly not the way I write. The video says you now need to start thinking of internal goals and external goals, the exact point they need to build and diminish tension, certain incidents occurring that will spark off a new chain of events, a specific theme and interpersonal goals, tied into a breakdown of structured scenes. This is so complicated and after reading that myself, it certainly does not inspire me to write. These are things you analyse in your studies, and points you spot out after writing it- something that becomes not something you have mapped out. My advice would be, just write. Think of an idea, if the story is good enough you will automatically capture the reader, it doesn't need to be so mechanical as this video describes. You can very quickly plan it out like above, and spend hours doing so. This takes much away from the story itself because you have become your own enemy. Don't be scared to do it your own way!
So true
when you have a narrative due at 12 and it’s already 9
That is actually me right now
Me
Me
I feel you sis
Same it's 12:00 in the night and my project is due @ 6: in the morning 😭😭😭😭
Shaelin if you ever did a podcast you’d have my vote!
Yes please!
She is such an inspiring person. This just made me want to write a short story
She really is. She gives such good information!
I think this videos has scared a lot of people off and it is certainly not the way I write. The video says you now need to start thinking of internal goals and external goals, the exact point they need to build and diminish tension, certain incidents occurring that will spark off a new chain of events, a specific theme and interpersonal goals, tied into a breakdown of structured scenes. This is so complicated and after reading that myself, it certainly does not inspire me to write. These are things you analyse in your studies, and points you spot out after writing it- something that becomes not something you have mapped out. My advice would be, just write. Think of an idea, if the story is good enough you will automatically capture the reader, it doesn't need to be so mechanical as this video describes. You can very quickly plan it out like above, and spend hours doing so. This takes much away from the story itself because you have become your own enemy. Don't be scared to do it your own way!
Don't want, just do it...!
Writing tips:
1. Be Shae the Mighty
2.
Who's Shae?
@Jocelyne Lessard yh I realized after writing that
@Jocelyne Lessard you were trying to be helpful. I'm thankful for that
2. Sharingan
I just had a nightmare and I put it to words. My friends got freaked out about my text. Which means that my text actually made them feel in a way it was supposed to.
Now I'm going to refine it into an actual story and I want to keep doing it. Weird that a nightmare caused this
I also had a night mare maybe I'm put in my story
That's actually awesome. I'm actually lowkey hoping that you're able to upload it to some website so that we can read it. Hope the writing process went well!
Make that nightmare your bitch
That's cool!
That's such a power move
I think it is helpful to bring up Ray Bradbury's short stories because I don't remember much character at all in them. They mostly seemed like explorations of interesting settings. I guess they did give definition to character traits, but it usually felt like the worlds themselves were the main focus.
I think this videos has scared a lot of people off and it is certainly not the way I write. The video says you now need to start thinking of internal goals and external goals, the exact point they need to build and diminish tension, certain incidents occurring that will spark off a new chain of events, a specific theme and interpersonal goals, tied into a breakdown of structured scenes. This is so complicated and after reading that myself, it certainly does not inspire me to write. These are things you analyse in your studies, and points you spot out after writing it- something that becomes not something you have mapped out. My advice would be, just write. Think of an idea, if the story is good enough you will automatically capture the reader, it doesn't need to be so mechanical as this video describes. You can very quickly plan it out like above, and spend hours doing so. This takes much away from the story itself because you have become your own enemy. Don't be scared to do it your own way!
this guy obviously has grammerly
@@kai_johnsonn holy crap dude how many times did you post this comment?! Lol, I've seen it like 20 times in this video's comment section
Time to re read Bradbury
@@alfonsomango_suyu Ray Bradbury's book Zen In the Art of Writing is worth reading as well.
She really is inspiring to us newbies, personally gives me a huge confidence boost after every video I watch Thank you!
Me listening to this so I can write one direction oneshots: 👂👁👄👁👂
iconic
Love when someone shares this type of information with the internet :)
Took a break from writing a short story to watch this 😂 Perfect timing!
Shae, I want to thank you for your advice and teaching on writing short stories.
At first, I was writing short stories in a way that was like a novel. Like three act structure, hero’s journey, save the cat, the works. And it didn’t get me any where. Then I started to write using techniques Dwight Swain would, but it still was like a novel structure.
I almost lost hope. Till I found your UA-cam channel and it gave me a chance. Now I’m in the process of writing a collection of short stories. At the prewriting stage.
Any way, thanks Shaelin! You shined a light in a dark place.
You have to write about something universally relatable. That's why love, danger, and fear find their way into many short stories.
i realize this is an older post but it's sooo relevant and to the point i jst can't hardly even believe it. This vid helped me immensely. Thank you!!
Hi Shaelin! This is a great lecture on short story writing! I've always been the kind of writer where the ideas I get turn into novels, and I have been stumped about how to write actual short fiction. So what you say here is really helpful. The distinction you draw between novels and short stories-the journey versus the event-is something I have never heard before, not even at university! So thank you very much! :)
This made me go back and start editing a short story I haven't touched in months!
That’s to the point. You are so natural, fluent, fresh and pretty knowledgeable 👍
My respect for short stories has increased after watching your video!
This was an amazing breakdown of how a short should be done. Bravo.
I wish I went to your school. It's hard to find a serious creative writing school.
There are actually many writing programs out there (though it does depend on where you live), it often just requires a bit of research! My school is good but far, far from the only one
Open University Creative Writing by distance learning might be worth checking out.
FYI I wish I had gone to your school
Thank you so much for this! I'm a seasoned novelist who avoided short stories until recently. Giving the difference between a "novel" idea and a "short fiction" idea is priceless. I've never heard anyone state it in such a way, and you have helped me embrace short-fiction writing.
Thank you so much for doing this video!! This year has been the year of exploring writing short stories and mainly in the paranormal genre and this is just what I needed, thank you Shaelin!!!! :)
i just joined a contest at my school where i have to write a short story, im still pretty new to it as i'm starting to go back to my storytelling roots, your videos have been the most helpful! thank you so so much
this video just unlocked and clairified a LOT of things for me, thank you so much!
Yes, Shae. You got it exactly!
I struggle with the idea getting too big. I’m supposed to enter a work for a short story until I realised my short stories are about 10k words and the requirement is only 2k words. I tried hitting 2k many times and can’t.
Honestly writing stories that are
@@ShaelinWrites really, i struggle with the opposite, i can't make a scene last...
Do you have any tips on that?
@@Simo-U48 I'm not as experienced as Shae, but I do have a little advice. Don't EVER tell the reader how the character is feeling. Let them figure it out, but give them clues, like "She sniffled, staring at her face in the mirror." You can easily visualize the character and tell how they're feeling. Use multiple sentences to do it, too, and your word count will grow. Also, take time to describe setting. It's fun to me, at least, to have a little pocket of a world in your head. When your character just floats around a void, occasionally interacting with objects, it's not very memorable. Next, if you need more words and you can't stretch your writing anymore, my advice is make something go BOOM! Just out of the blue! The reader won't expect it, and it propels your story a little further without running into the "Stupid Protagonist" problem. (You don't literally have to make something go boom, any unexpected event will do. Just start with some sort of onamonapeia (On-a Mon-a Pee-a, idk how to spell it) and go from there)
@@lowercase_ash hhmmm... I don't know if I have a problem with a story. There is two big situations: the death of the crush and the kidnapping of another character. My 'hero' deals with both in different ways.
@@alfonsomango_suyu what? Sorry, I can't figure out what you're saying. I really wanna help tho
You definitely got a new subscriber! Love your energy and the way you explain things. Keep it up!
saw this and wrote a little note of a potential short story, the first one I've done outside of school. And I left school 10 years ago. thanks :)
Thank you shaelin. You inspired me and took my fear away from writing a short story. I wanted to write short stories a long time ago and I am almost finished with my first novel (which I love and am very proud of) but short stories were always kind of scary to me.. I've been collecting so many ideas through out the years but they never were big enough for whole novels so I put them aside. You made me want to believe in myself again and I will try to start my first short story right now to keep it as a side project.. so thanks :) Greetings from Germany.
Yes!! Good luck with those stories, I'm excited for you!
this just made me think about the two short stories and my one short comic so much i hardly heard anything, jej. i had almost forgotten i was trying to write them, though, so i guess it’s actually a good thing, but i will need to rewatch.
Thank you so much for this! I always wanted to start writing short stories and thanks to you ( and a lot of other helpful UA-cam videos ) I am starting to get the gist!
I’ve been getting more and more into writing specifically short stories but I have a really hard time dragging the story out long enough for it not to be like 500 words.
I love your videos they’re so helpful! ❤️
Thank you for taking the time out of your day!🧡
Of all writing videos .... you've made more sense more than anyone else I've tuned to
Just discovered your videos! Thanks so much. I've long needed concrete ideas on how to structure a short story
Using this to help go back and fix an old short story of mine
This advice/info is what I've been searching for, thank you so so much!
This literally came at the best possible time. I am currently writing a short story and was looking for tips.
These are really great tips! Thanks Shaelin!
I am a new subscriber and found your channel yesterday about short stories. I have been writing down ideas here and there since I was 11 but thought to really put it to use. I'm 14 now and really want to start writing my ideas down. Thank you for making this channel and putting your tips out it's a real motivation.
Great advice. Thank you so much!
Thank you for this video💗
You are amazing!!! This helped me so much!
characters should be surprising but congruous with our understanding who or what they are... Shaelin, I applaud!
Shaelin, thanks for sharing your ideas. They're very enlightening and helpful. Cheers!
Wow thank you for this video. I've been struggling to get out my ideas onto paper. This was very helpful 😊
Omg this timing is perfect- i just released a short story on my channel that my critique partner and i were working on
It seems like all the authors on UA-cam have been bitten by a short story bug. I just posted a video on how to write a short story if you've never done it before. :)
Thank you for making this, it was very helpful.
I'm 8:03 into this video and I have to leave this comment to let you know that you've already helped me more with my ambition of getting into creative writing so far than any videos or articles I've read to date. Thank you very much, I look forward to seeing more of your videos and learning all that I can!
Wow. So much to say. And all of it gold. Thankyou!
Wow! That was awesome! You have such natural talent to teach writing! Thanks! You've helped me a lot!
Your videos help me so much. Thank you!
Currently listening to this as I write a short story 💓
Thank you. This has been very informative. You add value and I appreciate you.
Who knew that a year later, your video would be helping someone like little old me. I'm a novel type writer, attempting to write my first short story. (I talk to much, write to much, so I needed advice and help) Thanks so much for making this video.
Excellent video, I found this very helpful.
This was so much helpful! Thank you so much!
I was sceptical about this video because of your age but I feel that I got an 8 hour lecture in 24 min. Thank you.
She was in university then
That's stupid
This was a very interesting and informative video! Thanks so much for making it! It was super helpful!
There is not that much information about writing a short story in Arabic! so I decided to look in the second language and yea I found u!. And your explanation was very useful. And I'm, so excited to read ur stories💓💓.
Awesome! Super helpful thanks for this!
i handed in a short story assignment yesterday and i used symbiosis as a reference in my commentary as one of the things that inspired me. i hope that's not weird, i just found it super helpful to read because the atmosphere of it was really similar to what i was going for in my own story, with the woodland setting and all, although the plot is very different (my story is about a kid with mutism whose best friend drowns in this abandoned swimming pool in the middle of the woods.) idk i just thought i'd let you know that your story inspired me in some way :) and thank you for the video btw, it was super helpful as always :D
Your story sounds awesome! And I'm honoured
Thank you for this video. You made the most interesting videos about short stories.
your helping me so much in my struggles with condensing my stories to produce great material. Also. Your absolutely gorgeous. Thanks an sorry if that was rude.
This was helpful and a video I can carry over for trying to start a children’s book series.
Excellent post. For the last year and a half I’ve written nothing but short stories, mainly to practice writing, because I’m relatively new to the craft 👍
Short stories are great to learn the craft when you first start out! That's all I wrote for the first year or so before starting a novel. It must work, because I now have a 140, 000-word YA fantasy novel that I'm working on getting published. :)
she is very SMART!
Here is one of my top 10 short stories of all time. I’m a professional published short story writer and if you want to learn the art of short story writing, read the best. Here’s one by Grace Paley-one of the best in the world. Her book from which this story is included is titled “ Enormous Changes At The Last Minute”. The book was published in 1974 and nominated for the National Book Award For Fiction. Read it several times for inspiration and understanding. It’s not long. If any of you enjoy it, I’ll send you one more that also ranks in my top 10.
Grace Paley
“ Wants”
from her 1974 short story collection “ Enormous Changes At The Last Minute”
Nominated for the National Book Award For Fiction ).
~
I saw my ex-husband in the street. I was sitting on the steps of the new library.
Hello, my life, I said. We had once been married for twenty-seven years, so I felt justified.
He said, What? What life? No life of mine.
I said, O.K. I don't argue when there's real disagreement. I got up and went into the library to see how much I owed them.
The librarian said $32 even and you've owed it for eighteen years. I didn't deny anything. Because I don't understand how time passes. I have had those books. I have often thought of them. The library is only two blocks away.
My ex-husband followed me to the Books Returned desk. He interrupted the librarian, who had more to tell. In many ways, he said, as I look back, I attribute the dissolution of our marriage to the fact that you never invited the Bertrams to dinner.
That's possible, I said. But really, if you remember: first, my father was sick that Friday, then the children were born, then I had those Tuesday-night meetings, then the war began. Then we didn't seem to know them any more. But you're right. I should have had them to dinner.
I gave the librarian a check for $32. Immediately she trusted me, put my past behind her, wiped the record clean, which is just what most other municipal and/or state bureaucracies will not do.
I checked out the two Edith Wharton books I had just returned because I'd read them so long ago and they are more apropos now than ever. They were The House of Mirth and The Children, which is about how life in the United States in New York changed in twenty-seven years fifty years ago.
A nice thing I do remember is breakfast, my ex-husband said. I was surprised. All we ever had was coffee. Then I remembered there was a hole in the back of the kitchen closet which opened into the apartment next door. There, they always ate sugar-cured smoked bacon. It gave us a very grand feeling about breakfast, but we never got stuffed and sluggish.
That was when we were poor, I said.
When were we ever rich? he asked.
Oh, as time went on, as our responsibilities increased, we didn't go in need. You took adequate financial care, I reminded him. The children went to camp four weeks a year and in decent ponchos with sleeping bags and boots, just like everyone else. They looked very nice. Our place was warm in winter, and we had nice red pillows and things.
I wanted a sailboat, he said. But you didn't want anything.
Don't be bitter, I said. It's never too late.
No, he said with a great deal of bitterness. I may get a sailboat. As a matter of fact I have money down on an eighteen-foot two-rigger. I'm doing well this year and can look forward to better. But as for you, it's too late. You'll always want nothing.
He had had a habit throughout the twenty-seven years of making a narrow remark which, like a plumber's snake, could work its way through the ear down the throat, half-way to my heart. He would then disappear, leaving me choking with equipment. What I mean is, I sat down on the library steps and he went away.
I looked through The House of Mirth, but lost interest. I felt extremely accused. Now, it's true, I'm short of requests and absolute requirements. But I do want something.
I want, for instance, to be a different person. I want to be the woman who brings these two books back in two weeks. I want to be the effective citizen who changes the school system and addresses the Board of Estimate on the troubles of this dear urban center.
I had promised my children to end the war before they grew up.
I wanted to have been married forever to one person, my ex-husband or my present one. Either has enough character for a whole life, which as it turns out is really not such a long time. You couldn't exhaust either man's qualities or get under the rock of his reasons in one short life.
Just this morning I looked out the window to watch the street for a while and saw that the little sycamores the city had dreamily planted a couple of years before the kids were born had come that day to the prime of their lives.
Well! I decided to bring those two books back to the library. Which proves that when a person or an event comes along to jolt or appraise me I can take some appropriate action, although I am better known for my hospitable remarks
-Grace Paley
This is so helpful, thank you!
This really helped a lot! I'm working on a short story comic and all of these tips also translate to a visual medium. I've been so focused on the artistic aspects for so long that I completely undermined the importance of good writing.
Thank u thismeans so muchh
This helps with my GCSE creative writing, thx
Extremely insightful. Thank you!
many thanks for this video. I am having to take a creative writing class next semester; this has been a great help!
Thank you so much.This video is amazing. Have a nice day! ❤
I’m not even a writer, but my ELA teacher is making us write a short story and I actually want to make it kinda good.
how did that go
How’d you do?
@@diamondfox8374 pretty good! I got an A, but we were limited to 6 pages max, so I feel like I could have made it better if I could put more details
@@yin1079 noice! Yeah, that’s why I’m still learning to write shorter stories, since I always end up making this wayyyyy to long
I just stumbled across this and watched part of it and subscribed. I wanted to comment on a few things off topic: You speak so clearly and at such a nice pace, it was wonderful listening to you. I watch a lot of videos on a variety of topics and so often I stop watching because the person presenting the info is a poor speaker, has an extremely rapid pace and goes off point and doesn't finish the topic completely. You explain things extremely well, you stay on point, and your pace is perfect. I can't wait to go and look at your other videos. Thank you for making this. :)
This was so helpful, like seriously! I've been working on a short story for an assessment, and I feel like you've just solved all my problems,,,
Thanks for this video 🤝
Ur saving me with this, I love you ❤️
You are so good thank you for sharing all the tips ☺️
Great stuff, thanks!
Wow 👏 very helpful thank you
I agree so much! I enjoyed reading short stories on Sherlock Holmes, it's really like a quick reading that you can learn a lot from 💕💕 that's why I planned to write short stories and talk more about it on my authortube after finishing my first draft
I love writing short stories too! There must be a short story bug going around because I just upload a video about writing a short story if you've never done it before. :D
@@annafox1940 I just subscribed to you, glad to know you have a video on them :) I'll be sure to put that video on the list when i'm starting on my first short stories (a proper short stories that is 😆)
I write story’s so I can draw them out , I’m an artist and I love drawing , but I own a journal where a write out the characters and then after I’m done I draw them out
That's a really interesting thing to do
Thanks for this!
Great video. Thanks for sharing this.
I always wanna write stories but I can never think of ideas. I don’t know what to write about! Love this video btw you’re really smart ❤️
Ella Carrington write about what you know...your experience
You can use movies for ideas
I actually want to start with some short stories, since novels are what I'm more familiar with (both with reading and partially with writing, or more like coming up with a story that could be written down in one). I thought short stories could be a good exercise and something new and refreshing. What I did is I just searched for "short story prompts", or in my case "medieval fantasy short story prompts", as that's the genre I'm most comfortable and familiar with and interested in. There are websites that offer lists of topics and describe in a sentence or two the settings/the main theme for a short story. And although I wouldn't release it anywhere as "my" story (since I didn't come up with the idea originally in the first place), they are definitely worth checking out!
Use daydreams! If you don't have those very often, you should try to relax and then you can chill while you tell everyone that you're working!
@4:35 - I was looking for this reminder for myself: "a short story is allowed to just feature interesting people in interesting situations". Thanks!
I was having Ideas for novels this whole time, you just blew my fucking mind thank you!!
thanks for this
Didn't even know I've been low key waiting for you to make this video
Thank you❤
Shaelin. You are literally the goddess of writing. I was just asking myself if you have uploaded a video on how to write a short story, and then I receive an email notification that you posted this video. Sorcery.
it is witchcraft I can confirm
@@ShaelinWrites i knew it. but now i'm scared.
I am a philosopher so this story writing is all new to me. Maybe I will give it a shot. This video is quite good.
This was very helpful!
I still watched the video even though I’m writing a 3 part book on Wattpad. It still helped me a bit though good job 👍 C: !!!
Wow you are a good speaker 👍
thank you very much for this :-)