Search Results for 'Short story starters'

Over recent days I have highlighted the different stages of writing:

Step 1: Plan

Step 2: Write

Step 3: Rewrite

Step 4: Edit

The editing stage is often overlooked by inexperienced writers. This is a crucial stage in the writing process. In the editing stage you need to go back over every word in the piece of writing; it doesn’t matter if it’s a fifty word filler paragraph or a five hundred thousand word novel.

Check for these things:

1. Check Spelling: spelling mistakes are avoidable; check – don’t assume it’s right.
2. Use the correct homophones: get to know the difference between know and no, right, rite and write, to, too and two. There are dozens more.
3. Use the right word: make sure you are using the right word for the context. For example, “She gave the allusion that she was very intelligent.” The correct word should be “illusion.”
4. Punctuation: make sure it is all there – and that it is used correctly. Study the classic authors and how they use punctuation for effect.
5. Check your typing: no matter how carefully you type, errors will creeep in – see what I mean? Get someone else to check for typos. And watch out for words that have been missed out. (I actually found one after I published this article.)
6. Check your use of apostrophes: mastering these is crucial. If you don’t, the Apostrophe Police will come knocking at your door, headed by my daughter.
7. Cut out all unnecessary words: ideally, this is done in the rewriting stage. Avoid padding just to reach the word count. (I just cut out four unnecessary words from that last sentence.)
8. Grammar: use correct grammar. This is too big a topic for this short article.

Good writing.

Further reading:

• Writing hints – more hints about writing.
• How to be a more productive writer or blogger – includes a list of strategies
• Short story starters – another article in this popular series I have written
• Write first drafts quickly
• Five rules for effective writing

Remember:

• Read every day.
• Write every day.
• Take time for yourself every day.

I quite often use a warm up writing exercise before I begin the main writing tasks or projects for the day. Sometimes I write in my journal and sometimes I write a new short fiction story.

Writing exercises:

Another good writing exercise is to write character sketches. Here are some suggestions:

1. Choose a person you know well: write a character sketch about that person.
2. Sit on a bench in a park: observe the other people there and choose one person to write about.
3. Go to your favourite coffee shop: observe the other people having coffee and write about one of them.
4. Watch the first ten minutes of a movie you’ve never seen before with the sound turned off: write a character sketch of one of the characters in the film.
5. Choose a photo of a person from a magazine, someone you know nothing about: write a character sketch about that person.
6. Read through the death notices in your local newspaper, choosing one person you have never heard of before: write a character sketch about that person.
7. Choose a name at random from the telephone directory: write about that person.

What to include:

• Describe the appearance of the person, both body features and clothing.
• Outline about four or five major events in the person’s life.
• Describe the person’s personality.
• Write down three or four sayings the person loves to use in everyday life.
• List the preferred food, drinks and recreational activities of your character.

Follow up activity:

If the character sketch becomes so interesting and powerful as you write, how about letting the character take over and tell his or her own story? There might well be a short story lurking there waiting to be released. Perhaps even a novel?

Good writing.

Further reading:

• Writing hints – an archive of articles full of writing hints and ideas.
• Short fiction – a listing of short stories I’ve written as writing exercises.
• Short story starters – a series of articles listing many ideas to start you off with writing stories. (Very popular)