Writing Short Stories

I love writing short stories. In fact, most of my short stories early in my career were for kids. It was a great way for me to relive my childhood while admitting to the world that Sudesna Ghosh just won’t grow up. Going forward, I started writing short stories for an older audience too. There’s Mother & Son, His Search for the Perfect Bride, and more. So it’s been a mix of humorous short stories and cute romantic shorts. Recently, in A Lockdown Story, I wrote serious, emotional fiction relevant to the world’s current scenario. Usually, humour slips into all my stories but this time it didn’t even come close. While I enjoy writing longer stories (novellas), the short story genre has always held a special place in my heart. And trust me, anyone who thinks a lower word count translates to easy writing, is WRONG. Today, I wanted to share a few short story writing tips. These are not rules — I’m sharing my learnings with you. We writers learn a lot with every story we write. Here goes:

1. Make sure that your short story has a clear beginning, middle and end.
2. Do not put too many main characters in a short story.
3. Don’t waste pages getting to the main plot. You have to make the plot clear from the beginning.
4. Avoid putting in blocks and blocks of description. You need to paint the picture for the reader without being wordy.
5. When you’re editing, cut cut cut unless it’s absolutely essential for the story.
6. Remember that you can’t fit in decades into a short story. That’s what novels are for.
7. There’s no space for an elaborate back story. If you need to give a background, make it short and to-the-point.

Hope these tips help you 🙂