How to Write a Short Story


                                                                                                                                                           

I have been listening to wonderful stories since my childhood from very informed narrators like my grandfather and later, my father.
      
Whether it was the monkey warrior Hanuman or the powerful Bhīma, I found these tales very interesting, full of suspense and topped up by a befitting ending. Not to be left behind, the storyteller played the most important role as he stressed skillfully on the most important aspects and dropped the unnecessary. I always had the satisfaction of having heard something really good and in the process learned something valuable without even being aware of it.

The modern short story has adopted some of the above aspects seamlessly. It would be pertinent here to understand here how it is different from a novel.

For the novelist, the length or scope may never be a serious consideration. He can divide his work into chapters which may be further subdivided into various sections. He can have a plethora of characters dotting the landscape of his writing and numerous plots and subplots merging and twisting with each other. He may also choose to spend big time on the underlying philosophy or the theme.

Not so for the short story writer whose narrative technique focuses primarily on brevity and compactness. He may not have the luxury of adding pages after pages of black ink to say what he has in mind. He has to work within a definite framework and create a wholesome experience that has the capacity to fulfill, enrich and if possible, surprise the reader.

So, a short story is razor sharp and pointed, it is garden fresh and yes, it is a breakthrough.

Leo Tolstoy’s Little Girls Wiser than Men is just a two page story written more than a century ago but it creates an indelible impression on your heart even today due to its simplicity and incredible insight into a routine, everyday event.

Akoúlya and Malásha are two little girls who enjoy playing together on an early Easter day. However, they happen to pick up a friendly fight which escalates when their elders jump in and start blaming each other. Meanwhile, the two girls again resume their play, having forgotten their small fight, totally oblivious of the ruckus their parents are creating.

Seeing this, an old woman remarks:
'Are you not ashamed of yourselves? To go fighting on account of these lassies, when they themselves have forgotten all about it, and are playing happily together. Dear little souls! They are wiser than you!'

The men finally realize their mistake and laugh it off.

Within a short space, Tolstoy creates magic and packs tremendous punch into an apparently mundane incident.He displays a writer’s ability to convert a familiar, street side happening into something new with a profound grasp over a child’s psychology who ultimately proves to be wiser than so called adults.

Another important aspect here is that of authenticity.

When you write from your own, intense personal experience, your story acquires a shade of truthfulness. Subsequently, it appears credible to a reader. And it is only a credible story that can connect well with the reader.

Even though, a skilled writer may overcome his lack of experience with his rich imagination, it’s better for a budding writer to start with his own experience.

I have written in detail about this subject at

Please note that a good story needs to be structured well in order to have a strong appeal. The most famous and apt definition of structure has been offered by none other than Aristotle who famously remarked that every story should have ‘a beginning, a middle and an end.’

Simply put, the beginning of a story seeks to provide a brief introduction where you may like us to meet the principal characters and get the basic theme or idea.

The middle carries the conflict or complication and develops it to a point of highest tension or climax.

And the ending offers a finding or resolution.

I have written more about design and structure at


In this context, it is pertinent to study O Henry’s very interesting story Bestseller.

Initially, we are introduced to the chief protagonist John A and get acquainted with his life as a travelling salesman for a plate –glass company.

Next, we learn about his views on the bestseller novel ‘The Rose Lady and Trevelyan’ which he throws off in disgust. He feels that such novels are far from reality as they show men and women from different backgrounds falling in love. He is of the opinion that ‘When people in real life marry, they generally hunt up somebody in their station. A fellow usually picks up the same girl who went to the same high-school and belonged to the same singing –society that he did.’

And thereafter, we see him following the same pattern in his own life as a hypocrite when he falls in love with Jessie who is the daughter of ‘the biggest man’ in Virginia.

Thus, O Henry designs his story neatly and drives home the irony inherent in the situation in a masterly fashion.

It is also important to note how skillfully he invites the reader to evaluate the events as they occur in the novel against those that happen in John’s real life and form his own opinion.

That’s what a good writer does- he makes the reader part of his story by turning him into a participant.

To summarize, as a short story writer, be concise, be different, be authentic, design your story well and keep your style simple yet engaging.

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