For example, you can start with a simple plot like your main character has to deal with bad news or your main character gets an unwanted visit from a friend or family member. You can also try a more complicated plot like your main character wakes up in a parallel dimension or your main character discovers someone else’s deep dark secret.

For example, maybe your main character has a desire or want that they have a hard time fulfilling. Or perhaps your main character is trapped in a bad or dangerous situation and must figure out how to stay alive.

You can also focus on a more specific theme like “love between siblings,” “desire for friendship” or “loss of a parent. ”

For example, you may have an emotional climax where your main character, a lonely elderly man, has to confront his neighbor about his illegal activity. Or you may have an emotional climax where the main character, a young teenage girl, stands up for her brother against school bullies.

“The Lady with the Dog” by Anton Chekhov[7] X Research source “Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You” by Alice Munro “For Esme-With Love and Squalor" by J. D. Salinger[8] X Research source “A Sound of Thunder” by Ray Bradbury[9] X Research source “Snow, Glass, Apples” by Neil Gaiman “Brokeback Mountain” by Annie Proulx[10] X Research source “Wants” by Grace Paley “Apollo” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie “This is How You Lose Her” by Junot Diaz “Seven” by Edwidge Danticat

You can also try the snowflake method, where you have a one-sentence summary, a one-paragraph summary, a synopsis of all the characters in the story, and a spreadsheet of scenes.

For example, an opening line like: “I was lonely that day” does not tell your reader much about the narrator and is not unusual or engaging. Instead, try an opening line like: “The day after my wife left me, I rapped on the neighbor’s door to ask if she had any sugar for a cake I wasn’t going to bake. ” This line gives the reader a past conflict, the wife leaving, and tension in the present between the narrator and the neighbor.

Some stories are written in second person, where the narrator uses “you. ” This is usually only done if the second person is essential to the narrative, such as in Ted Chiang’s short story, “Story of Your Life” or Junot Diaz’s short story, “This is How You Lose Her. ” Most short stories are written in the past tense, though you can use the present tense if you’d like to give the story more immediacy.

For example, you may describe your old high school as “a giant industrial-looking building that smells of gym socks, hair spray, lost dreams, and chalk. ” Or you may describe the sky by your house as “a blank sheet covered in thick, gray haze from wildfires that crackled in the nearby forest in the early morning. ”

You can also end on an interesting image or dialogue that reveals a character change or shift. For example, you may end your story when your main character decides to turn in their neighbor, even if that means losing them as a friend. Or you may end your story with the image of your main character helping her bloodied brother walk home, just in time for dinner.

Notice if your story follows your plot outline and that there is a clear conflict for your main character. Reading the story aloud can also help you catch any spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors.

For example, the title “Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You” by Alice Munro is a good one because it is a quote from a character in the story and it addresses the reader directly, where the “I” has something to share with readers. The title “Snow, Apple, Glass” by Neil Gaiman is also a good one because it presents three objects that are interesting on their own, but even more interesting when placed together in one story.

You can also join a writing group and submit your short story for a workshop. Or you may start your own writing group with friends so you can all workshop each other’s stories. Once you get feedback from others, you should then revise the short story again so it is at its best draft.