How to write a story. Below are the guides that I use for my writing events, like the Short Storyathon. If you’re interested in checking out an event, you can find them on my business website for the Women’s Thriller Writers Association.
Come up with an idea
There are lots of ways to be inspired for a story.
You can:
- Visit a museum (in real life or virtually) and let the art or historic piece inspire an idea.
- Write a fan fiction piece – write a story about a character you love who hasn’t got a story of their own.
- Chase your questions. See something in the news, on a TV show, or in a book that leaves you with questions? Research, find out more, and maybe that will inspire a story.
- Real life is way more interesting than stories sometimes. Take notes on things that happen in your life and in other peoples lives. That might inspire some stories!
Just start writing
Now, don’t shake your head at me, but it’s true. Sit down in front of that laptop, set a timer for at least five minutes and start typing.
Make it better
No one is born a great writer. It takes work. Sure we might think we’ve written a great story, but that’s because we can see the story in our own head. Now, you need to see if your audience can see the same story. Have we crafted the words to makes sense for them.
Reviewers
The best way to get input is to pull together a group of writers, not your friends or family. Why? Because your friends and family are going to go in one of two directions. They’ll either just be kind and tell you “it’s great” or, especially if this is an early story in your writing career, they might hate it and tell you that. Hearing someone hates your story may discourage you from ever writing again.
However, give it to a group of fellow writers, give them guidelines, and expect honest feedback that will help you become a better writer and make that story much better.
You want your fellow reviewers to give you honest, constructive feedback. And, as the author, you have to learn to be a sponge. You’re not defending your story, your reviewers don’t want to hear “I wrote it that way because…”
Editor
Have an editor work on your story. Why? Because no matter how many times you read your own story, you’re going to miss something. Plus, a good editor can take another look at plot, character, and more. Basically, another chance to make this a better story.
Do all of the above in a weekend
I created the Short Storyathon to help writers get a short story written and published in a weekend. It”s a lot of work. On Friday night we come up with ideas, Saturday we start writing, we review each other’s work, edit, send it off to an editor, then Sunday we finish edits, create a cover and publish to Amazon.
Many attendees have had their stories hit the top ten in their genre or even hit the best selling list in Amazon Hot Reads!