The biggest problem with short stories is that they’re short. Unlike a novel, where you have time and space to delve into the plot and develop your characters, a short story has to be succinct. That means you can’t afford to make mistakes in the limited word count you have.
As an editor, I’ve read a lot of short stories and the same mistakes seem to trip newer writers up again and again. If you’re writing short stories and want to get them right, here are eight mistakes you need to avoid.
Trying to do too much
You have to remember that a short story is not a novel, so it really shouldn’t have a vast array of characters or span a long period of time. The most successful short stories have just one or two central characters and focus on a single event. Some very experienced short story writers might get away with longer time spans and multiple characters, but it’s rare.
Relying on clichéd characters
Clichéd characters crop up far too often in short stories. This is largely because authors are relying on a trope everyone understands in order to ‘explain’ their character, without wasting words on their backstory. In a short story, we don’t need a character’s history. All we want is an impression of them. We want to be able to guess details of their life from how they act and react in this brief flash we’re seeing of them.
You’re just rehashing old stories
People are sometimes a little reluctant to be experimental with short fiction. The danger in that is your stories may begin to sound a little too familiar to your readers, as you become too reliant on over-used plots and settings. These stories become stale and predictable, so you really need to add something original and fresh or put a new slant on the familiar if you want your story to stand out.
A dull opening sentence
A boring first line can almost be forgiven in a novel, where you have an entire first chapter to redeem yourself. A boring first line in a short story, however, can be a fatal flaw. That’s because bad writing in short stories is very exposed, and you have an incredibly limited amount of time to hook a reader. Readers may commit to a novel with a weak opening, but if they read a poor first line in a short story, they’re more likely to just move on. The shorter a short story is, the less room there is for error.
Not giving your characters anything to do
Two characters sitting in a room having a conversation is not a short story. Your characters need to be doing something if you want to hook your readers, because having them take action means you also get to play with setting and character, fleshing your story out with more details. They can converse whilst doing whatever it is they’re doing, but a straightforward conversation in a room is not going to draw people in.
Choosing an uninteresting protagonist
If your protagonist doesn’t have a unique perspective on events taking place within your story, readers will lose interest. Your main character needs to have an interesting view of the world, something a reader couldn’t get from anyone else but this person. It doesn’t matter how exciting the events impacting them are if they remain passive and lifeless.
It just doesn’t go anywhere
If your story has no rising tension and no climax, then it’s not really a story. Even in short fiction, there needs to be a pay-off by the end. If your story is simply following a character around and doesn’t really go anywhere in terms of plot, then that’s a major weakness.
It’s beautifully written but is very beige
You can have written the most beautiful, well-crafted prose, but if your story is bland then it’s not doing its job. Stories need both good writing and a compelling plot and characters. If, by the end, your reader doesn’t care about the characters and what is happening to them, then you may as well not have bothered writing it in the first place.
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