How to write short stories

Supportive writing guide, helping you discover your talent

how to write short stories •Inside• Love & encouragement Writing motivation Story maps Revealing character tips True tales inspiration Hi2020 short story competition

Welcome...

seek your ideas within...

Happy London Press would like to help you write a great short story. If you enjoy yourself – and find you have a wonderful new hidden talent – we would like to give you this great opportunity and enter the Hi2020 Short Story Competition... see the back page for more details.

Hi2020.co.uk

In this issue we thought we would inspire you to try your hand at writing a short story. Then, if we can give you confidence enough, you might like to enter one, two or three stories into our Hi2020 Short Story competition – brought to you by Happy London Press.

You have until 20th July to polish up your creative works and send them in.

So, dust down your pencil pot, grab some bright colourful, felt tips and let’s get creating together.

Love and encouragement from the Editor

d n a ! s n s u e f c o e r v p a e H njoy th e

Clare Newton Editor, Happy London Press and Hi2020

Meet our contributors Peter la Trobe | Harlow Writers Workshop Steve Whitehouse | Author & Headmaster France Ellul | Wycombe Writers Group Jane O’Reilly | Hertford Writers Circle Andrew Segal | Author of Short Stories Ida Williams | Author of Short Stories Brodie Farrow | Book Blogger Kaitlyn Pibernik | Founder Yellow Scribe Publishings

Real happiness comes from inside What’s magical about a short story P6-7

Set daily goals P14 -15

Themes P23

Mark on which days

that you feel

Let’s build on an emotional thought P32-35

Readers need them

you can spend

passionate about

Use emotions to

Choosing subjects

for day to day journeys

As simple as baking P8-9 Enjoy storymaking

Where to start a short story P10-11 Finding subjects from scraps

Helping to germinate ideas P12-13

drive a narrative

Exercise 2: Write a short sentence P16-17

How to structure a short story P24-27

Describe a scene

the main plot

Simplified version of

Finding the right

using your senses

Exercise 3: introduce a character P18-21 Showing the scene

Readers need them

The colour of stories P22

for day to day journeys

Capturing colour in a story

Exercise 4: How to express emotions P36-37

Lets draw a plot map P28-29

words to express emotion

Helping you to map out a plot

Now write up your notes P30-31

Moods, Feelings and Emotions P38-39 What are the differences.

Make curating notes about your plot

Narration P40 Who’s going to tell the story?

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How to begin: opening first Line P41-43

Exercise 7: Describe a personality P51

Importance of

Uncover personalities

opening paragraph

for your protagonist

Insights: understanding human relationships P66-67

Hi2020 How to write a short story Produced by HappyLondonPress.com East London HappyLDNPress@gmail.com

There are many

Exercise 5: Write a dramatic opening first paragraph.

P44-45 Awareness of words used at the beginning

Mirror, Mirror, under my pen…

P52-53 Finding a new angle

Writing short P54-57 Short stories as an

A Question of identity P46-49 Ideas for searching about characters

Exercise 6: Describe people P50 Watching people and make notes

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art form

Writing characters for short stories P58-65 Understand the

kinds of love

Editor Clare Newton

What Tiger King can teach us about writing a good story P68-75

Designer Louise Taylor

Smash hit makes good story material

Author’s encounter P76-79 How an encounter

Making it happen; Get published!

P82-83

made my first novel

character and their story

©HappyLondonPress 2020 Reproduction of any material, in whole or in part, is strictly forbidden without the prior permission and consent from the publisher.

Join our happy community P84-88

All you need is motivation P80-81

Airways and Podcasts

Overcome

let us know your

complications

questions

What’s magical about a short story by Peter la Trobe For a reader, the magic of a short story is – its shortness. They are read settling down to sleep, on the journey to work or as a distraction in the dentist’s waiting room – because they’re short. A good story is the one that you put down thinking ‘What a shame that’s over!’ It’s plunged you into a vivid world from the start and held your interest until the final full stop.

They’re short, so easy to write, right?

They’re fun to write, yes. But easy?

Harlow Writers is a 20-strong writers’ workshop. We meet every Thursday (by socially-distanced internet, for now). Many have won competitions, had work published in magazines, published novels or collections of short stories or poems. Every week we bring our newest writing – mostly short stories and poetry – to the meeting, read them, make constructive suggestions about each other’s work.

I asked writer colleagues what they think are important considerations for writing short stories.

Janet Hindley, currently researching the second volume of a family tree comprising skilful word portraits and old photographs said: “Characters must be interesting, of course, whether good, bad, ugly, or all three. Each story must have a plot,

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and a conflict or hurdle in its path that the central character has to overcome, leading to a crunch that changes everything. Plus it needs an ending that draws the plot to a conclusion.”

Short stories and novels are Alan Peat’s favourite tasks - he’s published several. He, too, thinks structure is important.

“I like to begin short stories with a memorable first line to establish tone and pace. Interesting characters are vital, but to keep them vivid there is seldom room for more than two.

Dialogue is important, but every word has to help develop the plot. If characters start ‘How are you today’ing?’ the reader will leave. I aim to produce an ending with a twist, and leave the reader wanting more. This works best if I can link the last line to the first, neatly closing the circle.”

Our youngest member, Leigh Dennis, lives with dyslexia. Her writing is often

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for children, particularly those with physical or intellectual impediments.

When I asked her how she approaches writing short stories she said: “From an early age, because I was dyslexic, even the shortest stories were hard to read. It was difficult to imagine what authors meant. When I was about 8 I had to write a short story for schoolwork. I was struggling until I realised I could write about the pictures in my head. Suddenly I found I was creating imaginary worlds that other people could share. I enjoyed stories with clear right and wrong, good and evil, so I try to incorporate those basics into my children’s stories.”

And there you have it: vivid characters, a strong plot, a problem resolved, and loads of imagination.

Are short stories easy to write?

Have fun finding out... we do!

As simple as baking

by Steve Whitehouse Now that we are all socially isolating and locked in the bathroom with our thoughts, its a great time to write that story you have always been thinking about?

Of course, the obvious problem is, knowing how to start developing your ideas and having the drive to complete the project. Well, why not give the ‘HI2020’ a go.

Writing a short story is a bit like, baking, putting your essential

ingredients together and watching them ourish. Of course great bakers manage to add that little extra pinch of something to make their creation extra special. So what are the basic ingredients for a short story? Clearly as with all writing, you need to have a beginning that draws you in, and throws you that hook, that you just have to grab hold of. To make the story compelling, it is useful to have an original idea, an unusual take on a situation, or a challenging approach, to a familiar idea. Personally, I like a storyline that is compelling, and easy to follow, even if it jumps about in timelines or location.

What of your characters? Are they humorous, scary, likeable, but most of all, do we care about them? In your short story, you only have limited opportunity to create your characters and no chance to create an elaborate

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backstory. Description, interactions and unique dialogue can be crucial in developing memorable characters. If you choose a narrator to drive the story forward, they also need to be interesting and relatable. Once the reader is engaged in the story, it is time to keep the momentum going and reach the hub of the idea. What is the reader’s concern, do we care about the characters, what could possibly go wrong? As we move towards the close of the story and a resolution or solution, the aim is to create a climatic conclusion or an ending that doesn’t tie up loose ends, thus leaving the reader asking for more.

However, as a story concludes, the reader should be left with some sort of emotion, reflection, pleasure or greater understanding of the world.

Endings that leave an empty space or force a finish can create a sense of dissatisfaction that does not leave you wanting more rather it leaves you wanting your time back. Good stories take you out of yourself into someone

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else’s world where you can laugh or cry with characters, which you unexpectedly care about.

The received wisdom is that you should always write from your personal experience and I am sure that this is helpful in your preparation.

However, it is possible to break out of this mould using different genres, such as: historical, crime or science fiction. Even using these genres it is important that the ’voice’ is correct and characters speak convincingly.

The underlying human emotions must remain relatable and we remain engaged. This is likely to be drawn from true life, experiences that are simply transferred to a new dimension.

Good short stories have a lasting effect that give you a new perspective on life, and challenge your existing beliefs. They say that everyone has a book in them and everyone has a story to tell. So, get motivated during this lockdown, as it is a great chance for you to tell others your story.

Where to start a short story For some an idea comes quickly to mind, but for others discovering a trigger for inspiration can be a little tricky.

So where do ideas come from?

Findi 10

ing an Idea Make a scrap note book: Collect Photographs • Maps • Postcards • Memorabilia • Tickets • Old clothes • Even phrases you have heard or read.

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Helping to germinate story ideas

1. Find an old magazine and randomly cut out interesting words. Once you have at least 10 to 20. Shuffle them up then stick them in your scrap notebook, but try to make them into a new sentence.

When collecting visual material try to lay them out so that they can form a bit of a narrative.

2. Go to an old library of books.

Randomly select one book off the shelf and open it at chapter 8. Take one scene and then re-imagine a different outcome. Change the characters or change the setting.

Let your imagination open up different possibilities, allowing you to find a new path.

3. Sit quietly by the window of a busy cafe and watch people goes by. Choose a particularly interesting person, and think about what they are up to. Where is the going - are they meeting someone or have they got to deliver something important?

Write down notes - what they are wearing the colour of their hair, eyes, skin. Now write the same description but in an interesting way.

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4. Learning to write dialogue comes from listening and making notes. Eavesdrop on a conversation. And try and record as many of the words as you can.

You can do this at a park, restaurant, coee shop or, my personal favourite, a bar (people who have a few drinks in them tend to share the best stories). Remember to jot them all down. If you have enough courage - get chatting and encourage them to tell you their story. Learn from the experience and keep it in mind, when you come to write it make sure you put a twist of your own.

5. Finding a mental prompt can take time, so allow yourself to relax in the process - the best ideas come, when you are not thinking about it!

6. Sometimes its nice to just let someone else start the ďŹ rst line of your story, to get you going. You will be amazed at what happens.

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Set daily goals When launching out on a new hobby, it will need practice. The more you practice, the more confident you’ll become, with interesting facts revealing themselves. You will be surprised how far progress can be made in as little as one week.

Set yourself a daily challenge, especially now as we all have to be confined at home, so there are no more excuses about going out!

You can spend as little as 5 minutes or half an hour - but ‘Every little helps’, as Tesco’s reminds us, will make a big difference.

So let’s start with a mini plan. Draw a little calendar in a new notebook and mark on which days you can spend 10 minutes writing. Next...

Exercise 1 A/ Jot down a conversation you have overheard on the radio, television or somewhere you are allowed.

B/ Now re-write that conversation, putting it into a new context.

For example: If two men were having a passionate exchange, replace the characters with two women. Think about what their differences can be and what it sounds like: 1/ Exchange the male assertion to female empathetic 2/ Exchange swearing for decorative descriptive language.

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