poniedziałek, 17 października 2016

Things To Know To Submit Short Stories

By Peter Wilson


Learning how to write a novel begins with writing short stories. This is because they do not require as much time and space as the novels do. A typical story is between 200 to 6000 words while a novel is more than this. The more time you spend on a piece of prose, the more you deviate from the short story concept. It should not take you more than 50 hours to submit short stories for a competition.

It is good to start up with a premise. A premise can be anything to give the reader an overview of what the story is about. The premise should comprise few sentences to describe a basic point or lesson that the story intends to give. You may say one or two things about the evil of corruption or the benefits of hard work. By the time your story ends, it is important that everything in it agrees with the premise.

Writing requires some tools for those ideas to flow. These tools include a table, chair, pens, books, dictionaries and jotters. Your sitting posture should be good to prevent early fatigue. Try to organize your ideas before sitting down but do not be too apprehensive about it since you can always edit.

Once you decide you are going to participate in a story competition, you need to carry along a jotter and a pen with you everywhere. This is to enable you put vital points down and perhaps a good opening sentence when you are inspired. With many few notes gathered within some days or weeks, you may need just a few more hours to write down something perfect.

Character development is perhaps the most critical moment of a story teller. Not defining them well will make the piece of prose difficult to understand and the reader may find it boring. The actions they take should be consistent except when another lesson should be learned from the story.

There should be a confinement when writing to win a story contest. Unlike novels where different scenes are allowed, a story is not supposed to take up more than one scene even though two scenes may be permitted. The characters should also operate within a specific time frame or season.

The person who tells the story is also important. There are three people who can tell the story you have written: the first person, the second person and the third person. The first person is the narrator himself as he uses the word 'I'. This is an easier form of writing but the writer may have the challenge of explaining hidden facts about his characters. A second person narration includes the reader as a part of the characters as he reads the word 'you' while in the third person, 'he' 'she' and 'it'are the most frequent words.

Writing a short story may be difficult especially if it is the first time. The best way to encourage yourself to do this is by writing a catchy first sentence and paragraph. The first paragraph should not be the summary. Just think of something that can arouse the reader's interest and propel him to go on without stopping.




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