If you like literature and you also have a gift for it, you could embark on the adventure of writing a story. You can go for a princess story, something more real or even a fable, that is, a story in which the protagonists are talking animals, a genre that children tend to like a lot. So here are some guidelines on how to write a short story.
Instructions for writing a story
- Think of an idea. Think about what you would like to write about, maybe when you were little they told you a story and you want to throw it around, or you have always liked an animal and you want it to be the protagonist.
- Once you know more or less what you want to write about, you have to get an idea of how the story is going to unfold. Write down three things: how you want it to start, how you want it to end and what will happen until you reach that end. The so-called introduction, middle or development and outcome.
- Take paper and a pen and write a series of data such as the name of the characters, their characteristics, how they are going to behave in the story and the relationship between the different characters. So they have a list of the characteristics of each one.
- Customize your characters. So when people start to read your story, they can feel identified with one of them, which will make them blend in with the story.
- Keep in mind that your story cannot be very long or include many characters. The characteristic of the story is that it is a short story in which few characters appear. Being a short story, the extension is limited, and if you go on counting data or develop too much until you reach the end, your story will go more towards a novel, something we don’t want.
- When you already have all these things clear, you still have the last thing to do before you start writing and that is to decide the type of narrator. The narrator is the person who, as his name indicates, narrates or tells a story. There are three types of narrators: first person narrator, in which I tell what I am seeing without room for opinions and being subjective; second person narrator, in which the reader is a character in the story and can have an opinion; and a third-person or omniscient narrator, who knows everything and continually gives his opinion on what he sees. If you do not decide on any you can also make a mixture of them.
- Make a list of the things that you want to count yes or yes, so that when you immerse yourself in writing you don’t forget any of them, and so when you put them, you can cross it off until there is nothing left on your list.
- Grab a pencil and paper or get in front of a computer and start writing. You already have clear ideas, what are the characters, what type is the narrator and the things you want to tell until you reach the outcome. The only thing missing is for you to get down to work with your story.
- Sit in a quiet space so that you can be as focused as possible and put all your ideas on paper. Depending on how clear you have it in your head and how outlined it is, you will only have to transcribe the story or do it in its entirety.
- When you’ve finished writing the story, don’t forget to review it a couple of times, to see that you don’t leave anything unwritten and to correct any possible mistakes in it.
- Now you only have one thing left: give it a title. It has to be a striking title, which captures the reader’s attention and wants to discover what is written. Think about what would attract your attention and what you would like to find.
- Since you already have everything, you can go to a printing shop and have your story printed and bound in a beautiful format that you have previously chosen. So you will always have a memory of your story. And if you want this to go further, look for a publisher and send them your story to have the possibility of having it published.
Tips for writing a story
- When you’re done and not before, let your friends and family read your story, so they can tell you if they like it or not. Think that if your goal is to market the story, the more opinions you have, the better, because it will be that audience that decides whether or not they want your story. In addition, this way you can improve for the following times, and not only to market it, but as personal growth.
- Have very clear ideas before starting to write anything, otherwise you will probably have to delete many times until you have the story on track.
- Save the title for last. When you have finished writing, you will have a clearer idea of what you have done. If you do it at the beginning, you may try to take your story along that path, however if you leave it for the end, you let your mind flow and it can change the course you took.