5-7 double-spaced pages (1,250-1,750 words) in a professional 11- or 12-point font, such as Times New Roman or Calibri.
Provide a title that reflects the overall theme of the story, like the titles of the stories we’ve read: “Everyday Use,” “A & P,” and “A Worn Path.” Walker’s title is a common expression that she hopes to add unique meaning to. Updike’s title is the name of what was then a popular grocery store, where the entire story is set. Welty’s title also indicates the setting but also purpose, and it suggests mystery…why is the path worn, and what does it lead to? Titles shouldn’t be broad, vague, and abstract, like “Hope.”
Provide an introduction or opening that initiates ACTION that will soon lead to a climax, or at least promises that action will very soon be coming (as with “Everyday Use” we learn Dee is on her way, and in the meantime, Mama’s thoughts are very active, filling us in on past action that defines the characters).
Once you get the initial action going, pepper in some BACKGROUND so we know who the main character or characters are. Don’t dump pages of background. Give us only what we need to know and then return to the action so you don’t lose the momentum.
Develop your main character with strategic encounters or challenges so that we gradually learn who this person is, and so the main character learns more about who they are…DEVELOPMENT is essential. Remember what Anne Lamott says in her chapter “Plot”: “If someone isn’t changed, then what is the point of your story?” Maybe your protagonist thinks she’s right about something but learns she’s wrong. Or maybe your protagonist thinks he’s right and proves he’s right about something but learns that being right doesn’t give him the right to be vain, self-centered, or cruel.
The majority of a story takes place in the development stage of the plot, in what are called “scenes.” These are interactions, when the protagonist converses and/or confronts others. Summary may introduce a scene (For example: You won’t believe what happened to me this afternoon. I was walking into the school cafeteria, had just grabbed a fork, I only had a fork, when Jessie ran over to me in her hottest Lululemon apparel), and then, at that point, you slip into real time, when characters speak and you describe their actions and gestures, body language, props, so we can picture the interaction as if it’s taking place on a stage before our eyes (She was carrying a salad bowl but losing everything in it as she ran. The cherry tomatoes were bouncing on the floor. Croutons were flying. Jessie was grinning like it was Christmas Day instead of a typical Tuesday in boring February and said to me–no, sang to me, “I am so freaking in love with you, mister!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, what I was seeing, so of course I forgot I was holding the fork.) In a scene, characters talk and act and react, so there is natural character development.
Your story should start with your main character on their way to the CLIMAX. Don’t make us wait days or months or years before you get to the climax. No, be sure the time frame of your story is tight; it should take place within days if not hours. Key tip about writing fiction: every time a writer jumps in time, there is a real risk of losing momentum, tension, and therefore the reader. Short stories are by and large are streamlined to keep a reader’s attention. I gave you three stories that show how you can write a story without needless time jumps; they take place in a single day (“A Worn Path”), a single afternoon (“Everyday Use”), and maybe 15-20 minutes (“A & P”).
Readers today want immediate gratification, hence the reason short stories start with action, so once the reader enjoys the climax, the highest moment of tension and excitement, be sure not to drag the story out. Let the ENDING come and go quickly so your story ends on a high note. Consider our three examples: the ending lasts only a couple paragraphs.
Don’t forget what you learned in the poetry unit: specific concrete language that appeals to the senses and to the mind and the emotions (metaphors!) is just as important in fiction as it is in poetry.
Watch paragraph structure. When you shift subject matter, go a different direction in time or setting, or when you present dialogue from a new speaker, start a new paragraph. For dialogue, observe the conventions of providing quotations and beginning a new paragraph for each new speaker. Here is an example exchange (with notes):
Jane sighed and flipped the long platinum hook of hair out of her face and over her bare shoulder. “Please, move on, dude.”
The dude shuffled his muddy canvas Converse. They crumbled, but he didn’t move on. “Come on, Jane! Jesus, I’m talking to you.”
“Yo, dude,” said Jane. “You have no right to say my name.”
“It’s on your name tag, yo.”
“What?” Jane dipped her head to eye her name tag. Jesus, she thought. She’d forgotten about it. She unstuck it from her dress and looked at the dude’s eyes, which were now green when just a second ago they were gold. “Dude, you got cool eyes, but you really need to go already.” She slapped her name tag on his back and laughed. “You got a name now. What else you want?”
Please notice the comma needed to set off a name or nickname to indicate direct address (https://www.thoughtco.com/direct-address-grammar-and-rhetoric-1690457)
Notice you should provide a comma before or after a quote when there is an attributive tag (https://human.libretexts.org/Courses/Community_College_of_Allegheny_County/Book%3A_A_Guide_to_Rhetoric%2C_Genre%2C_and_Success_in_First-Year_Writing_(Gagich_and_Zickel)/10%3A_Reading_about_Writing/09.4%3A_Signal_Phrases_and_Attributive_Tags). Note, too, that when it’s clear who is speaking (especially when there are only two speakers), an attributive tag isn’t always necessary.
Notice that punctuation generally goes inside quotation marks (there are exceptions, so here is a list of standard examples and exceptions: https://www.thepunctuationguide.com/quotation-marks.html)
Notice that I italicized a verbatim thought (Jesus).
Notice the paragraph structure, the indentions, the double-spacing.
