Category Archives: How to

Here is a golden opportunity for all those aspiring short story writers. The Pearl S. Buck Writing Centre is holding a short story contest 2012 and is seeking submissions for the same, the last deadline for which is March 1. Cash prizes will be awarded in three separate categories: Grades 3-6 (1000 words), Grades 7-12 … Continue reading

The most prominent obstacle one faces after a decision to become a short story writer is getting a topic to start with. Getting an idea is a Herculean task and once you hit the right idea, it could get your ink flowing. Here we give you five interesting short story ideas to start with: Finding … Continue reading

Many a times, it happens that we write a short story and someone points out how it is dying to be elongated. How the world that it is encompassing is too big for its short length. It is then that we realize that our short story idea is actually a novel in disguise. The question … Continue reading

Pictures help generate new ideas for short stories. You can either try the following exercise or just exchange photographs among friends and write stories on them. You can carry this out in your classroom and have your students each bring in a picture and trade. With groups, have some kind of system for the trade … Continue reading

If you want your writing to be taken seriously it is very important that you take the initiative to rectify the common mistakes. Here’s an article listing the most common mistakes made by story-writer. However, it covers only the most common one. There are several other mistakes you might want to avoid. Short stories are … Continue reading

The best way of getting thorough in a particular genre of short story writing is to read as many stories as one can. However, when writing mystery short stories, one needs to follow a general pattern and some specific rules. Here are some tips and guidelines for writing short stories based on mystery: The plot … Continue reading

Creative writing is an art, yet the writers need to follow some guidelines depending on the style and genre of writing. Short story writing is a different sphere of its own where the writers need to narrate a complete story the beginning to the end in say 500 to 3000 words. Here are some tips … Continue reading

There is no denying the fact that America really has dominated modern English literature. Be it fiction or mystery or serious literature, American writers have carved their niche in the world of short story writing. Here is the list of top five American writers in our opinion: O. Henry Most well known for his short … Continue reading

If your aim is to become a serious story writer and you are not just wasting your time, then it is imperative for you to identify your errors and erase them. You have to take out that extra time and take the initiative to find better ideas and remove your errors if you wish to … Continue reading

Many authors feel that writing short stories is a child’s play and it is a much easier task than writing novels. However, when you actually step into the field, you realize that narrating the entire plot convincingly with a limitation of words is not an easy task. One needs to grab readers attention with word … Continue reading