Image courtesy of Markus Rödder.

Now it could be that I’m just tired if the thing. It could be that I don’t have enough material in my head. It could be that since I decided the point where I was going to stop, my brain has taken the cue and gone into early shut down.

It could be all three.

In any case it seems pointless to bash my head against a brick wall for now, and while I’m kind of in the middle of a section, it’s probably a better place to stop anyway. Besides, if I don’t write anything else until this novel’s finished my portfolio will look rather starved.

So, decision made, I’m settling down to thrash out a short story I’ve had gestating in my mind for a while and now feels ready for birth. I’m really going to go for it! Hack away ’till done. Edit ’till done. Boom! It feels refreshing just thinking about it!

Then, rather than dive straight back into the novel, I thought I’d do a little bit of world-building. I’m thinking specifically of the characters. These guys aren’t exactly writing themselves here, and I don’t think I’ve got to know them yet. Rather than wait for the second draft, I’ll get a better understanding now, and apply that going forward.

I’ll update with a post about exactly how I did that when I get round to it.

For now, I’m hoping that a change really is as good as a rest, and the shift in scenery will see my writing instincts wake up again.

What do you do when you feel yourself flagging?

• How it’s going to be distributed?
• How you’re going to get the word out?
• Where the story fits in with your other work?

The reason this is on my mind is of course that I have recently finished a story. I’ve been dwelling on the whole process of getting the story out between writing stints and the picture of what I wanted to do grew gradually.

I’ll put the plan out there as an example. The story is about 9,500 words at the moment. This puts it in a kind of long-short story category I suppose (you know what I mean). I decided a while ago that I would write a series of science fiction stories around a quite specific theme and so decided that this one would work as an opener.

It is also my “practice” story; the first thing I’ve written from beginning to end since starting this website (how did it take so long?) and the launch of my newfound dedication to writing. By practice I just mean that my primary goal with this story was to get into a routine (to just write, dammit). I chose it because it was something I’d had in my head for a while, and was pretty well mapped out. I thought it would be an easy one to start with (I was wrong).

So, that’s where it fits. The immediate plan is to put it to one side for a couple of months and work on something brand new. Then I’ll come back to it and edit away from a fresher perspective. Then comes the point where I have to show it to people. I’ve got a small selection of friends and relatives I’ll share it with (I’m basically following Stephen King‘s door shut/door open recommendations for these stages). In addition I may also bandy it around some writing community sites as well.

Then, after another round of editing I’ll show it to everyone! It will be a free download on this very site, so people get to see it and see what my writing’s like.

As far as the bigger picture goes, I will carry on with the other stories, and when they’re pretty much all ready to go, I’ll offer another free one out of the collection (again, getting the word out- everyone loves a free sample).

By that time I should have enough material and enough impetus to be able to sell the collection. Fingers crossed.

I’m under no delusions about how long this will take (at least I don’t think I am, but then if I was deluded, how would I know?). I intend to write other things as well, plus I’m writing at a snail’s pace at the moment! I’ll have to step it up a gear and still don’t expect this scheme to come to fruition for about three years(!)

Still, I always said I was playing a long game.

The most famous example of a 6 word story comes from Ernest Hemingway in the 1920s. He made a bet that he could write a story in only 6 words. He won that bet, and the result is quite brilliant considering this limit. The story is simply:

For sale. Babies shoes. Never worn

I have always loved this story. It gets around the whole 6 words problem by making what is not said the most important thing. There are a few possible reasons why these shoes are for sale, sure, but we will automatically choose one that is story worthy. There is a wealth of pain and sadness behind those six words that goes far beyond what could be communicated with “sadly, her baby died. The end”. Six words, no impact. A deliberately obtuse alternative, admittedly, but nevertheless, this example goes to the heart of the “show. Don’t tell” ethos. Show the reader what’s there, and let them fill in the gaps. They will feel it more.

Here’s one I knocked together based on my mini-saga example:

He positive. She negative. Divorce inevitable.

or an alternative:

He positive. She negative. Poles attract.

I also found a rather charming collection from sci-fi and horror writers for Wired. Most are funny, and a few are similar to each other, but in my opinion none come close to Hemingway’s.

So there ends our trilogy of really short story types. I hope that’s given you a bit of inspiration. One exercise might be to take one story (or at least one inspiration), and do all three types of story around that one idea, gradually condensing it until you get to six words only.

I’d love to see any attempts at any of these really short stories, so pop them in the comments for us to have a look at!

Although a few Twitter story tellers have come and gone there are still some around. @arjunbasu is one such tweep and one all should follow.

If ever there were proof that a very small story can be a successful one then he is it.  He will often twitter more than one story in a day.

Despite the limit each one feels complete. Often, they describe a domestic situation unfolding, and the conclusion forms a witty punch line.

It’s an excellent demonstration of clarity through precision. 140 characters forces merciless cutting. Only the kernel of the story remains.

And that’s all the tips I can give (being inexperienced myself) – pick a situation, then cut cut cut. Finally, juggle words and punctuation.

I think the beginning middle and end bits take care of themselves – they naturally appear from the way we build sentences. Here’s an example

This was what he’d been waiting for, a chance to be heard! He opened his mouth to speak, but practice had rendered him completely voiceless.

And this isn’t the only creative writing going on on Twitter (it could be argued that all Tweets fall into that category, but I won’t here).

Some impersonate dead celebrities like @cdarwin who uses the writing of Charles Darwin to Tweet his Beagle trip as if it were happening now.

Poems are a favourite too. @thebookwright announced on @thecreativepenn‘s podcast that he will be tweeting his poem 100 Years Of Ermintrude.

Haikus are a great medium if you LOVE strict rules. The combination of 140 characters plus the required syllable count are a real challenge.

I’m sure my readers and followers have come across some excellent writing on Twitter, so please share Tweeps you follow in the comments bit.

Leave your comments, stories or other Twitter writing, plus your Twitter handle at http://www.getmewriting.com/short-stories/twitter-stories

This is the biggest of our tiny stories – it’s all downhill with the word count from here on in. A mini saga is essentially a story in 50 words. Exactly 50.

Personally, I first heard about them in high school, and have always thought them an amusing idea, but I haven’t revisited them since. I found a couple of websites citing Brian Aldiss as the inventor of the mini-saga. I’m not sure on the validity of this, as like I said, it was only a couple of references. There was actually a competition involving Brian Aldiss and the Daily Telegraph, the result of which is this book. I haven’t read it myself, but if you’re interested in mini sagas, it will likely be a good collection (if anyone has read it, please let us know what you think in the comments). I also tried a search on Google for any famous examples, but didn’t get anywhere. Anyone know one?

Obviously the aim is to be as concise as possible. Keep your ideas simple. And be prepared to be a little mysterious – if the reader has to work to fill in the gaps, that’s no bad thing, and it will cost you fewer words.

I had to give this a go of course. I wrote what I thought was a very brief story, but it turned out to be over double the required wordcount! Here is the first draft.

They were crossing the road just as the driver turned the corner. He glared and shook his head, but John simply waved back and smiled.
“Don’t smile at him – he wasn’t indicating,” Said Jane.
“Ah, well ,” John replied, “we all make mistakes.”
They were never quite the same after that. It took a while but eventually Jane was broken by John’s overwhelming positivity.
“I’m leaving you.”
“Well, if you don’t want to be with me it will only make us both unhappy. It’s better this way.”
She left him and took to drink. He found someone else.

This was hard, but a lot of fun. It took about twenty minutes and about five drafts. I was reminded of reducing wordsto fit them into a text (because I’m tight like that). Here is the end result. I actually think it’s pretty good, and I’m surprised that there are two sentences that did not change from the original.

They crossed as the driver turned the corner. He glared. John waved.
“Don’t smile – he wasn’t indicating,” Said Jane.
They were never the same. His positivity broke her.
“I’m leaving.”
“It’s better than us both being unhappy.”
She left. Took to drink. He found someone else.

And I’d love to see yours, so please post them in the comments! For an extra challenge, it might be fun to try one made entirely of dialogue.