Writing Short Stories

With several bestselling novels on the shelf, I recently turned my hand to writing short stories. Well, one short story so far to be exact. You wouldn’t think writing a short story would be too tricky for someone used to writing manuscripts of nearly 100,000 words. That was certainly my expectation. Wrong! It’s hard to present a brief snapshot without being superficial or resorting to clichés and it was a sobering reminder that every form of writing demands different skills.
First of all, there's the idea. In a novel, one idea can carry your writing for six months, or even a year, but each short story needs its own new idea.
How do short story writers come up with so many ideas?
Then there's the issue of character. There wasn’t enough time to give much detail, and no space for character development (it was a very short short story), and it’s hard to be unpredictable without leaving an unresolved contradiction.
As in novels, plot was important, but I wasn’t sure how much time I could afford to spend setting the scene, and how short the final twist could be.
But the biggest surprise to me was how the style of my writing changed when I was writing a short story.
If I ever dare show my one short story to anyone, I’ll post it here. I’m not sure if I will, but one thing I am sure of is that I now have even more respect for short story writers than I had before.

How to write short stories

Here is a great opportunity for writers to benefit from the guidance of Helen M Hunt, a successful and prolific writer of short stories for women's magazines.

Insight Into The Women’s Magazine Fiction Market – 3 March 2012
This workshop will look at writing for the increasingly tough and sadly shrinking women’s magazine market. So if you’ve been writing for a while and want to find out more about this market, this workshop could be for you.
Lunch and light refreshments are included. The cost of the course is £35 which also includes a critique.
Moving On Short Story Workshop – 31 March 2012
This course will be practically based and will help participants work towards the first draft of a story for their chosen women’s magazine market. They will receive a critique of their story once they have had a chance to finish it after the course.
Lunch and light refreshments are included. The cost of the course is £40 which also includes a critique.
New for 2012
Day Retreat For Writers – 28 April 2012
Come and spend a day with fellow writers being inspired, exercising your writing skills and sharing your work in a supportive atmosphere at Delapre Abbey. The course is run by a short story writer, but all writers are welcome to come to this one and benefit from meeting other writers in a supportive atmosphere.
The cost of the retreat is £22. Lunch is not included but you’ll be able to purchase refreshments from the Abbey Tea Room.
All these courses are held in Northampton and full details are on http://www.helenmhunt.co.uk/
Online services
For anyone who can’t make it to a workshop, Helen offers the totally flexible Hop On Hop Off online course (details here http://www.helenmhunt.co.uk/?page_id=37) and a critique service (details here http://www.helenmhunt.co.uk/?page_id=15).