Five Elements of a Short Story

This blog offers information for authors who want to write short stories.  Fans of fiction can enjoy reading this information to appreciate what makes stories fun to read.

Good short story writing contains five important things: character, motivation, conflict, change and resolution.

I’m using my own short story, “Lace”, to show examples of the five elements. “Lace” is one of six short stories in my 2013 book called “The Device.”  

A short story and even a novel begin with a character. Once that main character begins to move, we as authors write what he or she does and says. Stories are about people, not ideas or even events. Ralph is the main character in “Lace.” He is a poor cotton farmer who lives on a long- time family farm with his wife.

Ralph has invented something that will glean more cotton off the plants at harvesting. This will give more tonnage and profit to the farmers. Ralph’s motivation is to develop his invention and use it to improve the yield of cotton from his farm and the farms of his neighbors and friends.

Conflict is a critical part of any story. Ralph’s story begins with conflict. In the opening paragraphs, Ralph is beaten by two thugs hired by a ruthless corporation. The company wants his invention to increase the yield from the cotton fields. The two hired enforcers try to convince Ralph to submit to their demands.

Change happens quickly when Ralph’s wife, Phyllis, kills the two intruders. She’s a tiny woman, but Phyllis can handle a 12 gauge shotgun.  This is where a flashback is used to tell the reader the whole story. Flashbacks are a literary device we will explore in a future blog. 

Ralph and Phyllis use resolution to get benefits from the antagonists who tried to kill them.  The story has a surprise ending that adds to the importance of giving the reader a conclusion, either good or bad.

Authors who like to write short stories should keep these five parts in mind. However, the most important thing to remember when writing fiction is to simply tell me a story.

Thank you for taking time to read this blog. A new blog will be here in about one week.

See my web page at www.joevlatino.com.