This is the second session of eight in our online creative writing course, in which we’ll be exploring how to write a short story. Now that your creative juices have been stirred, you should be ready to start writing; if not, go back and try some of the exercises in the first session of this course, releasing your creativity.
Writing short stories versus writing novels
Most new prose writers have the beginnings of at least one novel in their drawer. They will get to chapter three or four and give up because they don’t have the skill, confidence or stamina to carry on. If you’d never run a marathon you would be a fool to enter the Great North Run without first attempting some shorter distances. Short stories are the best place for new writers to hone their craft. But don’t be fooled, they’re not necessarily the easiest option. It takes a great deal of skill to write a short story that’s effective – you will have to curtail any tendency to ramble on. And not all writers need to be novelists either. I believe F. Scott Fitzgerald was quite comfortable as a short story writer and only produced the occasional novel out of pressure from his publisher, while the great Raymond Carver never wrote a novel in his life.
Short stories are an endangered species
There was once a time when every magazine carried some short fiction. Sadly, that time has passed. Now, apart from some weekly women’s magazines in the UK, short stories have retreated between the dusty covers of literary publications. The situation has become so bad that a group of leading writers and publishers got together to start the Save the Short Story Campaign and are beginning to make good progress.
Short stories appear to be doing far better across the pond in America where the art form is more respected and accessible to ‘ordinary’ readers. However, there are signs that this may not continue. Read Stephen King’s thoughts on the decline of the American short story. You can check out Writer’s Market for a list of North American short story outlets.
How long is a short story?
So what is a short story? Short stories can be anything from 500 to 6000 words. Anything under 500 words tends to be labelled ‘flash fiction’ or ‘micro fiction’ (although some would argue it’s still a short story) and anything over 6000 is moving into novelette or novella territory. I would argue that a short story is something that can be read comfortably in one sitting and doesn’t leave you starving or bloated. Popular magazines tend to accept work of between 1000 – 2000 words, more literary ones go for longer. Children’s short stories tend to be under a thousand words. If you would like to write for younger readers, check out some of my articles on writing for children.
A short story is a slice of life
A short story is a slice of life. As such, you should narrow the time frame and geographical location of the piece. One plot, two or three characters and no more than two locations (one would be better) should fit into a short story. If this is too tight a fit perhaps you should be writing a novella or a novel.
Fig 1: Short story time span
How to begin a short story
Start your piece as close to the turning point or climax of the story as possible. Most writers take a paragraph or so to find their feet. On a second reading they will delete the first paragraph as unnecessary exposition or padding. Your first sentence is crucial; it should be filled with energy, intrigue and forward momentum. The reader should be stopped in their tracks and not be able to turn away until they’ve read the whole thing. The first sentence should raise questions that need to be answered. Take for example these openers:
- ‘My mother was making me a dress.’ (From ‘Red Dress – 1946′, Dance of the Happy Shades)
- ‘General Sash was a hundred and four years old. ‘ (From ‘A Late Encounter With the Enemy’, The Complete Stories)
- ‘Fact is the car needs to be sold in a hurry, and Leo sends Toni out to do it.’ (From ‘Are These Actual Miles’, The Oxford Book of American Short Stories)
Exercise 4: Jot down questions that arise from these openings and what, if anything, makes you want to read on. If you can get hold of copies of the stories do so. Ask yourself: were the questions answered? Was I satisfied with the answers? Was the answer what I expected?
Exercise 5: Use a trigger image, phrase or thought (see Releasing Your Creativity) then write down a leading, opening sentence. What questions might be raised? How might you answer those questions in a short story? What setting would be most appropriate to answer the questions? How long will it take for the question to be answered? Can you think of any characters that might help you tell the story and answer the question? (We will be looking at building a character in a future session and try writing another story from their perspective). Look over your answers and see whether or not the outline of a short story is emerging. If not, try another sentence or another trigger image.
Beginning, middle, end
Every short story should have an opening that is developed in the middle to build tension which reaches its climax towards the end, after which there is a rapid conclusion. For those of you who have studied any dramatic or literary theory you will recognise this progression as typical Aristotlean Three Act Structure. In a short story you should not spend too much time in the ‘first act’ where development, setting and exposition take place, and should start your narrative as close to the inciting incident (aka point of change, first turning point or initial crisis) as possible. The inciting incident is the event which upsets the apple cart of the characters’ ordinary world and compels them to act in a certain way in order to bring balance or closure to their disrupted environment. In the Red Dress it is the school dance which the narrator fears will bring humiliation. She then tries to fake illness in order to get out of it, then, when this fails, tries to remain as invisible as possible at the dance. We will look at how a character acts to bring or avoid change change in a future discussion.
Exercise 6: What is the ‘ordinary world’ of your opening sentence? Remember, this may be an abnormal world to most readers, but it should reflect the status quo of your characters before it is challeged or shaken up. What challenges this status quo? This is your inciting incident. Using only three paragraphs (50 – 60 words each) or less, start writing your short story. In this short space you should establish your ordinary world, you main character and the inciting incident of your story.
Obstacles, setbacks, climax and resolution
This is the outline of the rest of your story. Imagine a graph of building tension.
Fig 2: Dramatic development in three act structure
Your story should follow that arc by allowing your character to face obstacles, setbacks and minor victories on the way towards reaching the dramatic climax and bringing resolution.
Exercise 7: If you are graphically minded draw yourself a rough graph or jot down the beginning, middle and end of your story. Now write the story and fill in the gaps. If you’re not so graphically minded, just jot down a few key phrases or events that might carry your story forward to a possible conclusion. Don’t worry, this isn’t cast in stone, and you can change the beginning, middle, end and anything in between at any time. Many writers just write to find their voice. That’s fine. Once you have a first draft, go back and see if it has some kind of structure or arc. If not, you may have to tweak it a little.
I hope this has given you some insight on how to write a short story. Happy writing!
The next creative writing course session is writing from a point of view.
Welcome to The Crafty Writer's free online creative writing course, presented by Fiona Veitch Smith, a freelance journalist, editor, author, playwright, screenwriter and writing teacher. I hope that you'll see a dramatic improvement in the quality of your writing as you work through this course. 
October 6th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
Hi Fiona,
This week was challenging for me.
I couldn’t get hold of the stories you mentioned.
It made me think again about the main character in the novel I am writing.
Thanks
October 6th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Hi Sue. Sorry you couldn’t get your hands on the stories. I hope you still managed to get something out of the session though. The opening line of each story is actually listed above eg ‘ My mother was making me a red dress … ‘, so even without having read the whole story you can write down any questions that arise from these opening sentences. In fact, you don’t need to read the stories at all (if you do though, you will discover how the questions that are raised are answered.)
October 6th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Thanks Fiona
I did manage to do all the exercises.
I just wasn’t very happy with my results.
They seemed pretty poor to me.
Nothing to do with the course just me.
October 7th, 2007 at 10:31 am
Sorry about that Sue. We all have good days and bad days. Hopefully the muse will make an appearance soon. What genre novel are you writing?
October 7th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
I’m trying a not too gritty crime novel.
I have an outline and character bios and have completed the first 9,000 words.
I’ve already completed one other novel (a main stream family relationship story) but I could see it was not good enough. I put it aside. I may go back to it later but in any case it was a good learning experience.
October 7th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
YOu should increase your marketability with a crime novel. Family relationship stories tend to be limited to a female readership. Is your protagonist male or female?
October 7th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
Female and recently divorced.
Her father is a retired ex cop.
I have started to write but have just realised that her relationship with her father is prickly.
This means that I have the feeling that some of the earlier stuff is not quite right.
I have an almost irresistable urge to go back and change things.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
I have just started on this site today and I am enjoying it very much. I have a novel going but am very unsure of myself and this is helping a lot. This exercise made me realize serveral things I needed to get me moving again. Thanks so much!
May 27th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Hi TJ. Welcome to the course. I hope you get a lot out of it.
Fiona
June 29th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
Ihave enjoyed learning about the short story, the excercises have certaily given me plenty of ideas. I am now ready to proceed to the next part of the course.
June 30th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Good luck with it Jean. Glad you’re finding your way around now
February 4th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
Aw, I made myself cry and smile. Happy with the result of this exercise.
February 4th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Aren’t you glad you didn’t give up?
July 26th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
[...] presents How to write a Short Story posted at Creative Writing Course, saying, “A discussion of some of the technical aspects of [...]
December 7th, 2009 at 9:39 pm
[...] presents How to write a Short Story posted at Creative Writing Course, saying, "A discussion of some of the technical aspects of [...]
January 5th, 2010 at 7:42 am
[...] presents How to write a Short Story posted at Creative Writing Course, saying, “A discussion of some of the technical aspects of [...]
January 15th, 2010 at 6:02 am
[...] presents How to write a Short Story posted at Creative Writing Course, saying, “A discussion of some of the technical aspects of [...]
February 17th, 2010 at 9:11 pm
OMG! This has really helped me to become way more organized and in my opinion (of course) more polished. My first piece I’m still working on as I leave this comment, but I can see a world of difference as I write and gain ideas to where the story is going. I am so glad I came acroos this site today! Thank you so much for providing this site to ppl like me that desire to write and learn how to but dont have money for schools and courses.
If I did I’d be among your MANY students.
From Keta
February 18th, 2010 at 2:11 pm
You’re most welcome Keta. Hope all goes well with the story!
Fiona
April 7th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
hai ..
I Anto from Indonesia
I love reading your articles. really helped me in writing short stories.
greetings from my
thanks
April 8th, 2010 at 9:41 am
You’re welcome!
June 11th, 2010 at 9:21 am
Hi I would like to take a course on creative writing.
Thanks
June 11th, 2010 at 9:29 am
Hi Gan, this link should answer all your questions http://creative-writing-course.thecraftywriter.com/frequently-asked-questions/
June 23rd, 2010 at 2:46 pm
This is a bit of a issue for me. I’m thinking of writing a young adult mystery series. Have about 12 notebooks with the bits and pieces of scenes, dialogue and such. But I don’t know if I should make them short style books or larger.
I’ve always had difficulty with short stories, they never seemed finished. There were always other questions and loose ends that could have been followed. Others tell me that they are good, but I feel like I’m cheating my characters and not delivering the whole story.
I wanted to start at the 12yr old and continue on to teen, the kicker is that little sister continues the legacy once the main goes off to school. It’s got a whole lot of twists, turns and life experience in all those notebooks.
Should I write a few short stories and then start up with the main series? Not sure how to progress with all that I have waiting to be developed.
June 23rd, 2010 at 4:10 pm
Hi Starr, you may find my post on writing mystery stories for children and young adults useful http://www.thecraftywriter.com/2007/08/22/writing-for-children-mysteries-and-thrillers/
Regarding short stories versus novels, it seems like with 12 notebooks full you are tending towards a novel. A short story is a thing in itself and not a practice round for a novel. The story arc is much smaller and there is a discipline in completing that arc in such few words. I suggest you write short stories that are only meant to be that: short. So don’t try to just do an abbreviated version of what should really be a novel.
June 24th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
Yes, I’ve been simply devouring all that I can on your pages. Have already taken notes on that Mystery article. It was very helpful in defining areas I needed to work on.
As for my notebooks, I think, as a friend told me, that’s way too much for just one book. There are several tales, mini adventures that are engaged in by the main character and a growing group of supporting characters. She’s dealing with possible murder, kidnapping, mysterious activities and a whole bunch of bizarre happenings.
As I said, I was thinking of offering them as a series – several people have already agreed that it would be a great idea. I just need to get the manuscripts polished up and sent off already. I’ve been published before – two books for young adults. But it’s been almost 30yrs since I’ve been in the field since I’ve been dealing with life and it’s unending distractions. Life has the tenancy to happen while you’re planning something else.
Sorta like the lighter my kids got me a few years ago…”This is not the life I ordered.”
Unfortunately, there’s no dress rehearsal or re-rolls or retakes. Though I’m still holding out for the chance of a time machine…XD
Short of that, I’ll have to leave bits of me behind in my stories. My kids are already telling me that they want me to publish all my own adventures and stories so that they aren’t lost to the family.
Thanks for such a wonderful site and offering so much to the creative community.
June 24th, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Yes life does get in the way, doesn’t it? And ‘paying’ work too. My favourite maxim is a bastardisation of a WC Fields quote: ‘Work is the curse of the writing classes.’
November 8th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
[...] presents How to write a Short Story posted at Creative Writing Course, saying, “A discussion of some of the technical aspects of [...]
November 14th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Terrific information!!!!! I would love to start with some short stories.
December 7th, 2010 at 3:18 pm
thanks so much for your free classes. I have managed to do the first 2 lessons. I now realize about the 3 acts to do a short story, thank you for your easy to learn manner. Best Wishes, Linda G.
December 27th, 2010 at 6:00 am
These guidelines help someone who wants to write creatively, to move quite swiftly from one stage to the next, with the assurance of knowing what sorts of events and actions should move the story forward.
January 26th, 2011 at 5:38 pm
I am so appreciative to you and others like you that have offered these free courses. I am getting a divorce (his idea) but I have always wanted to write short stories and novels as a career. Was a housewife, but I’m pretty good at writing and am so excited now about my life as just a….WOMAN. Thank you so much for this course. It’s a life saver! Sincerely Lisa Vetrone, aged 56 as of tomorrow.
February 4th, 2011 at 9:32 pm
Thanks for the free. To some money is no object, but to me it is. I have written a few short stories and other writings which all my family and friends love. Now though I can see where I can organize them better to be more interesting and dynamic.
Thank you,
June S
February 14th, 2011 at 7:21 pm
I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not very good at writing short stories, but this lesson makes it sound very simple and to the point. I definitely think I can improve my writing in this area, but I’m more of a poet.
February 16th, 2011 at 9:27 am
Thanks sooooo much! This is going to help me a lot with my short story. I am so bad at writting them but now it sounds so easy and possible. I also know how to start now!
February 16th, 2011 at 9:37 am
You’re welcome Elena. Good luck with the story.
February 21st, 2011 at 10:34 am
[...] 4. Creative Writing Course: How to Write a Short Story [...]
February 23rd, 2011 at 9:01 pm
Thank you for having this great wrinting course free of charge it has been a great insight to me and i have found in etremely useful. I have always loved writing but it is only now that i have decided to pursue this! So your course had been a great help (: Thank you again (:
February 24th, 2011 at 1:34 pm
you’re welcome Melanie.
March 9th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Thanks for the lesson. However, I have a problem with structure.I always have. Perhaps it’s just a lack of practice but I tend to be more on the creative side. So I appreciate you not being so rigid about the organization of the short story. I realize of course that these elements are crucial. I suppose I just have to practice, practice and practice to know when to use what. Any comments would be appreciated.
March 11th, 2011 at 9:13 am
Hi Oscar,
The use of structure is a continuum in our writing lives. Some people, like Hemingway, work within a very overt structure. Others, like Joyce, are more ‘free’. Both however are equally creative. If stressing about structure stops you from writing then just go with the flow to start with. There comes a point however when you need to take a step back and see how some kind of structure could improve the flow of your piece. It might be useful to ask a writing friend for their advice as they won’t be as close to the piece as you. I would also advise you to find a writer whom you admire and analyse their structure. Perhaps, as an exercise, try to write a story using the same structure. See this simply as an exercise and
make
your writing fit into that structure. You may find it works very well. You may find it uncomfortable. After that you can see what elements of structure you can use in your own writing and take it from there. Good luck with it!
All the best
Fiona
March 21st, 2011 at 7:05 am
I am in a writing critque group at a local library. The members are fairly positive. We attend
monthly talks given by published authors also. Most of what is discussed is by wroters of adult novels.
I am interested in writing short stories and a future novel for young adults (preteens to 18 yrs old). Is there a blog for short story writers of historical fiction or historical fantasy? I am trying to find out if my historical fiction short stories have much merit at this point in time. Any advice?
Also, I appreciate your “How to write a short story” articles.
April 7th, 2011 at 9:28 pm
I found my characters taking on the structure of the story and they seemed to tell it to me in their own words. I felt like a stenographer taking down their story. They caught my attention right from the start and I followed them up to the top of the arc and then back down the other side to conclusion. I am both exhilierated and exhausted.
April 8th, 2011 at 8:21 am
Hello Trish, on my blog The Crafty Writer, historical novelist RS Downie did a 3-part series on writing historical fiction. This could be a good starting point for you http://www.thecraftywriter.com/2009/04/25/writing-historical-fiction-1-creating-your-historical-world/ As for online historical writing groups I suggest you just put that in a search engine and see what comes up. Good luck.
May 2nd, 2011 at 2:26 pm
[...] short story distinguishes itself from a novel mainly due to its length. The constraints of a short story causes [...]
May 11th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
Thank you so much for offering this free online course. I’ve been writing since I was six years old, but somewhere along the road I stopped. I want to thank you for helping me find my way back! I have so many creative ideas that I dont want to waste. Thank You!
May 11th, 2011 at 5:09 pm
You’re welcome Debbie. I’m glad the creative juices are flowing again. Keep at it.
May 19th, 2011 at 10:35 pm
All of my short stories seem to be very short. They have one line that seems to repeat a few times throughout the story, and they’re normally sad. They have some plot, but they normally have little or no set up. Is this still a short story? Just wondering.
May 23rd, 2011 at 5:40 am
I’ve just finished this lesson and a rough draft of a short story that I really enjoyed writing. I just got carried away after exercise 6
. Thanks!
Oh I was going to ask, is there a forum where we can all post up our stories to help each other out and edit them and whatnot. That would be pretty awesome!
May 23rd, 2011 at 9:21 am
Hi Alex, we don’t have a forum like that but if enough Crafty students ask for one then perhaps we could put one up. So it’s up to you lot … let me know if this is something you would participate in.
May 26th, 2011 at 8:21 am
this was helpful because i needded to write a 500 word short story as an extra homework for my yr 7 english teacher and she was gobsmacked at how good it was ty ??
June 17th, 2011 at 10:27 am
I’ve been wanting to write a short story. Flashes of ideas come to mind, but I don’t know how to begin. Now that I have gone through your pointers, it gives me a beat to start. Thank you.
June 17th, 2011 at 10:29 am
That’s great news Sally. Keep it up!
June 24th, 2011 at 2:19 am
I like the guidance provided in this course. I have wanted to get back to writing for a very long time and need to find the discipline to just do it. Having the “steps” to follow gives me purpose and some sort of objective to accomplish each day, so thank you. I would particpiate in a “writing forum” as requested by Alex in May. I would like others to read what I am writing….and I would like to compare my writings (in the lessons) to how other have approached the same lesson. Good stuff, thank you.
June 30th, 2011 at 3:47 pm
I work with teens and we are in the process of writing a Book of Short Stories about medieval Europe. This was a great find.
June 30th, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Glad to be of assistance. Good luck with the book.
July 11th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
It has always been a childhood dream to be a writer and I did not know where and how to start.The previous lesson has been very useful to inspire me towards that journey.As soon as I completed this lesson,I found myself busy scribbling through some pieces of paper like a berserk buffalo.In short,I have been motivated by these lessons to commit pen to paper though I should admit I’m not yet confident with my usage of English and sometimes I ran short of expressive terms.I however would like to know how best can I get over this hurdle in my quest to realising my childhood dream.Your lessons were not only well prepared but well presented also.Thank you for the good work,the lesson has been helpful.
July 11th, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Well I would say ‘berserk buffalo’ is a very expressive term! The best thing to broaden your vocabulary is to read Ndumiso. You will hopefully come across new phrases and descriptions. And you can make them up yourself. There is no end to similes.
July 13th, 2011 at 11:32 am
I liked the three act description. Entree, main course,sweet, perhaps?
July 24th, 2011 at 4:21 pm
Thank you so very much again.
I’ve wanted to write short stories for some time, but was never quite able to get my head around to how exactly to do it. This has not only taught me how to write a short story, but now I’ve written a great short story that I’m delighted with. =) Thank you so, so much for this! The arc was fantastic, and how you apply that to writing the actual story is amazing. You rock! xD xXx
July 25th, 2011 at 1:26 pm
July 28th, 2011 at 10:09 am
I can’t quite put my finger on what it was, but something about this article made me finally sit down, stop procrastinating and start writing. I wrote a 1,000-word short story for which I’d had the idea for a while. It feels really good to have it on paper (well, on the screen) rather than in my head. Thank you!
July 28th, 2011 at 10:41 am
Brilliant!!!!!!!
August 17th, 2011 at 1:26 am
Thanx really helped
I Love you
August 30th, 2011 at 8:50 pm
Thanks for the help but I have a quick question. Is it possible for the story to begin immediately following the inciting event? Say the story starts not with a flashback but just a quick explanation of how the characters got into the fix in which they find themselves.
August 31st, 2011 at 3:24 pm
Hi Glenn, it’s far more common to do that in theatre (the inciting incident frequently takes place before the action begins) but it’s not impossible for prose. One of the benefits of this approach is keeping the inciting incident a mystery and only revealing what happened later in the story.
August 31st, 2011 at 9:23 pm
Hello Fiona,
I’m a new veteran to this. After ten-years of writing horrible non-fiction for corporations, I now sit down to write for myself. I stare at the screen and I have no voice and I have no words! Its infuriating!
Anyway, I wanted to thank you for the marathon metaphor. It was exactly what i needed. And thank you for putting together this web-guide. I’m loving it!
September 1st, 2011 at 9:52 am
You’re most welcome, Jonathen. Hope you enjoy yourself!
September 2nd, 2011 at 8:06 pm
Thanks Fiona. I’ve been working on some world building for a fantasy novel, or perhaps a series, and since I’m a complete novice to this industry, I thought I might try to write some short stories set in my world and try to sell those to a magazine somewhere just to get some kind of awareness of my world out there. Does that sound like a reasonable plan to you?
September 5th, 2011 at 8:41 am
Hi Glenn, reasonable in the sense that it is reasonable for someone to expect to be paid for their work, but sadly a very difficult thing to achieve – but not impossible. To get your short stories accepted to a magazine in itself is an achievement but to get paid for it, is even more rare. What I suggest you do is to hone your craft first on competitions then try pitching to magazines. And don’t forget online outlets too. The final session of this course will give you some pointers on outlets.
Good luck
Fiona
September 5th, 2011 at 9:16 pm
been wanting to write somthing for a while but i duno were to start so hopefully this will help
September 8th, 2011 at 12:35 am
i once saw an advertisement in one of my local newspapers for s short story with the tag line ” then they kissed”. well after writing my story i was left hanging because they did not proceed with the contest so if i can submit my story to you i would be very appreciative of your comments.
September 8th, 2011 at 9:35 am
Hello Patricia,
Please email me details of the word count of the story so that I can qive you a quote of how much the critique would cost. You may use the contact form on the menu strap.
Fiona
September 11th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Enjoy the blog post
October 4th, 2011 at 1:38 am
Hi.Fiona. I want to write about real things. Reality. Stories like that are on here donot interest me. I want to write about God.How would I write about things that I have truly experienced with God in my own life?if you can answer.If not I understand. Janice.
October 4th, 2011 at 9:22 am
Hello Janice, I have another course called Writing as Worship and Witness that you may find interesting http://www.veitchsmith.com/2007/11/05/writing-as-worship-witness/
October 4th, 2011 at 9:23 am
Oh, and you might want to try the non-fiction course as well http://non-fiction-writing-course.thecraftywriter.com/
October 16th, 2011 at 6:11 pm
I am really loving your webpage. I didn’t know much about writing a book but after coming across your page I am learning alot. I am thanking you a bunch. I hope to learn more from you.THANK YOU.Keep up the good work
October 26th, 2011 at 5:39 pm
this page reeeeelly saved my life. it helped me with my eng. lit. assignment. thank u
October 26th, 2011 at 5:40 pm
p.s. i want to be a writer
December 7th, 2011 at 8:31 am
Fantastic
January 30th, 2012 at 2:46 am
This was extremely helpful! Thank you!
February 8th, 2012 at 5:25 am
In exercise 6, am I just to describe whats suppose to happen in my short story? ex:) paragraph 1 is a summary of my beginning, Paragraph 2 my middle, and 3 my end. Or am I actually writing it and creating dialogue?
February 8th, 2012 at 9:09 am
Hello Kendall, the exercise is asking for you to write the first three paragraphs of your short story up to the inciting incident. The aim is to try to get you to establish your ordinary world and what comes along to change it as quickly as possible. A lot of writers take too long to do this. What you are thinking about with the beginning, middle and end paragraphs is an outline of the whole story. That’s not what as I was getting at here.
Happy writing
Fiona