{"id":2242,"date":"2017-07-20T16:23:15","date_gmt":"2017-07-20T16:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/index.php\/2017\/07\/20\/short-story-how-to-write-an-award-winner\/"},"modified":"2023-08-24T14:30:18","modified_gmt":"2023-08-24T14:30:18","slug":"short-story-how-to-write-an-award-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/2017\/07\/20\/short-story-how-to-write-an-award-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"SHORT STORY: How to write an award winner"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Recently I led a fellow author through the steps toward and award-winning essay. Perhaps you are curious about this too. Let me show you how I do it step by step to give you a deeper understanding of the process. In one way it is simple, in that short stories are the perfect length for an author who has a full-time job\u2014that\u2019s me. On the other hand, the process is not done overnight. It usually takes me two months. \u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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STEP ONE\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0I let a story flow out of me over a few days. I write in a forward direction. I don’t fix, add, rearrange or anything.<\/p>\n

STEP TWO\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0I usually jump into a story in a point of MOVEMENT (literarily the characters are moving, going, doing)<\/em> and then I add a flashback or backstory as soon as possible to help my readers know “where” and “when” we are (setting).<\/p>\n

STEP THREE\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I read over the story and I reconsider the POV (point of view). \u00a0WHO? is the question. WHO should tell this story?<\/p>\n

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CONSIDERATIONS ON POV<\/strong>
\nI consider: If I use the first person point of view, then the reader can really get my feelings and emotions. If I choose 3rd person POV, I have to decide which character is really the main character. WHOSE story is it really?<\/p>\n

If I choose the 3rd<\/sup> person POV, I still must hug close to that character and think, feel, speak through him or her.<\/p>\n

However, I might want a storyteller sound. This would mean my 3rd<\/sup> person narration will be a true \u201cstoryteller\u201d with an omniscient VOICE of “God” who knows everything is watching the characters and tells about them (not popular the last 25 years). In this POV, I might choose a storyteller with a strong VOICE of his\/her own. Almost like he\/she is the character who is invisible and tells it how he\/she saw it. This means the narration will not go so far as completely omniscient.<\/p>\n

In other words, if I choose this storyteller POV, I need to make a strong VOICE…My own? or as if I was “there.” with them blow by blow, giving myself freedom to include opinion. (If I choose this one, it is the most difficult to do well, because this voice must be consistent throughout.) \u00a0<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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STEP FOUR\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 After I choose WHO will tell the story and whether it will be 1st person, 2nd person (speak directly to the reader with “you”) or 3rd person (intimate narration of main character or omniscient storyteller), Then I must choose present tense or past tense.<\/p>\n

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CONSIDERATIONS ON TENSE USAGE<\/strong>
\nIf I choose first person, this will give the most excitement and tension, like the story is happening RIGHT NOW. This is good for action stories.\u00a0 And if I choose the past tense, \u00a0it is like the story being \u00a0reported. “Already done and over with–everything conclusive.”<\/p>\n

Yet, in this past tense I have a range of choices. I can act like it JUST HAPPENED and thus, I don’t have the wisdom of the ages, I only have the information in an immediate sense. However, I can choose a \u201cdistant narration,\u201d like the events happened, long, long time ago, then (especially if it is 1st person) the wisdom and knowledge is “rich” since my whole life is informing what I share with the reader. \u00a0(Hope you’re following me). \u00a0\u00a0 <\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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STEP FIVE \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Now I fix my manuscript with these decisions made: \u00a0POV and TENSE. \u00a0Sometimes I’ve experimented in my mind like a script. Other times I have it in print. Not long, and I’ve decided which COMBO FITS my story.<\/p>\n

STEP SIX\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Then I go back and I look for places that need more description, where does my reader have question marks about the setting, the situation? I expand the information carefully in those places, right where the reader needs it.<\/p>\n

STEP SEVEN\u00a0\u00a0 In this step, I look for places where I TELL\u00a0my reader something and revise it in order to SHOW the reader instead. \u00a0“She was sad.” \u00a0is better portrayed in a conversation with a sad tone, body language that shows sadness, etc.<\/p>\n

STEP EIGHT\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Next, I look for all the places where the information could be given in conversation instead of narration and try to see if a dialogue would work.<\/p>\n

STEP NINE\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Often more than one good idea or phrase is on the page for a description of a character or an action. When I revise I keep my favorite and DELETE the rest. Too much is too much<\/em> as they say.<\/p>\n

STEP TEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0During the revision, I make sure I haven’t said anything TWICE. ha ha. \u00a0Did I tell you she was sad? Yeah. she was sad (equals BEING REDUNDANT)<\/p>\n

STEP ELEVEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0To add some magic…while I was writing some secondary imagery might be just bursting from the pages. Should I use a lot of references to LIGHT? \u00a0to GARDENING? \u00a0to the BODY? \u00a0 to some aspect of NATURE?<\/p>\n

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EXAMPLE OF IMAGERY or SYMBOLISM<\/strong>
\nIf I choose some imagery, I go back and find verbs or adjectives associated with that topic and find places where my characters can express themselves in those terms.\u00a0 Say, I choose the body as an image.\u00a0 The character can find some information \u201cindigestible\u201d or \u201cdelicious\u201d\u2014though not related to food. Get it?\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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STEP TWELVE\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I read it aloud and fix.<\/p>\n

STEP THIRTEEN\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I print it and fix.<\/p>\n

STEP FOURTEEN\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0I do #13 and #14 twice or three times more.<\/p>\n

STEP FIFTEEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I email it to friends and the show me the problem areas where they have misconceptions or question marks in their minds.<\/p>\n

STEP SIXTEEN\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0I do #13-14 again.<\/p>\n

STEP SEVENTEEN\u00a0\u00a0 Eventually, when I read it out loud and it FLOWS and its MOVING me emotionally. I STOP!<\/p>\n

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Further Reading on Point of View:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

FIRST PERSON \u00a0Point of View<\/a><\/p>\n

THIRD PERSON Point of View<\/a><\/p>\n

THIRD PERSON Point of View Continuum<\/a><\/p>\n

Writing in HINDSIGHT<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  STEP ONE\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0I let a story flow out of me over a few days. I write in a forward direction. I don’t fix, add, rearrange or anything. STEP TWO\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0I usually jump into a story in a point of MOVEMENT (literarily the characters are moving, going, doing) and then I add a flashback or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2062,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56,47,28],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2242"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3039,"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242\/revisions\/3039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldsobright.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}