Short Story Writing Tips
Leaving Cert. Exam
Plot
Characters
Dialogue
Setting
Structure
- If you choose to write a short story in your exam you will most likely have a choice between two titles.
- Your essay should be inspired by the title but you can interpret it to suit your interests and strengths. For example, a title on the subject of 'unwelcome visitors' could be about an infestation of mice in your house.
- Good to write about what interests you, and/or something based on what has happened to you or someone you know.
- In your plan, ask: who, what, where, when, why and how? (5W+H).
- Plan your story carefully.
Plot
- A little background detail is important to establish the “world” of the characters, and to make them believable
- Give characters a challenge of some sort, and obstacles in the way of them achieving their goal
- Central character usually makes some sort of decision – a turning point in the story
- Story should have a moral
- Main character learns a lesson, and develops as a person by the end
- Good guys = nice end; bad guys = come-uppance
Characters
- What do characters do or fail to do? (inner conflict)
- What do they say and how? (dialogue)
- What motivates them? (goal)
- What do their gestures and movements tell us about them? (body language)
- What do other characters think and say about them? (admiration, dislike, etc.)
- How does the main character change? (new insight)
- When describing your character, try to avoid bland statements like: ‘She had low self-esteem.’ How do you know this about her? This is telling, not showing.
- Alternatively, you could say, ‘Her sister constantly belittled her figure in front of her friends, but instead of confronting her about it, she apologised for her size.’
- Give the reader “space” to think and imagine the scenario for themselves – SHOW, DON’T TELL!
Dialogue
- Use dialogue sparingly
- Get to the heart of the conversation – avoid preamble!
- Indent and use inverted commas to make it clear
- Interior monologue: what are the thoughts and feelings of your character? (e.g. He was one of those bald guys that comb all their hair over from one side to cover up the baldness. I’d rather be bald than that. - J.D. Salinger)
- In the above example, Holden Caulfield is feeling depressed and cynical, fed up with the phoney behaviour of others
Setting
- Setting should be realistic, like your characters
- Careful descriptive writing invites readers to visualise the scene. Don’t make them work at this!
- Setting often reflects the mood of the story
- Symbolism can be used, but don’t overdo it
- Similes can be useful but should be kept to a minimum
Structure
- Clear beginning, middle and end
- Your opening should grab the reader
- Create suspense and keep the reader guessing as to what will happen next – don’t provide too many details at the start
- Stories can be linear, or flashbacks can be used to fill in background details (but they must be pertinent and relate directly to the plot. They might explain the reason for the characters’ actions).
- Your ending should tie up loose ends (unless a cliffhanger)
- Three types of endings: i) cliffhanger, ii) twist, iii) resolution