- What's up my friend? Abbie here and welcome back
to "WritersLife Wednesdays" where we come together to help
you make your story matter and make your author dreams come true. Are you struggling to write a short story? Like no matter what you write,
you're not happy with it, and no matter what advice you
take, nothing seems to help? If so, don't worry, you're
not alone, and in this video, I'm going to debunk some of the common short story writing myths that
are probably holding you back and show you what to focus
on, what is important, so that you can write a short
story that matters to you. Let's go. Why does your story matter? Good question. What if I told you that there's a science behind every great story? I don't just teach you how to write, I teach you how to change
the world with your story and make your author dreams come true. There are a few common myths
about writing short stories that discourage so many writers and create this very restricted
one-size-fits-all method for short story writing, which is actually creatively damaging. Most writers will tell you that before you go to write a short story, you need to read short stories. Like, you can't get started right away, you have to go educate yourself first. This is not true. Reading short stories might
be helpful to some writers, but not all of them, because
here's the unpopular truth, not all writers are big readers. So no, you don't have to
go and educate yourself by consuming stories that other writers tell
you you should read. If you enjoy reading short stories and you get inspiration
from them, cool, go ahead, but don't look at it as the
path that you have to take that will get you to where you want to go. That will probably cause
you to be more self-critical and more intimidated by the
idea of writing anything at all. Most writers will also tell you that you should write short stories before trying your hand
at something more complex, like a novel. Like, "Don't think that you can go and write a novel right away, because you need to write
a bunch of short stories before you're seasoned
enough to write a novel." This is also a lie. You don't have to write short stories in order to be qualified to write a novel. I think most writers
think of short stories as like the cheap art book of painting, you know, like the thin paper that's not very good quality
that you practice on, and then the novel is
like the thick, fancy, expensive watercolor paper, and you better not touch that
unless you're a great writer and you're going to
write something amazing. Which is just a really toxic
way to look at writing. Now I am all for practicing, okay? I think practice is very important and short stories are a
great way to practice writing because the best practice comes when you're not taking
something too seriously. Short stories are ideal for this because you probably
don't have to publish it or even show it to anybody else if you don't want to. My personal favorite medium for non-serious practice
writing is fan fiction, because you definitely don't have to worry about it being good enough to publish. Oftentimes writers, especially
new or insecure writers, will treat their practice
projects with contempt, like this attitude of, "Oh, it's not good, it's really actually bad,
please don't read it." But what if we looked at all
of our writing as practice? The thing is, our best
is constantly changing, and we can't improve without practice. There's a great quote
by Seth Godin that goes, "The practice is not
the means to the output, the practice is the output, because the practice
is all we can control." I love looking at my writing this way, because it allows me to
silence the inner critic and just enjoy my writing
exactly where it is, exactly where I am in this moment. Will you become a better
writer in the future? Yes, because we all become
better at what we do, given time and experience, but that doesn't mean what you're writing at the moment is bad. It's your best right now, and
your best is all you can do. So I'm a big supporter
of practicing, okay? Write short stories when you feel like it, but don't feel like you have to write a bunch of short stories before you can work your
way up to writing a novel. That's a myth and it needs to stop. So if you came to this video because you were told that you
need to write a short story or a bunch of short stories
before you can write a novel, don't listen to them, listen
to me, write the novel. If you feel like you have a bigger, more complex story in your
head, then just do it. Don't hesitate, don't
second guess yourself, don't fall into the trap of believing that some other writer is
better or smarter than you. We're all on this journey together, and no two writers are exactly alike. All right, now that those
myths are out of the way, let's talk about the
fundamentals of short stories. First, plot. I've heard a lot of people say that the way to tell if your
plot is good for a short story or good for a novel is
to go by story size. So if you have a small
idea, small premise, that's better for a short story, if you have a bigger,
more complex premise, then it's a novel. This is also not true. Some of my favorite novels
and full-length films are very small scale stories. In fact, as a consumer, I
prefer smaller, simpler stories where there's not much of a plot going on, because it allows the characters to shine. So can we please do away with this notion that your story idea
has to be this complex, exciting, grand idea
in order to be a novel? It's just not true. If you've seen any of my videos, you know that story is not about the plot. It's not about what happens. It's about how your character transforms as a result of their journey. So that being said, here's a better question to ask yourself to figure out whether
your idea is best suited for a short story or a novel. Not, "Is this a small
idea or a large idea?" Instead, ask yourself,
"How long or extensive do I want to make this
character's journey? Will there be side characters or subplots? Does the idea span an entire journey or just a single significant event?" That last question is very important because it's one of the
easiest ways to tell whether you have enough
content for a novel or if this idea is meant
to be a short story. Fundamental number two, characters. Typically, a novel follows a journey and a short story follows an event. So instead of thinking about it like, character is transformed as
a result of their journey, think of it like, character is transformed
as a result of this event. And of course the event causes them to go on an internal
journey, which changes them. So ask yourself if you really want to deeply explore this
character's transformation and go on a whole journey with them, or if you would rather give them more of a subtle character arc, just asking a question,
presenting an idea. I wouldn't recommend giving your character a drastic 180-degree transformation because it will probably feel a bit rushed within the framework of a short story, but they can still have an aha moment because your story has to present an idea, has to present a truth, has
to matter to you, right? Which leads us to the third
fundamental of short stories, which is theme. Some people will tell you that your short story
doesn't need to have a theme. They'll tell you, "It can
just be entertaining." Wait, so it's a plot driven story, so it doesn't matter, essentially. Sorry, I gotta be honest. If you want someone to
read your short story and get something out of it and enjoy it, but also remember it, if you
want it to stick with them, then you you better be
writing some kind of theme or truth into this story. You better be sharing something
kind of idea with somebody. That's why you write, right? I don't subscribe to this idea that a story can just be
plot-driven and have no meaning, and as long as it's
entertaining, it's okay. Like, who cares? I care, because if I'm
going to spend my time reading this story, it
better mean something to me, 'cause the awful is, plot
can't sustain your story. It might hook us, pull us in
with an irresistible premise, but if we don't quickly understand why what's happening
matters to the characters, we don't know why it matters to us. So before you nail down your theme, you need to figure out your
character's internal conflict, ask yourself, "What
does my character think will make them happy? What are they afraid of? What is their misbelief about the world?" And basically your character's misbelief will be the exact opposite of your theme. So to figure out exactly what your character's
misbelief or fatal flaw is, use my simple process, please. It will save your life, and I explain it in this video right here. The point is, your short story has to
matter to you, the author. If it doesn't matter to you, how is it supposed to
matter to anyone else? Side note about pros and
non-linear narration. Your short story might not
follow the traditional flow of a plot or linear events happening. It might be more abstract,
like your main character just having a really
complex thought process about their life or their
past or their relationships, and it might not follow the
flow of cause and effect that a normal plot follows. If that's the case, don't feel like you have to
fit into a specific framework to make your short story more
like everything else, okay? This is art, you should do it your way, and there's really no
one-size-fits-all method to short story writing. That's my most important point here. There are no rules, okay? All you have to do is make sure your short
story matters to you by making sure it matters
to your characters, whether they're going on a journey, just experiencing an event,
or reflecting on their past. Internal conflict is the secret ingredient to capturing your reader's attention. When we know why it
matters to the characters, we know why it matters to us. And when something matters to us, we pay close attention to it. Boom, that's it. I hope this video has
given you some clarity when it comes to writing
your fabulous short story, and if it did, smash that
like button to let me know. Subscribe to this channel
if you haven't already because I post writing videos and publishing videos
every single Wednesday, and I would love to have
you here in the community. Also, be sure to check out my Patreon because that's where we go beyond videos and take storytelling to the next level. The Patreon community
is not only the best way to support what I'm doing here on YouTube, but it's also the only way
to connect one-on-one with me and get better guidance on your story. So go to patreon.com/abbieemmons and check out all the awesome, exclusive content I
have over there for you. Until next week, my friend, rock on. (chuckles) Oh, great (snaps fingers). A character's misbelief or fatal flaw. Hello, talking. (chuckles) I can be so
ridiculously salty today. I've been saving up my salt, and I'm just like pouring
it all into this video.
