What Makes a Good Short Story?

I’m running the short story past the critique group before I submit it to the anthology, so I’m thinking about “What makes a good short story?”

First, of course, you need an idea that you can develop into a plot — and no, the two aren’t the same thing. Your idea will be something like “What if velyr live in Abu Dhabi?” The plot, on the other hand, is that thing with a beginning, a middle, and a reasonable end. It’s the story itself, the thing that has to be logical to the rules of your fictional universe and your characters. Plot is what structures the idea into something you can read.

There are several ways to work an idea into a plot. You might try thinking in halves, where you spend the first half asking questions and setting everything up, then explain all in the second half. You might try thinking in thirds, with a “classic” three-part act. Or you might try having four acts in your plot. However you work, you need to flesh out that idea into a plot.

Once you have a plot, the trick is to keep the thing down to short story word counts. Short stories are defined as “under 7,500 words.” This means your plot would be more like a scene or two if you were writing a novel. You don’t have an awful lot of room to work with.

As a “plantser,” I like to have a rough idea of where my story’s going to end up, but then just start writing and see how I’m going to get there in the end. You might like outlining the whole thing and having everything planned out in detail. Or, you may be a “pantser,” who just likes to wing it all the way through. However you get there, remember that word count limit.

A good story is one that sticks to the limit while still having those plot points you need, whether you have two parts, three acts, or four acts. Make sure you wrap everything up in the end, leaving no loose ends dangling to confuse the reader. Make everything logical, too, instead of tossing in wild coincidences and acts of God. Your characters should behave in ways that match their personalities and your fictional world should make sense to them.

If you can keep all that in mind, writing a short story is fairly simple then. Just remember the first draft is always crap — it’s the editing that makes it a gem!