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Grammarly makes AI writing convenient. Work smarter with personalized AI guidance and text generation on any app or website.

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Now that you know the elements you need to write a short story, sit down and let the creative juices flow! Here are some places to submit your work.

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Writing Dialogue

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Realistic dialogue written well can advance a story and flesh out characters while providing a break from straight exposition. Writing realistic dialogue does not come easily for everyone, though, and few things pull a reader out of a story faster than bad dialogue.

It takes time to develop a good ear for dialogue, but following some simple rules and avoiding some obvious pitfalls can make a huge difference. For example, any good dialogue starts with speech patterns that sound natural to the ear. In keeping with using natural speech patterns, people don't provide every detail when talking to each other. If you have some voids in your dialogue, it will sound more realistic.

Listen to How People Talk

Having a sense of natural speech patterns is essential to good dialogue. Pay attention to the expressions people use and the music of everyday conversation. Note how people can maintain conversations without complete sentences and sometimes by even finishing others' sentences. Eavesdropping is not a crime, so go ahead and listen to how people communicate with one another.

Also, don't overlook the value of silence. Not responding to someone's remark speaks volumes-it connotes anger, disapproval, disdain, and a host of other negative feelings.​

People talk in stops and starts, and they pause with nonsense words like "um" and "er." Frequently they talk over one another. As much as you're trying to emulate realistic speech patterns, the dialogue still needs to be readable. Alfred Hitchcock said a good story is "life with the dull parts taken out." This statement also applies to dialogue. A transcription of a conversation would be boring and confusing, so give readers only what matters. Edit out filler words and unessential commentary that doesn't contribute to the plot in some way.

Break up Dialogue With Action

Remind readers that your characters are physical human beings by grounding their dialogue in the physical world. Such details also help break up the words on the page. It can be as simple as referencing that characters are standing on the deck of a cabin cruiser. Long periods of dialogue are easier for readers when broken up by descriptions. The same holds true for long periods of descriptions: they need to be broken up with dialogue.

Punctuate Dialogue Correctly

The rules for punctuating dialogue can be confusing. Many writers need help getting them right, especially in the beginning. Take some time to learn the basics. A reader should get lost in your prose. You may have written beautiful dialogue, but you don't want the reader stumbling over it because it's hard to follow due to missing, misplaced, or inconsistently used commas.

Keep it Short

Try to keep each instance of dialogue to one sentence. When you get to the second sentence, it's likely your character has become an "explainer," delivering expository information instead of acting as a dynamic, believable character.

Any time you find yourself giving a character multiple sentences of dialogue, ask yourself if there's a natural way to put all the important information into one sentence or see if it can be broken up and inserted into a few different places in the conversation. You can also try having another character deliver some of the information.

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These 12 Tips Will Help You Write Compelling Dialogue in Fiction

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Advance the plot and build characters by following some simple rules when writing dialogue. You'll also want to avoid potential pitfalls.

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Design Setting.

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Design a protagonist and an antagonist.

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Can You Have More Than One Protagonist In Your Story?

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Can you have multiple protagonists in your story? Will this cloud the plot or confuse readers? Learn more in this post with examples.

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Outline your plot. Here are some tips.

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Though some writers actively avoid plot outlines, preferring instead to let their ideas flow as they write, creating a plot outline before you dive in can help you get a better sense of your story. It can act as a roadmap for you as you write about your setting, your characters, and describe the major events in the story. A plot outline can also be useful if you hit a wall while writing your story and want to get a better sense of where to write to next.

1. Identify the sections in a plot diagram. One of the more traditional ways to structure a story is to use the triangle plot diagram, also known as Freytag's Pyramid. Freytag's Pyramid is broken into six sections: the set up, the inciting incident, the rising action, the climax, the falling action, and the resolution. The diagram appears like a triangle or a pyramid, with the set up at the bottom of the triangle, followed by the build up of the inciting incident and the rising action. The tip of the triangle is the climax of the story, which is then followed by downward slant of the falling action and flattening out of the triangle, or the resolution of the story.

This type of plot diagram is often used in novels to help structure the action of the story. It can be a useful way to make sure you have all the necessary elements of a story in your novel and many readers will respond positively to a text that is structured based on a plot diagram that has a rise and fall.

You can draw your own plot diagram and write out each section or plot point directly on it. Sometimes it can be helpful to have a visual reference as a guide for your story.

2. Play with moving around the sections of your plot diagram. Though starting with the standard plot diagram can be useful in the drafting stages, you should also consider adjusting the sections and moving them around in subsequent drafts of your story. Consider starting with the inciting incident right away and then moving into the set up, or moving the climax so it appears at the very end of your story, rather than in the later half of the story. Playing around with the plot diagram can make your story feel more unique and dynamic.

Make a spreadsheet of scenes. Once you have written character synopses for each of your main characters and have your one paragraph summary, you should try to expand your summary into scenes using your characters. The list of scenes will help you get a better sense of the overall plot of the story.

Use a spreadsheet program to organize the scenes, as this will make it easy to write out each scene in order. Depending on how long your story is, you may have 50 scenes or over 100 scenes. Create two columns in the spreadsheet, one for the POV character in the scene and another column to explain briefly what happens in the scene. Then, list the scenes one by one, using your summary as a guide.

For example, one entry might read: "Nick discovers Amy is missing. POV character: Nick. What happens: Nick comes home for a long night working at the bar and finds the front door has been kicked open. He also finds a pool of blood in the hallway and signs of a struggle in the living room, with turned over chairs and scratches on the walls. He searches the rest of the house but finds no sign of Amy."

Continue to do this, creating scenes that correspond to your plot summary. You should then have an outline of your plot and a list of scenes that correspond to your plot. This should make it easier to then put the scenes together and form a cohesive story.

Add New Question

How do you start an outline?

Lucy V. Hay is a Professional Writer based in London, England. With over 20 years of industry experience, Lucy is an author, script editor, and award-winning blogger who helps other writers through writing workshops, courses, and her blog Bang2Write. Lucy is the producer of two British thrillers, and Bang2Write has appeared in the Top 100 round-ups for Writer's Digest & The Write Life and is a UK Blog Awards Finalist and Feedspot's #1 Screenwriting blog in the UK. She received a B.A. in Scriptwriting for Film & Television from Bournemouth University.

It might be helpful to write out the parts of your plot diagram on pieces of paper or sticky notes. Then, you can place them on a table or wall and rearrange them until you find an order that works.

How can I identify a plot hole aside from inconsistency?

Just tell someone what the story revolves around, and then tell them to read it. Make your friends critics and have them be honest about it. Sometimes others can see what we cannot.

How does the plot of a story help the story?

The plot IS the story, in most cases. The plot is everything that actually happens; it drives your story and makes it interesting.

See more answers

1. ↑ Lucy V. Hay. Professional Writer. Expert Interview. 16 July 2019.

2. ↑ Lucy V. Hay. Professional Writer. Expert Interview. 16 July 2019.

This article was co-authored by Lucy V. Hay. Lucy V. Hay is a Professional Writer based in London, England. With over 20 years of industry experience, Lucy is an author, script editor, and award-winning blogger who helps other writers through writing workshops, courses, and her blog Bang2Write. Lucy is the producer of two British thrillers, and Bang2Write has appeared in the Top 100 round-ups for Writer's Digest & The Write Life and is a UK Blog Awards Finalist and Feedspot's #1 Screenwriting blog in the UK. She received a B.A. in Scriptwriting for Film & Television from Bournemouth University. This article has been viewed 289,096 times.

Updated: October 11, 2022

To write a plot outline or plot diagram, draw a short horizontal line on a piece of paper to represent the exposition, which introduces the characters. Then, angle the line up sharply so that angle can represent the inciting incident that changes the main character's life. The rest of that line is the rising action, where you develop your story. While the end of the line is the climax, or the most important problem. Angle the line down from there to show the protagonist fixing the problem, ending in the resolution. Keep reading for tips from our Writing reviewer on how to use the snowflake outline method!

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 289,096 times.

Chanelle Kelly

"This helped a lot because I had no clue how to do a plot summary. This showed me pictures and step-by-steps with tips. I recommend this to anyone, if you or a friend is scared to ask your teacher." ..." more

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4 Ways to Write an Outline for a Story - wikiHow

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Though some writers actively avoid plot outlines, preferring instead to let their ideas flow as they write, creating a plot outline before you dive in can help you get a better sense of your story. It can act as a roadmap for you as you...

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Conflict, in good stories, is not always about spectacular events or painful emotions. The secret to good conflict is values.

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Follow this link to study Freytag's Pyramid.

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ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, videos, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you.

Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals.

Teacher Resources by Grade

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Home › Classroom Resources › Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan

Grades

6 - 8

Lesson Plan Type

Standard Lesson

Estimated Time

Two 50-minute sessions

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Publisher

Featured Resources From Theory to Practice
OVERVIEW

Freytag's Pyramid is a tool for mapping plot structure, which allows readers to visualize the key features of stories. Students whose experience with text is limited have internalized the pattern described by Freytag's Pyramid through oral storytelling and television viewing. They need help seeing that the patterns they are familiar with are the same ones writers use to construct a short story, play, or novel. This lesson plan provides a basic introduction to Freytag's Pyramid and to the literary element of plot. After viewing a brief presentation about plot structure, students brainstorm the significant events in a story with which they are all familiar and place those events on Freytag's Pyramid. They work in small groups to map the plot of another story. For homework, they map the plot of a favorite television show. Finally, they apply their knowledge of Freytag's Pyramid to map the plot of a narrative poem.
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FEATURED RESOURCES

Plot PowerPoint Presentation: Use this presentation as an introduction to Freytag's Pyramid and the literary element of plot.
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Plot Diagram: Students can use this online tool to map the plot of any story, play, movie, or other text.
Further Reading

FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE
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As Carol Jago explains, "It's easy to 'teach' literary terminology and devise quizzes on the terms, but to make the language of literature useful to readers, students need to practice using academic vocabulary in ways that deepen their understanding of how stories work" (51). Jago proposes using Freytag's Pyramid to present and explore plot because the graphic organizer "allows readers to visualize key features of stories" (51). This lesson, which is adapted from Jago's "Stop Pretending and Think about Plot," asks students to practice using the literary element "in familiar contexts" (51). Through this process, students gain a deeper comprehension of the literary element's meaning and the ways that it contributes to a writer's craft.

Jago, Carol. "Stop Pretending and Think about Plot." Voices from the Middle 11.4 (May 2004): 50-51.

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Plot Structure: A Literary Elements Mini-Lesson - ReadWriteThink

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ReadWriteThink couldn't publish all of this great content without literacy experts to write and review for us. If you've got lessons plans, videos, activities, or other ideas you'd like to contribute, we'd love to hear from you. Find the latest in professional publications, learn new techniques and strategies, and find out how you can connect with other literacy professionals.

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A character should be round and layered. Your protagonist should want something even if it's only a glass of water, but there needs to be obstacles in the way of that glass of water. I believe a character should have four essentials.

Something or someone to love.
Something or someone to fear.
Something or someone to lose.
Something to gain.

The character can have a unique "voice." This can be expressed in dialogue or internal monologue.

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Short stories should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. They are works of literature that can stand on their own. To write a story, you'll need:
Characters
Plot
Setting
Conflict
Resolution