a quick prompt for a busy day-
Remember, short stories are made up of what is left off of the page. A good short story has characters with depth, a great short has a plot with depth.
What can you imply by a character’s body language? What important narration can you omit by describing a scene from a close point of view, or through dialogue instead?
The art of omission is important when writing short-shorts. As a writer, you have to know what needs to be implied, and what needs to be narrated. You need to know how the information will be absorbed and best affect the story.
– Do you want to say the woman lost her child, or do you want to imply it by describing a woman returning infant clothing to the store?
– Does the reader need to know that your character is moving out of his now ex-wife’s house, or do you want to imply it by describing a moving truck with only boxes full of his clothing, his tools, a lawn mower he got for a gift, and the bedsuit his parent’s bought them when they got married.
As a quick writing challenge today, spend 30 minutes writing a short story, or scene, or snapshot that doesn’t directly narrate or disclose a significant part of the plot, but instead, implies what is going on through description. Try using these words within your story: empty, found, rapid, supply, and nuisance.
