Creating Characters For a Short Story
♫ Monday, May 17th, 2010
In a short story, which in practice is normally 1,000 to 3,000 words, you simply haven’t got room to fully describe a character to your reader. On the other hand your characters should be real to you personally so that you can make them behave in an authentic way.
1. What do they look like?
Some authors would say start by describing who they are rather than what they look like, but to me, a character’s physical appearance always comes first so that’s where I’ll begin.
Take pen and paper and jot down the following physical characteristics: Hair and eye colour, hair style, complexion, age, build, slim or plump. You can do this in 50 words or less. And remember, once you have the basic description, you can always tweak it later. Get a clear picture of your character in your mind’s eye.
2. Background
Where were they born and where did they grow up? Jot down their country of origin, county or state, town, city or village. What were their parents names? What schooling did they have? What jobs have they had, and what job do they have now? Are they married or single? Any children? See all this in your mind’s eye so that their background begins to come to life for you. All this stuff will affect how they think and react to different situations. Jot it down briefly to begin with.
3. Likes and dislikes
What food do they like, are they a drinker? Are they into sport, pets, hobbies? What music do they listen to and what movies do they like? What is their favourite food and what can’t they stand? Do they have pet hates or phobias? Get this all down on paper, but keep it short.
4. Character
Now we come to what they are like as a person. What is their temperament? Easy going? Short tempered? Anxious, easily vexed? Are they strong willed or easily led by others? Are they forgiving or do they not suffer fools gladly? Are they loving and outgoing or timid and introspective? Jot it all down and try to build inside your head just what kind of person they are on the inside.
Now bear in mind that not all this information may come out in your story. The reader may never know that your character’s hobby is needle point, or that they grew up in poverty in a Welsh mining village, but you, the writer, will know and this will help you give your character the proper responses, accent and reactions as they brush up against the other characters in your story.
By this time you should know what their name and age is. You may have known that from the start, but if so do you want to change either one now you know your character better?
As a writer you should try to make your characters living, breathing, believable people. And ideally, you want your reader to develop an emotional connection with them. How do you want your readers to respond to them? Do you want the reader to love them, dislike them, be amused by them? Getting the details of the character down on paper as we did above will help you to craft the characters your readers will respond to.
Writing Short Stories For Money
♫ Thursday, May 28th, 2009People love to read short stories they are the perfect length for sitting in the Dr’s office or while you are waiting to get your hair cut. They are just long enough to grab your interest but not so long that you cannot finish them by the time your turn has come. They can be found in books as compilations or in magazines; they come in all genres and vary in length from several hundred words to several thousand words.
How do you go about making money with your stories and where do you start? If you have never tried to get a story published before this can seem to be a daunting task, we have all heard how hard it can be to get an editor to look at your work. In the printed book world this can sometimes seem to be the case, if you have ever faced an editor’s rejection you would understand.
Thankfully, there are many magazines that print short stories from unknown and well known authors, side by side. The biggest trick to finding one, is knowing how to use the Internet to couple your story with the right magazine, after all a horror story would not fit well in family circle. At most magazine companies you will find a list of their rules for submissions. If you want to have any chance at all you must follow these rules to the letter, any variance will end with a rejection notice no matter how good your story is.
There are places on the Internet that will help you get your stories published, many of them offer free services and will not only help you publish your work but will help you market it as well. Some of these such as Xilbris and Dorrance offer editorial and publishing services to help get your book the most publicity. A word to the wise though they will charge you for their services, but you get what you pay for and if you want to make money with your stories you are going to need a high quality publisher.
You can also sell your short stories on web sites in the form of eBooks. This is becoming a very popular medium for new writers and it is a great way to turn your short stories into some well deserved cash.