Question: Provide an overview of short stories. What is the significance of prompts in writing short stories? What are the steps to writing a short story? List a few short story ideas from different genres.

Do you have good short story ideas? Do you know how to write a short story? Where can I find a good short story sample? What does it takes to develop amazing short story ideas? Motivation and imagination are vital to developing the best short story ideas.You need good writing skills and the motivation to write about endless imaginations encircling your mind.

The timeless nature of the short story makes it part of all genres of literary writing.It may seem too satisfying to create a story, but it is not simple to write. Different things must work together to change a simple story into an amazing short one. Things such as a clear and cohesive plot, worthy characters, character and plot development, consistent flow of narration, thoughtful dialogues, building tension, conflict, climax and resolution have to be present in a short story.Apart from regular practice, there is no other way to develop a short story using these elements.

Overview of short story

A short story is a concise form of fiction smaller than a novel. It is frequently written to convey a moral, document a point, or give rise to a mood. Usually, short stories move around some typical components such as setting, characters, plot, themes and conflict.

Short stories can be written in different styles, structures and sizes.Short stories can generally be written in 1000 to 5000 words, and some may even be as long as 10000 words.There are three categories of short stories depending on the word limit. The first is the short story that can be written in a few words or 20000 to 30000 words. There is no such word limitation while writing a short story. Second, flash fiction is a short story with a word limit. It can be written in 1000 words. The last is the micro-fiction category which should not be written in more than 500 words.

Steps to write a short story

It is not a simple task to compress all ideas concisely and add all the essential elements. Writing a short story is more tedious than writing a novel due to constraint word count.But if you have an idea about writing a short story, it will greatly help you in the future.We have listed a few steps to write the best short story ideas to make things easier for you. Make sure that you implement the steps in the order mentioned below:

• Figure out and identify a captivating short story idea

• Ascertain the structure and purpose of the story

• Find out the 5 essential components of the story such as plot, characters, setting, conflict and theme

• Choose an emotion that you give rise to throughout the story

• Outline the ideas that you have analyzed

• Write the first draft of the short story on the lines of the outline

• Grab the reader’s attention by writing a catchy opening

• Construct the story with reasonable scenes and engrossing dialogue

• Judiciously write the climax of the story to conclude it

• Proofread and amend the draft till you are satisfied

Significance of prompts in writing short stories

This blog section on short story ideas will discuss the significance of prompts for writing a short story.

Practice the language: You must have skills like a professional writer to write an incredibly short story. Being a native writer does not make you skilled; instead, you need to progress from a beginner to a skilled writer.To advance in this language journey, regular practice is required so that you can become a better writer.Prompts in creative writing are fun and can make the writing process much easier.

Getting stuck and having no idea:Sometimes, you think of writing but have no ideas.In such cases, you can find certain ideas by using previous short story ideas and taking help from the internet or lessons. Once you check these places, you will surely develop several ideas.

Build your idea:There may be an instance where you have an idea, but you are unsure about its quality or find something missing. You can fill the plot holes by reading other ideas and generating new ideas.

They are entertaining: Prompts are used by many writers as they are too entertaining. Some use them every month, some in the classroom, some at home and some at workplaces. It assists you in showcasing your creativity and putting forward new ideas, and taking your writing in a different direction.

Short story ideas from different genres

Now it’s time to compile different short story ideas from popular literary genres.You can use these short story ideas to materialize interesting short stories for your readers.

Fantasy-based short story ideas

The fantasy genre in literary writing is one of the prominent and popular categories. The context of fantasy stories can take us to another world and help us forget our troubles in this world. Creativity is an essential aspect of fantasy stories. A sample fantasy novel or a story can help you understand how to proceed with the writing part. Certain fantasy books are available in the public domain that can be used for inspiration.

The Lord of the Rings: The novel by J.R.R. Tolkien depicts fantastic fantasy stories. Due to its popularity, the novel has been rewritten and remade in different formats. You can get different short story ideas from this novel, such as good versus evil, how temptation corrupts the soul, fighting against odds, love and sacrifice as weapons against evils, etc.

The Harry Potter series: The novel was written by J.K. Rowling in different series.The novel revolves around a group of young wizards withstanding the evil wizard.Every element of the series can help you create several fantastic short story ideas, such as potions, magic, monsters, friendship, rivalry, etc.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The novel has been written by C.S. Lewis, which demonstrates how a group of kids fights against the evils to save the magical world of Narnia. The novel gives you ideas about mythical beasts, warriors, witches, etc.

Many other fantasy novels in the public domain can be read to generate short story fantasy-based ideas. But if you are running out of time, you can use the below-listed prompts.

• The daughter of an expired soldier learns about the atrocities and mysteries encompassing her father’s death. She begins to unearth the secret and take revenge.

• During one of the summer camps, while trekking, the protagonist and their friends are adrift in the woods. They find out a cave in an ancient structure. Going further, they find themselves trapped by a mythical beast.

Drama-based short story ideas

Literature based on drama usually comprises dialogues, escalating events, resolutions, confrontations, climaxes, etc.Making situations dramatic and even melodramatic, increasing the emotional quotient, creating tension, and making the audience rise are a few of the elements of drama. To make your dramatic story impactful, you need to think about ideas that can stir your readers’ emotions, interpret events dramatically, and permit them to visualize the story and the characters.To make everything dramatic, it is vital to develop the story and the plot in a dramatic manner. It’s time to go through some dramatic short story ideas.

• A masked individual has robbed and attacked people at gunpoint for a few days.The protagonist is a strong and brave young man known for doing justice. During the day, he studies in a college, and at night he goes behind searching for the masked man.

• A non-native returns to his country and finds out about his disintegrated family due to his brother’sdeath by an influential criminal. He begins to track the criminal to establish peace and justice.

• A person missing for many years appears suddenly. He wants to share a lot; what happens next will convert the family forever.

• A cyclone has damaged the coastal areas. The protagonist looks for his family amidst the dangers and chaos.

• A young lad going for a job interview learns about a dangerous event. How he addresses the event and remains composed is the story’s subject.

Dystopian fiction-based short story ideas

Dystopian fiction transpires in a dark, gloomy, and deserted world.Stories in this genre revolve around characters trying to survive, looking for hope in never-ending desolation, or going against an oppressive regime.It must have a lot of visuals to help the readers understand the decaying state of society.Simultaneously, it should also pinpoint the aspects of humanity and throw light on our abilities to do good and bad. You can develop potent dystopian short story ideas from the below prompts:

• The year is 2150. Humanity has been brought to extinctiondue to climate change, energy and water crisis, and global warming. At least half of mankind has gone, the economyand government have fallen, and children have been left out to suffer.

• Artificial intelligence has taken over humanity, which is fighting for its survival.People had to get rid of all technologies as AI was controlling them. There is a change of event when one of the factions of AI communicates with humans and wishes to help establish peace. Should humans trust them?

• The year is 2090, and there is World War III. The struggling world economy, racism, decreasing resources and religious extremism are the major factors behind the war.

Science fiction short story ideas

It is one of the incredible genres of short stories. Like futuristic fantasies, this genre is powerful and gives rise to many sub-genres. It is the foundation of many novels, video games, short stories, movies, etc. Let’s look at some of the short story ideas based on science fiction:

Many spaceships all at once surround the Earth’s orbit. They announce that they are from an advanced human civilization and Earth is their colony.Big soldiers from the ships land on the Earth, and the world does not remain the same.

Earth is in danger, and aliens come in to save it. But a section of humanity is not willing to hear their input.

A strange disease is making children pale in rural European communities. One by one, every sick child at night goes missing from their house.But the following morning, each of them returns.

Short story ideas based on ghosts

Ghost stories don’t need to be horrifying all the time; it has its demand and charm. Let’s unearth a few of the ghost stories which are not too scary.

• Alex was about to fall from his terrace when somebody caught him by his hand and pulled him back. Who was it?

• It is heard that Alex moved into his new house in the last month.But the house is trying to tell something about a past event and why it is unsafe to live.

• A man wakes up in the night upon his child’s call.He goes into the child’s room and finds him missing.He shouts his name, but in return, he hears a name of a person who is dead.

Last thoughts

We hope the things related to the ideas discussed above will help you write a captivating short story for your next assignment. You can make use of the list of short story ideas and edit it as per your interest.You can also ask for our assignment writing help if you cannot find an idea for your short story task.

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