Just because it's short doesn't mean it's easy

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

Today, I've edited one short story and am writing another. I didn't sell a short until I'd sold three novels, so here's what I've learned:

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:36:35

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749990296491003904

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:36:35

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

1. A short story can't just be a pretty twist. It *needs* a pretty twist, but it also needs worldbuilding, great characters, and a plot.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:37:01

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749990406910316544

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:37:01

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

2. With <10k words, you don't have time for deep worldbuilding, so lean into collective shorthand to leave room for an actual plot.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:37:44

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749990587751866368

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:37:44

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

(By which I mean: You can accomplish more by, "It was just like Narnia" than you can describing every tree and streetlamp. We get it.)

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:38:41

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749990825438896128

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:38:41

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

2. You need a beginning, a middle, a climax, and an ending, all tied together by a theme. You want to make the reader feel something.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:39:32

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749991038605991936

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:39:32

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

3. Some stories are too big for your allowed word count, and that's ok. Find something else you can do small and well. Keep it lean.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:40:18

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749991233351811074

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:40:18

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

4. For short stories, I usually go 2k over the word count, then have to go back in and see where fat can be cut. It's ok to overwrite some.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:41:05

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749991428403695616

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:41:05

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

5. A short story is not a character just talking about shit with a "GOTCHA" moment at the end. It's still a STORY. Plot is important.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:42:14

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749991716481077248

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:42:14

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

6. Short stories can be mastered through practice. My writing group did timed writings to a random theme. I got faster, then I got better.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:45:20

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749992497779208192

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:45:20

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

7. For me, with a short story, I want a GUT PUNCH. Not *just* a story. I want to feel something. Build plot around that moment.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:46:06

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749992689807003648

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:46:06

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

8. You need: Idea, where it starts, plot point 1, climax, GOTCHA, ending. And the plot points should have action verbs, not "learns".

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:47:47

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749993113876369408

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:47:47

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

Want me to do that thing where I develop a story in real time? Give me a genre and anthology idea, and I'll come up with a short story.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:48:34

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749993311558070272

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:48:34

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

K. So let's pretend this is an anthology I've been invited to. And I want to fit it into my Wake of Vultures world.  https://twitter.com/tomknightwrites/status/749993708091641856 …

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:52:11

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749994221818511360

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:52:11

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

Because if you're an author with a series, you can find new readers by introducing them to your world in an anthology, right? Right.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:52:41

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749994349874778112

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:52:41

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

So I need a story involving a kickass female pirate in my "monsters are real; you see them when you kill one" world. And Nettie Lonesome.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:53:23

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749994523917447168

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:53:23

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

I like to pull from the mythology, so let's go with Anne Bonney. She's a monster. But what kind? A selkie, maybe? Looking for her skin.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:56:13

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749995237918011392

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:56:13

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

I need to get Nettie to the ocean. Start with her on a ship, grumbling about why all the Rangers are needed to take down one piddly Kraken.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:57:18

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749995509947957248

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:57:18

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

Because I need to skip all the "how and why are we here" and get to the moment before their ship is rammed. Not by a Kraken. By Anne.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:57:49

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749995638436294656

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:57:49

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

Anne knows a Ranger stole her selkie skin, so she takes them all prisoner. But she doesn't know Nettie is a monster. Nettie transforms...

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:58:32

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749995819630202880

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:58:32

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

Escapes her bonds, frees the Rangers, and they storm the ship. But we need a twist. Nettie realizes she's seen the skin lining the cloak...

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:59:19

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749996016913514496

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:59:19

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

Of a Ranger! So she gets into a swordfight with Anne and tells her the truth, siding with a woman over the Rangers bc she admires Anne.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:59:55

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749996169800085504

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 15:59:55

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

Nettie negotiates the Rangers' release in exchange for the skin. Anne puts it on and dives into the ocean, a seal. Then the Kraken shows up.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 16:00:53

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749996413468217344

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 16:00:53

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

The story ends with Nettie grumbling that she'd rather taken on a goddamn Kraken than one whiney woman who's been wronged.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 16:01:15

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749996503943569409

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 16:01:15

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

So there you have it. An anthology, a world, a character, a problem, it's solved with a twist, and it ends with a WHAT THE HELL?

Mon, Jul 04 2016 16:02:38

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749996850447613953

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 16:02:38

Delilah S. Dawson@DelilahSDawson

What I ignored in this brainstorm: actual history/age of pirates, how they got here, where they go after. It's a slice. A rabbit punch.

Mon, Jul 04 2016 16:03:32

ReplyRetweetFavorite

https://twitter.com/DelilahSDawson/status/749997079943143425

— Delilah S. Dawson (@DelilahSDawson)Mon, Jul 04 2016 16:03:32