A story has to start somewhere.
Are you sure you’ve picked the right place?
Re your “cast”, have you made us care?
Re plot, have you got the right pace?
A useful checklist I think! I’ve started short stories wrongly before and found I had to scrap it and start again but this doesn’t worry me. I’ve learnt that as long as I get something down on paper I’ve got something to work with, even if I end up throwing it out. I can kind of officially dismiss the original, bad idea I had, and writing something down I find can trigger other, hopefully better ideas. Don’t be afraid to cut if thework is not as good as it should be.
Ideas can be fleshed out in outlines
Which can save many an author’s whines
As it helps you stay on tangent
You write what you originally meant.
I use an outline for most of what I write now. I find an outline helps me not to repeat myself and if I get a “brilliant” idea while writing, I can look at my outline and see if it can fit in or improve this section and add it in accordingly. I do tend to overwrite and the outline helps me stick to the point. I don’t go into minute details but give myself enough information to get started, to see where the story is heading and what the ending will be, giving me room to expand ideas. It’s also nice being able to see yourself work through an outline as you write your story and see how you’re making progress
Are you sure you’ve picked the right place?
Re your “cast”, have you made us care?
Re plot, have you got the right pace?
A useful checklist I think! I’ve started short stories wrongly before and found I had to scrap it and start again but this doesn’t worry me. I’ve learnt that as long as I get something down on paper I’ve got something to work with, even if I end up throwing it out. I can kind of officially dismiss the original, bad idea I had, and writing something down I find can trigger other, hopefully better ideas. Don’t be afraid to cut if thework is not as good as it should be.
Ideas can be fleshed out in outlines
Which can save many an author’s whines
As it helps you stay on tangent
You write what you originally meant.
I use an outline for most of what I write now. I find an outline helps me not to repeat myself and if I get a “brilliant” idea while writing, I can look at my outline and see if it can fit in or improve this section and add it in accordingly. I do tend to overwrite and the outline helps me stick to the point. I don’t go into minute details but give myself enough information to get started, to see where the story is heading and what the ending will be, giving me room to expand ideas. It’s also nice being able to see yourself work through an outline as you write your story and see how you’re making progress
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