![]() ![]() Because it is so short, the reader can be challenged in ways we wouldn’t normally consider in a novel.Īn alternative structure to look for (and emphasise) is transformation. The short story is a place where risks can be taken. Some begin in the middle, progress to the end, and end in the beginning. Many short stories run backwards in time, beginning with the end, progressing to the middle, and ending with the beginning. If you have three distinct time periods, you could re-order the chronology. Once you have established your three sections, the adventurous among you could try playing with the order. Three different settings, perhaps? Or three distinct time-frames? If you emphasise these, or add a third where only two exist in your original, you have the makings of a simple three-part structure. Start by checking whether your chapter falls naturally into three distinct parts. It has structure: a before and after a beginning, middle and end. I have put structure first because it is the main issue that need fixing when you turn a chapter into a stand-alone narrative. But take heart, it can be done – by focussing on five key issues that distinguish a short story from other types of prose. So how do you turn a chapter of your novel into a complete short story, so no-one can tell where it came from? Short story author, playwright, lecturer, and all-round prose guru Margaret Wilkinson explains.ĭeveloping a short story from the chapter of a novel can be tricky. But those extracts are selected to whet the reader’s appetite for the whole book they’re not intended to be read as a self-contained piece of literature. There’s nothing wrong with excerpting a chunk of a novel, of course – newspapers and magazines do it all the time with the books of famous authors. ![]() Over the years our short story judges have regularly commented that a certain number of submissions read as though they were chapters from a much longer piece of work – and seem rather truncated and unsatisfying as a result. ![]()
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