Short Story Outline Issues
I am writing a short story that has very little action that focuses mainly on the main character's development. I have tried outlining some of the major interactions with characters, the important moments in the beginning and end, and some other details I want in the story. I have a few of these scenes written up but am having trouble with the plot and making an outline.
How do you make an outline for a short story that is very introspective and has very little action (especially when you already have some ideas fleshed out)?
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You will need two documents open at the same time, one on the left, one on the right. Let's say the manuscript in its current form is on the left.
Now, on the right, jot down some notes about the first paragraph -- what's going on in this paragraph?
Do that for each paragraph.
Now close the manuscript and put your paragraph-by-paragraph analysis on the left, with a new blank document on the right. This time, look at several lines at a time and describe what's going on in that group.
Through this successive reduction process, you will end up with an outline of what you have already written.
I think that after you have done this a few times, you will be motivated to:
next time make the outline before you begin writing the story.
It is soo much easier that way.
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As What and Other's have stated, A short story drives home a point. It doesn't have many subplots or other angles. It's like a children's book in a way. They are usually short and only a couple pages but they build to a goal of teaching a moral or lesson or virtue or what ever it is the goal of the story is. So it start's out with an angry lonely monster who just wanted to make friends. by the end of the short story the angry lonely monster has friends and is happy because someone gave him a chance and that is all he needed. Lesson of the story, give people a chance. So if you think about the goals and the lesson you want to teach, as other's stated, you can just start writing it, redraft if you don't like it and look over it to make sure it really hits the point you want to make :)
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/26760. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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