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Brainstorming a Storyline Pt 1 – The First Six Questions to Answer

BRAINSTORMING A STORYLINE - TWO SETS OF QUESTIONS TO ANSWER

When Brainstorming a Novel Storyline, what questions do you need to ask and answer? After having written 14 novels, I believe this technique that I'm about to tell you about will help anyone brainstorm a working plotline.

For simplicity, I've broken it down into two phases of questions because in order to answer the second set of questions, it's easiest to know the answers to the first set of questions.

IMHO, if you just start asking random questions that pop into your head without some order, it can lead to more confusion or chaos. It can even frustrate the story engineer into thinking it's not a working storyline, even though it can be.

The first set of questions will guide you through brainstorming a broad-stroke storyline into existence. It will end with stick figures. The characters will be stick figures. The locations and motivations will be stick figures, so to speak. Knowing this ahead of time, you will know you are making progress if the stick figures all have the potential to interact and connect with each other without an issue.

The second set of questions, which I will get into in the next installment, will help you turn the brainstorming questions into a workable storyline that will begin to lift off the paper and become two dimensional.

FIRST QUESTION: WHAT WILL THE MYSTERY OR CRIME BE?

What will the mystery or crime in the novel be? Will it be a psychological thriller and mind control is the crime? Will it be a murder mystery? If so, what is the cause of death? If it's a science fiction plotline, what mystery will hook the reader and thread through the entire story only to be revealed at the end?

Any experienced author will tell you that any book, regardless of genre, needs at least a string of mystery or suspense running through it. This is what will keep the reader reading. What will the mystery, crime or element of suspense be in your storyline? The answer to this question will begin the workable plotline.

Be specific in your answer to this question: What specific crime or mystery will drive the plot? Is it a murder, a theft, a missing person, a haunted house, psychological event that changes a family forever, or something more unique? What are the simple circumstances that surround this mystery? Think broad strokes, just a list of three general details.

The type of crime or mystery will dictate the investigation methods and details. It will also dictate what clues will be needed in order to slowly reveal the mystery throughout the four-part plot structure.

The answer to this question may also reveal the complexity of the story. For example, a financial crime is more complex than a murder mystery. The choice of crime may also determine the book genre: if it's a grizzly murder, it may default into a noir crime. If it entails mind games or gaslighting, it may default into a psychological mystery. If it's a small town and there won't be any bloody details or romantic spice at all, it can be either a clean mystery crime novel or even a cozy mystery.

This question will also determine the core of your story, and may also determine not only a certain genre but a book category or two as well. Will it be a gritty murder mystery or a whimsical cozy mystery? Will it be a A Missing Person's novel that is all about the revelation of one secret after another? Will it be an amateur sleuth murder with a satirical edge?

If it will be a murder mystery, you will need to choose a cause of death. If it's a police procedural, you may need to cover fingerprints and DNA evidence. If it's a fraud crime, you may need to weave in a computer tech wizard to find the clues. If it's a private investigator novel, you may need to weave in surveillance, and neighbor interviews. Think about what avenues you as an author you will need to go down in order to tell the story.

A little tip for newbies: My first novel series was with a private investigator because it didn't require knowing police law or the intricacies of police training, etc. Taking on a police procedural, or an FBI agent plotline will require much more research and may not be the fodder for a first time author.

SECOND QUESTION: Who is the Protagonist or Hero of the story?

Is he/she a private detective, an amateur sleuth, a police officer, or maybe just a weekend visitor who is inadvertently led into solving a mystery?

Another tip is this: At this early stage in brainstorming, don't choose a background, or a motivation, or any personal traits or challenges for the protagonist. It's too early. You will need to coordinate and connect all the characters, the crime or mystery, and all the suspects and their motivations before you can weave any story around any of them.

In this phase of brainstorming, you are really choosing only what hat your main character will wear. But at the same time, you may be choosing the book genre and the ultimate marketing categories for the finished book -- which is a good thing.

THIRD QUESTION: Who is the Victim?

Determine the identity, background, and significance of the victim. This decision can affect the motive, the suspects, and the overall narrative story arc. The victim's characteristics can also influence how the crime impacts other characters or the community at large. Before figuring out who the suspects are, you need to know who the victim is and why they were murdered or wronged in some way. If it's not a crime story but just a mystery or thriller, you will still need a victim. They may not die in the story, but there will be at least an injustice done to them. What is that injustice and who is the victim of it?

The victim's background, their relationships, and their secrets are all vital. Were they likeable? Did they have known enemies? A compelling victim, even if flawed, gives the reader someone to care about and root for. Even if the victim hasn't been killed or murdered, who is being bullied or targeted as the victim and why?

Fourth Question: Where will the story take place?

Where will the story play out? Most stories will have multiple stages, but where will most of the action take place? Will it be a haunted estate house? A corrupt business office? Will it be on the streets in a cityscape? How does the setting influence the mood and the unfolding of the mystery? For example: If it's a gothic novel, you will want a large estate house or a monastery, a place that has secret rooms, tunnels, or has a long history with lots of secrets. If it's a urban thriller, you will need several stages in a city scape. If it's a psychological thriller, it may need at least a mental institution. Think of yourself as a location scout for a movie: What interesting places can most of the drama take place?

Choose a location that not only serves as a backdrop or a stage for the events to take place but which can become its own character. What secrets does the location harbor? Who lived in the historic mansion in another era? Will you need a remote island somewhere to have a closed-door mystery? In a city scape, the backdrop may be about about the certain era, or just a gritty story, or a surreal story. In a mystery drama, what happened in the main family that started all the secrecy? What sin has been passed down through the generations? What corporate setting do you need to show back-door deals or money laundering? What setting can you choose that will enhance the story?

If it's a cozy mystery, what quirky town or setting will give the story a whimsical feel? The setting can range from a small, isolated town where everyone knows each other, to a bustling city with numerous hideaways, each providing different challenges and atmospheres for the mystery or suspense.

Fifth Question: How Does the Mystery, Crime, or Injustice Happen?

The next question is How? How does the crime happen? How will the ultimate culprit have secret access to the victim? What evidence will there be at the scene of the crime that will begin the formal or informal investigation? And who will those initial clues point to?

If it's not a crime novel, how did the underlying mystery come to be? Is it a generational sin that transferred through generations to a child or grandchild? Is the estate house not at rest because of a secret that it and the family are keeping? How does that play out? How does the story dilemma or conflict come to be?

How the crime happens will be only known to you as the author. The real motivation, suspect and last revealing clue will need to remain hidden until Part 4 of the Story Structure. But knowing how the mystery happens, who is ultimately responsible and how that last clue will be discovered will give you a destination in the storyline. This will be the secret pathway you are following when writing the entire story.

SIXTH QUESTION: WHEN DOES THE MYSTERY OR CRIME HAPPEN?

Will the story be set in a specific time period? Will it be a general contemporary book that won't reference any specific time period at all? Or will it be specifically cast in an era or time period that will require research?

Is the time period of when the story occurs relevant? Is your emerging storyline a historical novel? Will the timeframe of the story determine how the case is solved? In other words, will it be before the internet? Or before cellphones? And if so, how relevant is the timing or era to the story?

Will the time period affect what ultimate genre your book will be placed in? Will it qualify it as a historical novel? Is it possible to set the crime novel back in time in order to market the book as a crime story and a historical novel? It makes things easier if you can decide on this in the brainstorming period.

These initial questions will allow you to sketch in a storyline with very broad strokes. The victim, protagonist, suspects, setting and time era are named and sketched in only as stick figures or location suggestions only.

Don't be discouraged if everything seems bland or one dimensional. Working from this one dimension until you lay in a mystery or crime spine of the story will ultimately make fleshing out the story so much easier.

Be sure to check out Part 2 of this series to find out the next set of questions.

Below is a video I made from this material:

Coloring Page – George Washington – Presidents Day

2nd Edition or Relaunch – What Happened in Scrivener

COPYING INTO SCRIVENER

I watched a video on YouTube teaching how to import a Word document into Scrivener. It suggested that you could use a symbol like the pound sign (#) to indicate the end of a chapter. It sounded so easy, but it didn't work. At least for me, it didn't work.

.picture-border — LEAD Technologies Inc. V1.01

So I just copy and pasted each chapter into a new document. By breaking up the novel back into separate chapters and having the tools inside Scrivener to keep an overview of things, it made the whole process seem a lot easier.

CHANGES I MADE:

I decided not to change the actual plotline of the story because I still liked it. I chose to polish up my prose and add some additional foreshadowing.

When I originally wrote the book, I wasn't sure there would be a second book. I wound up writing 5 books in the series. There wasn't much foreshadowing in the book, and the characters had developed over the series, so I was able to beef up the characters in the first book and add some foreshadowing now knowing how the series would end. I decided that these changes would bring Book 1 to a place I would be happy to then let go of the series.

Now, this decision was made in real time. In other words, until I hit a stride in about the fourth chapter, I was still unsure if I would even continue on with the rewrite. But by the fifth chapter, I realized that the changes I was making, even though it wasn't changing the actual plotline, were good and well worth the effort.

The advice I would pass on to anyone who is considering a 2nd edition and you're not sure of it, try to be okay with proceeding one step at a time with some general doubt. Let that be okay. This is the advice I would have given myself on the day I started in Scrivener.

WHAT I LEARNED FROM THE PROCESS AND WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENTLY NEXT TIME:

Now that I have been through the entire 2nd Edition process once already, I realize that there are continual doubts along the way that I needed to just push through.

The one change I would make to how I did things is this: I would make a separate copy of my final manuscript and go into Word first. If I decided to change the actual plotline, then I would bring the book into Scrivener as I would need to use the outline mode to keep track of everything. However, since I only added foreshadowing and improved he prose, I would have done the work in Word.

The only reason for proceeding in Word only is because compiling the book from Scrivener to Word does mess up the styles and the formatting a bit. This gives rise to a need to re-read the book again before handing it off to an editor.

TIME OUT FOR A LITTLE ADVICE ON EDITING:

I had the book edited originally, but I just changed every other sentence, so it had to be re-edited. I knew that going into this, so it was okay. Now, I like to edit the book myself and I have an elaborate multi-layer stage of proofreading that I go through so that when I pass the book to an editor, his or her time is not eaten up with correcting silly typos and adding forgotten commas.

By doing a thorough proofread, and with a suggestion that my weakness is verb tense and reading over my own typos, the editor can focus on the things I need the most help with.

THE NEXT DECISION TO MAKE:

The rewrite with prose improvement and foreshadowing added turned out to be MUCH easier than I anticipated. So after passing off the first book, Darius - A Vampire Story, to my editor, I decided to do an upgrade on the second book too. I just passed that one off to the editor yesterday.

SHOULD I MAKDE A NEW BOOK COVER?

I wish I could say this was an easier decision to make, but it wasn't. I really like the present book cover on my first book, but I changed the artwork a little bit for one reason:

I wanted to tweak my marketing strategy when I get the second book done so I wanted the book cover to look like a cross between a cozy mystery and a low-fantasy paranormal romance. My book has a ribbon of Catholic morality running through it, as well as a satirical commentary, so readers who are used to vampire hunters, or dark despair-saturated books like those of Anne Rice, or teenage books like Twilight would be disappointed in my book.

So as I move forward, I'm still experimenting. I decided to go with the new cover, but I'm planning a marketing relaunch when this 2nd book comes back from the editor and then I will watch to see if the new cover or even the 2nd edition makes any difference in sales or reviews. If it doesn't make a difference, then I may go back to my original book cover and then let go of it entirely.

So even now, I'm still proceeding one step at a time. I'm still waiting to see what happens. All I do know for sure is that once this last change is done, I will be ready to let go and let the series be what it is.

The Long Saga of My 2nd Edition of Darius – A Vampire Story

THIS IS NOT THE 'HOW-TO' BLOG POST

Before I get to how to do a 2nd edition of your book, the preliminary questions you need to answer are:

1. Should you do a 2nd edition of one book or the entire series?
2. Why should you do it?
3. Is it worth it?
4. Should you just accept the earlier book as not your best and move on?
5. What will I get out of it?
6. Isn't it easier to just move on and write a better book or book series?

The reason I'm sharing my experience in publishing a second edition of Darius - A Vampire Story is because it seemed overwhelming when I was thinking about doing it. It turned out to be one of the hardest decisions I had to make in my writing career, and I had doubts the entire way through the process.

However, in looking back, the decision itself -- answering all the above questions and deciding to move forward with it -- was the hardest part. I assumed reworking the book would have been the hardest part, but it wasn't. But in the end, it was much easier than I thought.

SHOULD I DO A 2ND EDITION OR NOT?

Although I decided to move forward with doing the 2nd edition, I was unclear even as I went about it.

I read Chris Fox's book Relaunch Your Novel and he had great advice. He got my wheels turning and he asked the right questions about why you would want to relaunch your novel.

These questions were what triggered the process. There are lots of reasons why you would want to relaunch a book. It's important to know what your particular reasons are because although it is not hard, there are a lot of steps to it, some costs, and you will need a sense of mission to spur you on in the process.

THE BIGGEST TEMPTATION:

The biggest temptation along the way was to take the attitude that everyone's early books aren't that great, so let go and just move on. This would have certainly given me a quick fix. But in my case, I just couldn't leave the book alone knowing that I could probably polish it up a bit before moving on. So for me, even though it was tempting to just let go and move on, I decided I want to fix the book -- and maybe even the entire series -- but I wasn't sure whether I just wanted to do a re-edit or to change the storyline, etc.

ONE STEP AT A TIME:

I decided that I wanted to just fix the first book in the series because it had the lowest ratings. The second reason I wanted to make the effort with fixing the book is that I have now finished the series with the 5th book, and now that I know how the story ends, I wanted to put a little foreshadowing into the book while I was buffing it up.

I let go of the idea of redoing the entire series because I knew I could be happy to just fix the one book, so that's one reason I proceeded forward.

WHAT WILL I GET OUT OF IT?

This was the one question that led me down the road of choosing to write a 2nd edition: What will I get out of it? The answer was and is: I knew if I fixed Book 1 that then I would be able to let go of the entire series and move on. I still like the stories and the series itself. It's not my most popular book series, but I still like it. So fixing the first book was important to me in terms of 'my body of work'. I knew I had more experience and I could improve the book, even if it was just adding some foreshadowing or improving on the prose.

The first decision I made was to pull the novel into Scrivener, divide it up into chapters and read through it. The next question I had to answer was: Do you want to change the plotline? Or do you want to add some foreshadowing and just improve the prose?

To be honest: I wasn't sure but I knew reading the book chapter by chapter would lead me to the answer. So I pulled the manuscript into Scrivener. The first question I needed to answer was: What do you want to change? Will this just be a normal update or will it be an actual second edition.

In the next installment of this blog series, I will go into what happened when I went into Scrivener and began the read through.

Downloadable Bookmarks – Pretty Pink Birds

Converting a Word Docx to an ePub for KDP

IS THIS CONVERSION NECESSARY?

If you only sell on Amazon and don't give your books away, you may not need to convert your docx at all. You can successfully upload a Word docx document and the converter behind the scenes at Amazon KDP will convert it usually without a problem.

HOWEVER, I would caution you that you should do all of your styling using the style gallery. I have a few videos on my YouTube Channel that will show you how to format and how important using the style gallery is.

That being said, if you use the style gallery, don't give your books away and only sell on Amazon, you are good to go with only a Word document.

EBOOK GIVEAWAYS - THAT'S ANOTHER STORY:

If you, however, are self-publishing and are planning to do your own marketing, giving away your book, especially when you are just breaking in as an author is crucial. Once you decide to give away your books, you will need a PDF document and an ePub document.

As I'm sure you already know, you can create a PDF inside Word, so that's not a problem. However, you will need a conversion program to create the ePub. I use the program called Convertio.co. This is a paid plan, and it comes to $9.00 a month at the time of this blog. If you only have one book, you can sign up for one month and then stop the service -- but check to make sure that's an option before you do that.

Otherwise, you can take a trip over to Fiverr.com and search convert DOCX to ePub and see who comes up. One word of caution: I tried this and Fiverr is now defaulting to a slightly higher price on almost all services, so look for the drop down that lets you put in your budget. I was able to find someone who was willing to do it for $10.00.

However, if Convertio.co allows you to quit after one month, you may be able to use it a few times. I offer this suggestion because I remember when I was brand new, I had to do things multiple times -- I'm not even sure why. So be aware that you may want to do more than one per month.

Another example is that I am presently preparing an ARC copy of the document and will need to add several pages for the final manuscript when it's back from the Final Edit. So, I will need two conversions at least on this one book. So be aware of this type of thing.

TO SIGIL OR NOT TO SIGIL:

Sigil is a program for making or polishing up ePubs after conversion. I always had to get rid of a lot of crazy codes in the ePub so that's why I used Sigil throughout the years.

However, what I noticed with this last time I used it, and this is because I have disciplined myself to use only the Style Gallery in Word and not use individual changes, I had very little clean up in Sigil. I could have even skipped the Sigil step all together.

If you are intimidated by computer code -- and it can be a little tricky -- then you may want to clean up your formatting in Word by using only the Style Gallery.

I have a video below where I go into a little detail as to why you have to be so careful with sigil and computer code. I wish I had known about the importance of the style gallery when I first started, but at least I know now and I'm passing on the knowledge to you!

WHERE TO GET THE TOOLS:

Here is a link to go to Convertio.co This is a service you use online. There is no download or anything. You simply upload the Docx file and then download the epub.

Here is a link to go to Sigil to download it. This is an actual free program that will download and put an icon on your desktop. When you want to open it, you will double-click the icon and it will open a blank document. Then you will click on File > Open and bring in your converted epub.

IT HELPS TO SEE IT IN REAL LIFE:

Below is a short video I made going through the process starting from pulling the document into Convertio and then taking it through the rest of the process to checking it on KDP. I hope this helps you if you are struggling in any way or if you are new and just need information.

Advanced Reader Campaign – The Recipe

THE RECIPE FOR AN ARC CAMPAIGN?

Yes, the recipe. I just finished planning a Private Advanced Reader Campaign and although it's not hard, it does require several steps and knowing what order you need to do each step is important. If you do them in the proper order, it will be an easy process.

I've made this list for myself and decided to share it on this blog because knowing the order can remove a lot of the stress and having to go back and forth between the book, the forms, the website, etc.

INGREDIENTS - AN OVERVIEW:

You will need an eBook and a book cover.

For any Advanced Reader Campaign, I would suggest you add a disclaimer that it is an advanced copy, a watermark, and a link to fill out a questionnaire about what the reader thought about the book.

You will need to produce the eBook in a pdf and ePub format, which will require you to convert it from a Word file to an ePub. The ePub may need to be cleaned up a bit in a free program called Sigil. Then you will need to test the ePub with the KDP viewer. This step may or may not be necessary.

You will need to create the questionnaire for the readers to fill out. Now, if you don't have a website where you can create a form, you can use a google forms or you can ask the readers to send an email with feedback about the book to your email. I have found the forms get more interaction.

Also if you don't have a website, you will have to upload the ePub and PDF onto Google Drive and record the share link in order to include them in an email to send to your ARC readers.

I also need a form for readers to sign up to become an ARC reader, with an auto-responder that will send them the book.

And lastly, you will need graphics to post on your website or social media.

Now that I have given you an overview of everything that is needed in the whole campaign, I'll post below the order you need to create them in.

THE ARC CAMPAIGN RECIPE INSTRUCTIONS

Finish your eBook and have it edited. When the editor has your manuscript, you at least two weeks to prepare the ARC campaign, which is enough time.
Create the eBook cover. If you don't have your final cover, you can create a temporary cover for the ARC campaign, if necessary.
Create a questionnaire form for your readers to fill out when they are done. I find asking about 10 or 15 short questions, most with yes or no answers that it makes it easy for the readers to give me the specific feedback I'm looking for. This should be done right after the cover because you will need to put the link to this questionnaire into the back of the book so the readers can click on it.
Create a sign-up form to become an ARC Reader. I use a form from my WordPress website using a plugin called Contact Form 7. This allows me to get the names and emails of the ARC readers. I keep a running list on my work diary so that I can then send them an email when the book is published asking for a review.
Create a page on your website, or whatever social media platform you use, that has a graphic of the final book cover, with a short summary of what the book is about. Add the form to sign up to this page. I also put a notice that I am looking for ARC readers on the homepage of my website.
Make social media graphics (1000 px x 1000 px for most platforms and a 1000 px x 1500 px for Pinterest) so you have them when you launch the book. If you have the time, skills or budget, create several graphics: ARC Campaign Sign Up, Coming Soon, New Release by AUTHOR NAME, Release Date, and a seasonal graphic based on what season you are releasing in.
The above steps can be done with the manuscript in the editor's hands.
Once the editor returns the book, make the corrections and add a request to fill out the questionnaire and add the link to your form.
Add a watermark that this is an early release. This allows you to change the book or tweak the book based on feedback.
Once the manuscript is finalized, save is as a docx and PDF.
Then convert the book from a docx file to an ePub using a conversion tool. I use Convertio.co which is $9.00 a month. Check their website and see if you can cancel at any time and you can create your ePub once or twice (after your feedback if you change anything) and then cancel the membershipAnother strategy for conversion is to go to Fiverr.com and search convert docx to epub and make sure you select a budget because they default to showing you people who charge $25.00 to start. I found someone that would have done it for $10.00.
Once you have the epub file, upload it to KDP -- as a draft -- and check it using their previewer. Check every single page! If there are no errors and everything looks good, you will then be good to go.
If you have some formatting issues, you may want to watch my video on using the style gallery for best ePub results (which I'm planning to do at this time).
Once you have a PDF and ePub, you are ready to launch the ARC campaign. You can use whatever service you use for your newsletter to create an auto-reponder form or you can answer each sign up by sending them an email with both documents attached, the epub and the PDF.
The campaign is now set to go. Post it to your newsletter, social media and on your website!

Why Have a Private ARC Campaign

WHY HAVE A PRIVATE ARC CAMPAIGN?

private-gathering The one main reason I have right now is that I want to avoid offering this to the general public because I am not sure if the book, even though it is edited, is in its final form.

I normally will offer the ARC copy knowing that people want free copies, but this book I’m unsure about. I want to at least start with my newsletter readers who I can ask to help me with feedback and fill out a questionnaire about the book.

I’m not sure I will go with this exact ending. So this is not set for pre-order and although it has been edited, I may change the book based on feedback and then it will need to be re-edited. So I don’t want a lot of copies of this book floating around.

By limiting the number, I can make sure I send a free copy to the ones who read it for me and I can tell them where and why I changed the text.

THE STEPS I WILL BE PASSING THROUGH:

checkline and outline In order to offer a limited ARC copy, I will use my newsletter list, which is really my reader list, and my website. I will limit the invitations to these two places.

Here is a list of the steps I will need to go through. I will be making short videos and/or blog posts to share what I did in each of these phases. Nothing is hard, but it all takes time.

Finalize the ARC copy of the manuscript in Word docx file. Add a watermark indicating this is an ARC copy. Make sure this copy has a link to the ARC Questionnaire where readers can share their feedback with you.
Convert the docx file into an ePub. I use convertio.co, which is a paid site. It costs $9.00 a month. I used it more than the old plan used to give you as a free trial. However, I believe it is all paid now. So you can go to Fiverr and search convert docx to epub and choose the budget of $5 or $10 — because it now defaults to people who charge $25.Once the document is converted, download it onto your hard drive.
I usually bring these epubs into Sigil, a program to create and/or edit ePubs in order to make some global changes and/or clean up the extra codes it may bring inside. I will have a video on this one.Create a PDF from your docx file. Once you have the epub and PDF, you are ready to upload to KDP and test it. I will cover this in one of the videos.Upload the PDF and the ePub up to google drive and copy the links; you will need them later.
The next steps are done with my website. They have to do with pages and forms. So if you don’t have a website, then you can use google forms or whatever system you presently use to get signups. I use Mailerlite and could have set this up through them, but I want to receive the emails and names myself so I can keep a list of who the ARC readers are so I can ask them for a review when the book is ultimately published.

I need a page with graphics introducing the book.
I need a graphic and link for the front page of my website.
I need a Contact Form 7 with an auto-reponder where I put the two links from Google Drive to download either the PDF or the ePub. I need to check the form to make sure it works.
I need to create a form for my feedback questions and post it on a separate page on the website.
Then I need to create a list to keep track of who my ARC readers are and their emails.

So that is the process I am now going through. In the next blog posts and videos, I will be addressing these very creations and/or changes.

Writing Short Stories with Downloadable Worksheet

SHARING MY ANALYSIS:

In my quest to improve my marketing in 2005, I decided I needed a couple of short stories to offer as giveaways. Although I’ve written 14 novels, I’ve never written a short story.

I went on a quest and read several classic short stories and below are my findings. I’m not an authority on this, of course, but I’m just offering my observations and what I learned to far.

STORY CONTAINMENT:

Woman-writer-containment The first thing I noticed is that the story needs to be contained or confined to a shorter version than a novel. This means that you won’t have the same space to build the characters.

The other thing I noticed is that the storyline is about one event or one meeting of some kind. For example: A weekend visit, or a train ride, or a meeting on the street that leads to something happening.

Keeping this need for containment in mind I believe will prevent us, as writers, from setting out to write a short story and somehow writing a novelette or even a novel.

SENTENCES PACKED WITH INFORMATION:

The next thing I noticed was that the sentences in many of the short stories were longer than in novels, as they contained so much added information. In other words, you need to pack the background and characterization inside the action of the story. Every word counts and the writers wrote succinctly and every word served the story.

Knowing the need for this, I believe it will help with story containment.

DOWNLOAD THE WORKSHEET:

short-mystery-story-template There are templates all over the internet for story crafting, but they all seem to follow the hero’s journey, which I find doesn’t work for mystery books. At least I was never able to make them work for me.

So I have created a template for a Short Story Mystery Template that asks all the who, what, where, when questions that you will need to set up the bones of the short story.

If you’re interested in downloading the form, click below to access the form.