Writing Short Stories

 

I think of myself as more of a writer of novels than short stories. I find books easier to plot. I’m pretty much a plantser (cross between plotter and pantser) when I’m writing a book, but I transform into a full-fledged plotter for short stories. I just have to understand in fairly great detail where I’m going with a short story before I can start writing it.

I’ve written half a dozen short stories over the years, all crime related, all of them eventually published online, but haven’t attempted one in many years. I know other writers who can work on a novel and a short story at the same time, but that’s not me. I’m a slow writer when it comes to books and an even slower one for a short story. Or so it seems.

I recently decided to try my hand once again at writing a short story or two when I saw a call for submissions to a Malice Domestic anthology. It took me quite awhile to come up with characters and a plot, but I managed to finish it the other day. So I’m doing my Snoopy happy dance in my head.

When I first started writing short stories years ago, I read a lot of how-to books on writing them, though I don’t recall finding one that specifically addressed crime/mystery stories. If anyone knows of one, let me know. My favorite of these books is Jack Bickham’s Writing the Short Story from 1998. I still reference it on occasion.

I think one of the best ways to learn how to write a short story is to take one that is similar to the kind you want to write and analyze it. I enjoy picking apart a story and seeing what makes it tick. For some reason, analyzing things makes me feel calm. I know, I’m a bit odd.

My advice for anyone who wants to write anything is to read, read, read the kind of books or stories that you want to write, then analyze some that you think are particularly well done. You’ll learn a lot by doing both. Then, of course, just keep on writing and submitting and writing and submitting...

Guest Post - Lida Sideris

Please welcome the wonderful Lida Sideris to Type M! Lida writes the Southern California Mystery series featuring newly-minted lawyer Corrie Locke. I first met Lida on an author panel at Book Carnival in Orange, CA featuring me, Lida and Diane Vallere. We all had a great time and I’ve enjoyed doing other events with Lida since then. Take it away, Lida...

Writing Short

by Lida Sideris

A few mystery novelists have told me it's not easy to write short. Short stories, that is. Yet others excel at crafting them. About a year ago, I read about a submission call for New England crime stories to be included in a short story anthology. I'm SoCal born and raised, but I did spend a little time in Boston recently. This was the perfect opportunity to experiment. I had nothing to lose by trying, right?

As the deadline for submission approached, I chained myself to my chair, using high-grade, escape-proof iron, all prepped to plow ahead with my short story. There was only one, small problem: I didn’t know what to write about. One thing I knew for certain: my setting would be Boston. The anthology required either New England based authors or settings. I knew the locale well, but who would be my hero/heroine?

I scanned Boston headlines and learned that the central police headquarters had a diverse pool of officers and a talented crew of cadets. One young police cadet caught my attention. She'd earned a commendation for helping detectives apprehend a felon. My heroine was born.

Meanwhile, I had another character swirling around in my head. A character based upon a real-life encounter I'd had with an older gent who'd visited my day job. I run a legal non-profit where we try to help those who've exhausted other sources of legal assistance. A cane-carrying senior citizen walked into my office one day, wearing big black shades and velcro sneakers. He needed help with an insurance matter, but right before he left, he added a little tidbit about being watched by the government. Guess who ended up in my short story? The mysterious senior was going to encounter my cadet. But what kind of encounter?

For me, the hardest part in writing a novel is the beginning. I discovered the same to be true for a short story. I like starting off with action, so I threw my heroine, Cadet Lyndrea Watson, into the police station, manning the front desk and nearing the end of her shift. Lyndrea needed to behave the way I imagined a young police cadet would behave: ever helpful, kind, responsible, and conscientious. Always striving to do her best. And she was doing just that when confronted by a cane-carrying older man wearing black, space invader type shades. He approached her, asked a few questions, and said he’ll wait for her outside. What did he want?

Reading more headlines helped me answer that question. Soon my cadet was tracking a suspected drug dealer in Boston Common. Nearly 5000 words later, a short story was born.

Lida Sideris is an author, lawyer, and all-around book enthusiast. She writes soft-boiled mysteries and was one of two national winners of the Helen McCloy Mystery Writers of America scholarship award for her first novel, Murder and Other Unnatural Disasters. Murder Gone Missing is the second in her Southern California Mystery series and continues the misadventures of a newly-minted lawyer whose gene for caution is a recessive one. Lida's short story, "The Nut Job" was included in Snowbound: Best New England Crime Stories published by Level Best Books in November 2017. Lida lives in the northern tip of SoCal with her family, rescue dogs and a flock of uppity chickens.