Thursday, August 25, 2016

Submit Short Stories That Are Creative

By Jerry Murray


Anyone who has dreamed of writing for a living will find that the internet has many offerings. These include working with local news sites to writing for blogs or creating social media posts for business. Many of these entities offer a flexible schedule and paid work experience. Some aspiring writers will submit short stories to be used in a number of ways.

The online opportunities sometimes outweigh the publishing houses that follow traditional methods. Locating these companies is fairly easy, as search engines will provide links to their sites. There are also books, periodicals and writing groups that can give further information.

Gathering a list of possibilities and comparing the terms of compensation can help determine a match for the new writer. It may also be wise to write down some ideas that may be interesting to the reader but with a different twist than most stories. A simple draft can help with creating characters and settings that will be easy for the audience to follow.

The process of getting words on paper differs just as much as the writing voice of the wordsmith. However, there is no harm in the new writer experimenting with a number of styles until the right fit is discovered. Some may try to find the voice of a character first and built a story around those factors. Others may choose interesting bits and pieces, put them together and then edit to satisfy submission guidelines.

Originality is the best path for an emerging writer if they want to develop their individual voice early. Inspiration may come from personal experiences or real events that can be made into a story that audiences will appreciate. Writers that go with a real life event or time period may want to change names of characters and the location to prevent conflicts, or possibly a lawsuit.

Writers may choose a character that is completely made up and has a uniqueness that makes them stand apart from most fictional characters. For the reader, this can be just as fun as many read stories as a form of escapism. Yet, it may help to keep the story itself as believable as possible. When exploring things like cultural beliefs as they relate to the characters, continuity is key. For instance, someone of the Muslim faith is not going to eat any dish made with pork.

Sometimes writers tend to get so wrapped up in the process that they may go overboard with the number of words written. The finished content may be broken up as a series or used as a teaser for promotional purposes. It can also be helpful in case the shortened version is not accepted for immediate publication.

Short stories can also be used as selling tools, either to promote a more lengthy works or to cross promote another item. Lighthearted pieces tend to work best in this type of scenario, as they can be used for online content or merchandising. A story that is well written and is marketable can see different forms over time.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment