I’m not saying it’s the only structure there is, but it’s a good starting point if you want to (start) write short stories. This is a typical story structure I follow often. As a writer, you have to build towards a satisfying conclusion here that is living up to the promises you’ve made early on in the story. He or she is actually doing something to tip the balance, face trials, solve problems. Which is what your main character tries to do in the last act. Often things get worse for them and they need to find ways to tip the scale.Īct 3: Resolution. The protagonist and his or her allies face some complications as they are moving along. In the middle part, a writer has a difficult task to keep the reader interested, before reaching the conclusion of the story. Here you make some promises to your reader as to where the story leads to.Īct 2: Confrontation.

Popular Fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson calls this an “inciting incident”, some sort of crisis point that makes your character get out of his or her world (or comfort zone) into a new world. Your protagonist is usually called to action here. I will dive into characters and setting more in later posts. Here’s where you introduce your readers to your characters and establish your story setting and tone. Let’s start with the easiest structure a writer can follow:Īct 1: Introduction. In this article, I draw upon the wisdom of Hemingway, Anne Lamott, Brandon Sanderson, George Orwell, and Kurt Vonnegut. Naturally, I will tell you what I do to structure my short stories. With this article, I want to give you some more tools for your writing toolbox to help structure your stories and write great short stories. The most typical way to structure a story is to divide it into three acts. Stories follow story arcs, which in turn closely follow the story’s plot. It’s not interior design.” - Ernest HemingwayĮvery story is built around some form of logic, whether it’s explicit or not.

Samples of short stories to write