3 Things Every Short Story Needs in the Beginning

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I read lots of short speculative stories throughout the year. This comes from being the reader for multiple literary journals, including MetaStellar, Utopia Science Fiction, Orion’s Belt, Uncharted, and others. As someone with experience as a reader, I can tell you exactly what readers look for in the beginnings of submissions they read. Check out the three most important aspects of a short story that you need before you submit below.

A Character

First things first, you need a character that your story is about. Too often, I see speculative short stories beginning with long descriptions of the setting, or backstory, or exposition about what’s happening. This not only takes away from the word count, but it also keeps me from getting to know the character. The character acts as the focal point of the story, so creating one that readers can identify with is essential. They need to be at the forefront.

So what can you do? Follow these steps:

1. Create a complex character that readers find interesting. When creating a character, they need a personality, though they don’t necessarily need to be likeable. They need to be someone whom readers will immediately guess to be complex and innovative throughout the story. If readers realize that the main character will just be passive throughout the entire story, their interest in reading further will diminish. For example, imagine starting your story with an astronaut trying to stop a major fuel tank leak on a spaceship. When you introduce the character, understand how they’ll tackle that problem and make them active in the story. That way, readers will want to see more of them.

2. Cut out exposition and description. When you start writing, skip all of the backstory that you think you need to set up. Also, get rid of descriptions of the setting. Because you’re not setting a scene. You need to make the most of your word count, which means getting straight to the heart of the problem that the character faces. So cut everything else out and start as close to the end as possible.

A Setting

Next, readers need to be oriented to the setting. We need to know the when and where so we can envision what’s going on in the story. (I should mention, when I say readers, I also mean editors!). When I say the setting, I mean the place the character currently resides in. However, this is a short story. It doesn’t need a ton of description right out of the gate. So, how do you orient your story’s setting right away? Here are a couple of tips:

1. Include details (as needed). To keep from going into a ton of description that acts as exposition that weighs down your story, include small details that allow readers to figure out what to imagine. For example, imagine you want to create a story about that character in the spaceship I mentioned. Readers likely can imagine what a spaceship looks like, so don’t describe every inch of the walls. Instead, include small descriptions of the control panel when the character uses it. Or describe the spacesuit when the character puts it on. In this case, only describe this setting when you need to.

2. Prioritize imagery. When including descriptions of your setting, you also need to include imagery. This brings the description you have to life and allows readers to picture the setting better. I actually included information about imagery in a Writing Advice of the Week that I just started doing for MetaStellar! I included it below:

“Sometimes, a little detail here and there brings an image to a reader’s mind with a snap. Imagine your character walks into a room. We’re led to believe it’s like any other room, but there’s a book on the table. You want to call attention to this book, so you describe it with one or two specific details. You might think of the sentence, “The sunlight hit the book’s golden edges.” This allows readers to envision what the book looks like, and you included some amazing description with just a few words.”

This little description enhances your short story and creates imagery that brings the setting to life. But now that you have a character and setting, you need one last thing.

A Conflict

Lastly, you need a conflict that your character needs to face. This should be the main problem of the story that becomes what the story is about. The story then builds towards solving that problem, which the main character needs to face in the beginning. So how do you introduce the conflict?

1. Include a first line with a great hook. The best place to introduce your character, setting, and conflict comes in a killer first line. If you include a beginning with a hook, readers understand the conflict right away and want to see how it’s solved. For example, I just read James Blish’s short story “Solar Plexus.” In a few lines, you get a character, setting, and conflict.

“Brant Kittinger did not hear the alarm ringing. Indeed, it was only when a soft blow jarred his free-floating ship that he looked up in sudden awareness from the interferometer. Then the sound of the warning bell reached his consciousness, and he knew that another ship had penetrated his meteor screens. That meant it was close.”

2. Make your character desperate. A sure-fire way to kickstart the conflict and get readers and editors interested is to make your character desperate. That means the conflict is urgent. It also means that, when you up the stakes and build your story, the conflict gets better and more exciting. Your characters also become more desperate. When the climax occurs and things end well (or badly), readers will be left amazed.

Including all three of these things gives you a leg up when you submit your story to journals and contests. So keep editors in mind when you write and keep submitting. Happy writing!

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