Go Ahead — Write This Story: Keeping it short

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Once again, you curse the gods of literature: Your “short story” turned out to be the first chapter of a novel, and you really wanted a short story. How do you keep things short? Try to limit the number of important characters to two or three. Use one point of view. Keep the conflict simple, the way that postage stamp artwork is memorable but simple. Compress the time frame. Aim for a single effect. Include only the most essential information. If you need a short story idea, here are a few.

• This is a fantasy story in which a gem broker becomes obsessed over a new kind of stone that appears at a roadside market.

• This is young adult story in which a panic-stricken alien learns self-defense from a dog.

• This is a competence p0rn story about an incorrigible lunar pioneer who endangers the settlement by sloppy habits that introduce lunar dust, which has damaging and dangerous sharp edges, into living and working quarters.