How to write a short story based on a photo

(Is it different from a story writing based on a paining?)

1. Can you see the picture in front of you?

2. You must remember that the photographer HAS CAUGHT a specific moment. What is it? Write only words to describe it.

3. The moment CAUGHT by the photographer captures an emotion. What is it? Describe it with three sentences.

4. COMBINE the three sentences from above into one (Take the most important and unlocking to put them into one).

5. The title of your short story is hidden in THIS ONE sentence. GET IT OUT!

Now it is the moment for you to decide who the narrator is:

·    Is he/she one of the participants in the action?

or
·    Is he/she an omniscient narrator?

6. What are the most important details of the characters at the moment caught (in the picture)? Write them in a list.

7. How are these characters and details connected? Join them.

8. What happened to them before the moment? Use your imagination and think about THE PAST of the characters. Now you create the pre story events (the exposition and the complication).

9. What will happen to the characters after the moment? Use your imagination and think about the future of the characters. Now you hint the denouement and behold the end of your story.

10. What is happening NOW, at this very moment? Feel it. Be in the shoes of each character at the moment! This way you depict the moment and create the gist (the meaning, the idea and the feeling) of your short story.

8 short stories participating in the 1st YEWS contest

CLICK HERE for the short stories participating in the first Creative Writing Contest held in Lecce in April 2012

Focus on the plot

What is Plot?
What is plot in a short story? It is the series of events that make up the story, in which there is a beginning, middle, and end.
A  plot is what happens in the story. Something has to move, to change. This change could be:

• A physical event (a serial killer is killing young girls -CHANGE- police arrest the killer).

• A decision (character wants to become a doctor  like his father-CHANGE-character decides to be a ballet dancer).

• A change in a relationship ( They hate each other-CHANGE-They fall in love)

• A change in a person (character is a selfish jerk. -CHANGE- character has learned to be less of a selfish jerk.)

• A change in the reader's understanding of a situation. (character appears to be a thief.-CHANGE- The reader realizes that character is actually innocent and made a false confession.)

This change could even be the realization that nothing will ever change. (your character dreams of escaping her small town -CHANGE- her dream escape is shown to be an hopeless.) 

Story Opening

A short story is like a chess game: The opening is a huge part of whether you win or lose. The first sentence of a short story doesn't just "hook" readers, it also sets the tone and launches the plot.

1. Scene-setting
This is possibly the most common type of short story opening. The action doesn't really begin in the opening paragraph, instead we join the characters in a pause before the action, and this allows us to get to know the characters and the setting first.

Example: "Very early morning. The sun was not yet risen, and the whole of Crescent Bay was hidden under a white sea-mist. The big bush-covered hills at the back were smothered." —Katherine Mansfield "At the Bay"

2. The conflict establisher
There's absolutely nothing wrong with an opening sentence that shows the exact moment when your characters knew they were in trouble.

Examples: "I slammed the door in the child's face, a horrific scream trapped in my throat." — Nnedi Okorafor, "On the Road"
"When Denis died, he found himself in another place. Dead people came at him with party hats and presents." — Rachel Swirsky, "Fields of Gold"


3. The mystifier
At first, it doesn't entirely make sense, because it refers to stuff we don't know about yet. Or it throws us into a situation without giving us all the pieces right away.

Example: "Before she became the Girl from Nowhere – the One Who Walked IN, the First and Last and Only, who lived a thousand years – she was a little girl in Iowa, named Amy. Amy Harper Bellafonte. – Justin Cronin, The Passage.

4. The Third Person Narrator Speaks to You
If your story has an especially chatty third-person narrator, you can start off by having the narrator explain something directly to the reader, often in the second person.

Example: "Being assigned to The Head for eight hours was the worst security shift you could pull at the museum." — Elizabeth Hand, "The Maiden Flight of McCauley's Bellerophon"

5. The First Person Narrator Speaks
This is sort of similar to the previous one, except that instead of the third person narrator explaining, it's the first-person narrator saying something reflective. The first-person narrator muses about some ideas, or about his/her feelings.

Example: "I remember the future. The future was glorious once. It was filled with sleek silver spaceships, lunar colonies, and galactic empires. The horizon seemed within reach; we could almost grasp the stars if we would but try." — Michael A. Burstein, "I Remember the Future"

6. A dialogue  

This makes your story very lively.

Example: ‘You will not find your father greatly changed,’ remarked Lady Moping, as the car turned into the gates of the County Asylum.
‘Will he be wearing a uniform?’ asked Angela.
‘No, dear, of course not. He is receiving the very best attention.’  Evelyne Wought, "My Loveday’s Little Outing"

7. A description of one character You might want to focus on one of the characters if your story is centred around him or her.

Example: "In her blue dress, whith her cheeks lightly flushed, her blue, blue eyes, and her gold curls pinnued up as though for the first time (…) Mrs Raddicks’s daughter might have just dropped from this radiant heaven." – Katherine Mansfield, "the Young Girl".

8. The diary
One popular format for a story is a diary or journal format, in which the story is told through the point of view of one character writing his thoughts and describing events in his diary. A diary story should be told in first person and requires careful planning, as diaries can be too descriptive and lacking in action, which does not make for an effective story.

Example: Friday January 2nd

I felt rotten today. It’s my mother’s fault for singing ‘My Way’ at two o’clock in the morning at the top of the stairs. Just my luck to have a mother like her. There is a chance my parents could be alcoholics. Next year I could be in a children’s home.  

–– Sue Townsend, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, aged 13 ¾

Plot Twists

A popular format for short stories is the twist in the ending. Something happens that the reader could not infer was going to happen.

It must come as a complete surprise to the reader but has to be set up properly. A few clues or signposts should be sprinkled throughout the short story so the reader doesn’t feel cheated.

Here are some ideas to help you:

• The villain turns out to be the hero.
• A minor error ends all hope of success.
• The story takes place in the future.
• The main character appears to be young but turns out be old.
• The villain gets caught in his/her own trap.
• Someone who is supposed to be dead is actually alive.
• Something insignificant mentioned at the beginning turns out to be vital. Someone unexpected betrays the villain.
• The main character appears to be old but turns out to be young.
• The hero turns out to be the villain.
• A woman turns out to be a man.
• The narrator turns out to be unreliable.

Here are some examples:

1. "He lied down on his bed. He didn't care about his shoes; the bed would get dirty anyway. The sun was shining through the blades of his blinds. It shone on his desk on which there were sheets with homework which he hadn't done yet. On the floor right next to his desk lied even more sheets many of which weren't touched for months. Besides his desk was a cabinet were he stuffed all things in and which seemed to burst open at a moment's notice.
Then he looked at the shotgun lying on the floor with which he just had shot himself.
He closed his eyes. "

2. In The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce, Peyton Farquhar is about to be hanged for being a Confederate supporter. Before the hanging takes place, the rope breaks, he falls into the water, and is miraculously freed. He manages to reach his home, some great distance away, and is about to embrace his loving wife when the rope jerks and the reader finds that he has never left the bridge, and was only dreaming about being freed.

3. In Philip K. Dick’s science fiction short story Impostor the hero wakes up beside his wife and goes off to work unaware that he is a robot who was sent to destroy Earth’s science labs and then self-destruct. He has killed the real Spense Olham, absorbed his memories, and erased all recollection of who he truly is for security reasons in case he is questioned. When he falls under suspicion, he attempts to prove his innocence, totally unaware of his true identity, which comes as a shock to him as well as the reader.

4. In The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry, a young and poor romantic couple both make sacrifices to buy Christmas presents for each other. Della cuts and sells her prize possession − her beautiful hair − to buy a chain for Jim’s watch. In the meantime Jim sells his treasured watch to buy some combs for Della’s long hair. Neither have a gift that is useful, but the love they have for each other is more valuable than either gift.

Look at the chosen painting and excite your imagination

1. Find a painting that stimulates or excites your imagination. 

2. Look at it carefully for more or less 5 minutes. 

3. Start to write about the picture. Think about the scenery, the people in the painting (who are they, what are they doing, why? How did they get there, where are they going? Describe them. Why do they wear those clothes ( that shirt, that necklace, that glasses, or what else…)? Do those dirty shoes (or new shoes, new hat, etc.) mean something special to them? What are their names? What are they frowning/smiling at? 

4. Don't stop to think, but let the words flow out of you. It doesn't matter what you write at this stage, the idea is just to write. Don't wait until you know what you are going to say about a picture. Look at the picture closely, mentally note the smallest details, then write, write, write. Don't be afraid to start while your mind is still blank - it is the act of writing that generates ideas, not the other way around. 

5. Usually after about 15 minutes you will find ideas and thoughts coming out that you didn't know you had. 

This is the magic starting to work. Don't stop. Carry on and enjoy!

Useful Adjectives you can use when you write short stories

Free Short Stories to Read and Work On

Click HERE to find free short stories.

Other links with short stories that you can read:
Classicshorts.com 
The-50-best-short-stories-of-all-time 
Eastoftheweb.com