John T. Frederick

Creating the Short Story

This chapter will help you to create your own short story. The other chapters in this book have taught you about the elements of the short story: setting, characterization, conflict and plot, theme, and point of view. This chapter teaches you how to include these elements in your own short story. Practice This section of the chapter is designed to help you create details and descriptions of characters and events for your story. Your story may be based on an event or experience which illustrates some aspect of your life, or the lives of others. You may wish to write about real or imaginary events. Read each part of the following exercise and provide information for all 12 items. 1. Write a title for your short story. You may prefer to create one after you have written the story.