5 Elements Every Short Story Needs

Short stories.

Some writers love them. Some writers hate them.

While attempting to write short stories isn’t necessary for all novelists, they are worth a try for many of us—as they provide good practice and can teach us new and valuable skills to bring over to our novels.

But first, what is a short story?

A short story is a piece of fiction that is approximately 1000-7500 words (though the word count is different depending on who you ask) and covers a single significant event in a character's life.

It might seem like the only difference between a short story and a novel is the length, but don’t let that fool you.

At the end of this definition, I purposefully wrote that a short story covers a single significant event in a character’s life.

A novel follows a character as they go on a transformative journey, while a short story follows a character who experiences a single significant event. A novel is made up of many chapters and scenes in order to tell its story, and a short story only has a few scenes or less.

This big difference is what affects the word count of these two different mediums. Keep this in mind as you write your short story.

Short stories aren’t for everyone, but if you decide to take on the challenge of writing one, I’m here to help you by sharing the five elements every short story needs.

#1 Hooks readers

Readers enjoy being sucked into a story—where they can’t stop turning the pages and feel completely immersed in the story. As a reader myself, I know I do.

And the two best ways to hook readers are through your title and first line.

First, the title—the bane of many writers’ existence. It’s difficult to create a title that’s intriguing and represents your piece well, so here are a few tricks to coming up with your title.

The first thing I recommend is to just brain dump. Write down any keywords that pop into your head and that relate to your book. They can be names, locations, nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, or special terms that relate to your book.

Once you’ve done this, start mixing and matching these terms to create possible titles. Of course, you can add articles and other words needed that weren’t on your list, so the title ideas make sense.

Write down every possible idea you have even if they’re silly, and you’ll probably end up with a pretty long list.

Once you’ve done this, start narrowing down your list to just your favorites, and then get feedback from other writers and readers to see what they think. Often, us writers are too close to our own projects that it becomes hard to see our writing as it really is, which is why feedback is incredibly important.

Your title should be unique—avoid at all costs using a title that’s already been used, especially if it’s in the same genre. You can figure out if there are any stories out there with the same title as yours by searching on Amazon or Goodreads.

Along with this, your title needs to be intriguing. An excellent title makes readers think Ooh, I want to know more. Because in the beginning, ultimately the title is what pulls readers in.

Then there’s the first line. Now, unlike what many people believe, the first line of a story doesn’t need to be a mind blowing sentence with a bunch of crazy things in it.

The only thing a first line needs to accomplish is to raise questions that will invite readers to continue reading. That’s it. And don’t give the reader the answer to the questions right away. Make them work for the answers—make them keep reading.

This is how readers are hooked.

The Mansion by Henry Van Dyke captures readers’ attention immediately through both of these processes.

First, the title—The Mansion. This title is simple, but it’s clear that there’s something special about the mansion and that it’s going to have importance in the story. This compels me to want to know more.

Now, let’s look at the first line.

“There was an air of calm and reserved opulence about the Weightman mansion that spoke not of money squandered, but of wealth prudently applied.”

This beautiful opening description of the mansion makes me instantly curious. I want to know more about the mansion and what else is so special about it. I want to keep reading.

Creating the title and first line of a story can be daunting, but don’t overthink it. Just remember these tips, and you’ll be well on your way to hooking readers.

#2 Starts late and ends early

Let’s unpack this statement one at a time.

First, short stories start late. By this I mean, your short story should begin where the action starts.

Since novels are so much longer than short stories, there’s time for a slower opening to introduce the characters and the world. And many books dedicate several chapters to showcasing the protagonist’s normal life before the Inciting Incident upends everything.

Short stories don’t have time for this because of their length, which is why you need to start your short story late. And starting where the action begins also helps hook readers.

But how do you know where the action starts?

You may be wondering this and the best way to figure this out is by going back to our short story definition. Remember, short stories cover a single significant event in a character’s life. What is the significant event in your short story? Start there.

The second part of this element is that short stories end late.

Just like the long openings of novels that show the main character’s Act 1 life, novels also contain resolutions. Often in books once the battle has been won, the author shows a chapter or two of the main character’s happily ever after, and they use this opportunity to tie up loose ends.

But I’ll say it again, short stories differ greatly from novels, so there’s no time for resolutions. There’s probably more wiggle room with this rule because you don’t want an abrupt ending that leaves the reader feeling cheated. But try to avoid the temptation to tie everything up neatly in a bow. Readers enjoy using their imaginations, so let them imagine what happens next.

A short story that executes this idea perfectly is Little Girls Wiser Than Men by Leo Tolstoy.

In this short story, two little girls play in a puddle together after church, having fun as children do. After one child accidentally splashes the other, getting her beautiful frock wet and dirty, the other girl becomes upset. Soon, the parents of both girls get involved. They yell and argue with each other and more people join in on the fight.

But after only a few minutes, the little girls forget all about the incident and go right back to playing. When the adults notice this, they’re ashamed and set the matter aside to walk home.

This story wastes no time before jumping straight into the action. It only allows a few sentences for a setup before explaining the conflict of the scene—the two little girls playing and one getting the other wet. And in the end, the story finishes right after the adults realize how foolish they’ve acted.

#3 Contains a small cast

Each new character introduced into a story makes it more complex—and adds to the word count.

Excellent short stories are fairly uncomplicated and low in word count, so this is why they contain small casts.

Try to limit the cast of your short stories to 1-4 characters, including more only if absolutely necessary. There are a few exceptions to this, but if your short story contains many characters, you’re probably not writing a short story.

A small cast allows you to direct your full attention and focus to your characters—while too many characters makes it hard to keep track of everyone, and can confuse readers, which is the last thing you want to do.

However, it is entirely possible to write a short story with a few more than four characters. If you do this, just make sure you have your reasons and tackle it wisely.

#4 Concise

Since short stories are so short, every word must count and add to the story in order to keep it moving and gripping. When writing your short story, avoid including any additional information or descriptions unless it’s absolutely necessary to tell the story you’re writing.

And besides bulking up the word count, adding unnecessary information is disrespectful to readers. When people read a piece of your work, they’re dedicating their time and energy to your writing.

In this day and age, there are so many things that grab at our attention and take up our time. When people read your writing, they’re spending their valuable time on your story when they have plenty of other things they could be doing.

A few practical ways you can implement this into your writing is first by coming through your story sentence by sentence and asking yourself, Is this absolutely necessary to tell my story? If at any point, you find yourself answering no to that question, examine closer to see if you can cut the sentence or any part of it.

Another way to keep your short story concise is by getting feedback from other writers. Ask them if they spotted any additional information that you could cut and take their suggestions to trim and polish your short story.

#5 Means something

Short stories are fun and entertaining, but they aren’t very worthwhile if they don’t mean anything. And the best way to make your short story mean something is by including a theme.

A theme is an idea, topic or lesson that is explored over the course of a story. A few examples are love, death, survival, family, and good vs. evil. Often themes have to do with the different facets of human nature or the human condition. Some short stories even have multiple themes.

However, themes aren’t always easy to identify. Sometimes, the theme is only vaguely described, while other times the author hints at the theme through the title, the dialogue, or the main character’s actions. Other times, the theme is literally stated outright.

In The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe, the themes are guilt and madness. After killing the old man for strange reasons (which showcases his madness), guilt overtakes the narrator and he confesses to his crime. These actions are what express the theme.

When brainstorming your short story’s theme, think about a particular topic or idea that means something to you or that you’d like to explore, and go from there. Also, consider what lesson your protagonist could learn and simultaneously teach the audience through your short story.

To recap, here are the five elements every short story needs:

• hooks readers

• starts late and ends early

• contains a small cast

• concise

• means something

Short stories can be intimidating at first, but utilizing these five elements will help you write your short story.

What do you think every short story needs?