: Short Story Outline Issues I am writing a short story that has very little action that focuses mainly on the main character's development. I have tried outlining some of the major interactions

You will need two documents open at the same time, one on the left, one on the right. Let's say the manuscript in its current form is on the left.
Now, on the right, jot down some notes about the first paragraph -- what's going on in this paragraph?
Do that for each paragraph.
Now close the manuscript and put your paragraph-by-paragraph analysis on the left, with a new blank document on the right. This time, look at several lines at a time and describe what's going on in that group.
Through this successive reduction process, you will end up with an outline of what you have already written.
I think that after you have done this a few times, you will be motivated to:
next time make the outline before you begin writing the story.
It is soo much easier that way.

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As What and Other's have stated, A short story drives home a point. It doesn't have many subplots or other angles. It's like a children's book in a way. They are usually short and only a couple pages but they build to a goal of teaching a moral or lesson or virtue or what ever it is the goal of the story is. So it start's out with an angry lonely monster who just wanted to make friends. by the end of the short story the angry lonely monster has friends and is happy because someone gave him a chance and that is all he needed. Lesson of the story, give people a chance. So if you think about the goals and the lesson you want to teach, as other's stated, you can just start writing it, redraft if you don't like it and look over it to make sure it really hits the point you want to make :)

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I believe some things that can help are:

Focus On Scenes

Stories are really scenes played out in front of the reader. This is really the show, don't tell axiom.

What Is Your Point?

I'm sure you have a point (theme) so go ahead and summarize that point. Maybe something like:

crime doesn't pay
people who own cats are the best people
shoes are an example of society's cruel overbearing pressure on people: go barefoot for freedom!

Okay, suppose you are going with the last theme.
Now, show me a scene where the main character who is trying to free people from their shoes in action.
What does he do? What does he say?

I hope he doesn't just sit around in an empty apartment barefoot, thinking about the oppressed people of the world all day.

What Do Scenes Do?

Scenes should:

show a point in action
move the story forward
place character farther behind his goals - this builds tension and keeps readers reading

Scene 1
Okay, so show your Anti-Shoe Hero and show him going to city hall and fighting for no-shoe laws to be placed in effect.
- Show main character get irate and get arrested (he's further behind)

Scene 2

He meets an ally in jail and they start a movement
he thinks he has a friend, but then learns the friend is a bit mentally off -- or is he?

You get the picture? Now move the story forward. You can outline the entire story like this if you keep the requirements for scenes in mind.

This is a way forward, instead of sitting and staring and thinking about what you might write.
Good luck.

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