: Re: Cutting down the length of a short story I'm writing a short story for an assignment at school - but I'm having trouble keep it short. I have a habit to go off on a tangent quite a bit,

Remove adverbs
They weaken your language.
Instead use strong verbs.
Here are some quick examples:

replace

slowly walked with ambled
quickly grabbed with snatched
quietly cried with whimpered

Summarize your story in one or two sentences (to get an idea what you are really
writing)

Example 1

A young man, raised by his uncle, meets an old man who knew his father
and convinces the boy to join the resistance to save the galaxy. -
Star Wars : A New Hope

Example 2

A summer beach town is terrorized by shark attacks and the sheriff
finds himself under pressure to kill the shark, save the people
and save the town and its tourism. --Jaws

Think action/reaction and write nothing else
Try not to explain everything. Instead, just show the character in action.
Show actions the character takes and allow the user to interpret.

John crouched behind the bushes and looked at his digital watch: 2:03.
He scanned the area around the back of donut shop. No one. This would
be easy. He ran to the back door, pulled out his pick tools and went
to work on the lock.

There is no need to tell the reader that John in breaking in. Readers are smart and will figure out what is going on if you show them properly.

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: Just wanted to mention The Novel Factory here, as keeping track of characters was one of the main reasons it was developed. Disclosure - I am the creator of this software. This is a screenshot

@Samaraweera193

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: For what it is worth, this seems quite effective to me. It is always difficult to write in first person, and when the narrator is challenged in some way, it also challenges the writer.

@Samaraweera193

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: I find myself giving versions of the same advice over and over, but it's applicable to so many situations. I call it the Sturgeon/Delany rule. Work out every last detail and implication

@Samaraweera193

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: What to do with first writing Assume I have just written my first short story. I showed it to a few friends and they seem to like it. For the next step I want to find out if my work

: Re: Cutting down the length of a short story I'm writing a short story for an assignment at school - but I'm having trouble keep it short. I have a habit to go off on a tangent quite a bit,

More posts by @Samaraweera193

: Just wanted to mention The Novel Factory here, as keeping track of characters was one of the main reasons it was developed. Disclosure - I am the creator of this software. This is a screenshot

: For what it is worth, this seems quite effective to me. It is always difficult to write in first person, and when the narrator is challenged in some way, it also challenges the writer.

: I find myself giving versions of the same advice over and over, but it's applicable to so many situations. I call it the Sturgeon/Delany rule. Work out every last detail and implication

: What to do with first writing Assume I have just written my first short story. I showed it to a few friends and they seem to like it. For the next step I want to find out if my work

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