In a guest post on Writers Helping Writers, Jami Gold offers advice on creating story problems and character arcs within the short story, where you have much less room to get your reader into and out of your character’s world. “Short stories simply don’t have the word count for subplots or other complications,” she says.
Whatever your character arc or theme, you can explore those ideas at different depths and with varying levels of detail and contrast. For example, a character may learn to trust another person or you can explore backstory to explain their mistrust and show how your protagonist overcomes a negative belief, Gold explains. In a short story with a simpler approach, you need fewer stops in your character arcs, including:
- What does the character long for and desire? (story ending)
- What choices are they making that keep them from their dream? (story beginning)
- What do they learn? (how they change throughout the middle)
- What are they willing to do at the end that they weren’t willing to do before? (story climax)
To add layers to this structure, you can add subplots, scenes that show them failing to overcome a weakness, or plot events that make them retreat, Gold adds. Gold examines your options for adjusting structure and character arcs to fit a short story, including adopting a simpler approach, tying the arc tightly to the main plot, and limiting the number of characters portrayed in-depth. “Not every story needs characters to have an internal conflict arc. Not every story needs deep emotional arcs,” Gold concludes. “But if we want character arcs in our story—and our story is less than novel length—we need to be more purposeful and deliberate with how we structure our story to make the most of our character’s arc with the word count we have.”
