KC Grifant

Tips and tricks to write short stories that sell

Welcome! If you’re here, you may be a budding author interested in writing a short story OR an established author looking for tips to freshen up your short story approach. For both cases–and everything in between–I have you covered. While I regularly give workshops on short story and horror writing (check my Appearances page for the latest offerings), I thought I’d share an overview of tips here for both novice and pro writers.

Introduction

Before diving in, a little about me: in addition to novels, I’ve published dozens of short stories in magazines, anthologies, collectible card games, and podcasts, including Dark Matter magazine, Andromeda Spaceways, Aurealis magazine; Unnerving magazine, the British Science Fiction Association’s Fission Magazine; Colp magazine; Cosmic Horror Monthly; Typehouse Literary Magazine; Lovecraft eZine; the Stoker-nominated Chromophobia; Dancing in the Shadows: A Tribute to Anne Rice; Six Guns Straight From Hell Vol 3; Field Notes from a Nightmare; Musings of the Muses; The One That Got Away; Shadowy Natures; Beyond the Infinite; Trembling With Fear; the Stoker-nominated Fright Mare: Women Write Horror; and many more. I’ve also given talks and workshops on the fundamentals of creating short stories and flash fiction that sells. You can read more about my work here.

In sum, I love short stories. In my day job, I write and edit nonfiction and have a background in journalism. This provided my foundation in writing short form and in understanding the value of brevity.

Two quick caveats: my experience is with genre fiction (sci-fi, fantasy, horror) as opposed to literary fiction, but many of these tips will still apply. Also, these tips are geared toward commercial fiction (rather than experimental) and how to create short stories that will appeal to a wide audience.

Why write a short story?

In terms of making it as a full-time fiction writer, novels are typically the path to success. So why bother with short stories? A few reasons:

1: Time

For those of us with very hectic schedules (I have a full-time job and two small children), short stories can be incredibly practical in terms of time efficiency. You can complete a short story draft in a few hours, days, or even weeks, and turn around edits and revisions far faster than a novel.

2: Practice – hone that writing muscle!

For novel writers, short stories are a new form with their own challenges and joys. Experimenting with short stories can be a great way to dive back into creative writing if you’ve taken a hiatus; if a novel feels too overwhelming; or if you need a productive break from your current WIP. I also find it to be a good “palette cleanser” between writing longer works.

3: Connections

After writing and polishing enough short stories, eventually you will submit and publish those stories in magazines or anthologies (see below for more guidance on selling short stories). This is a fabulous way to connect with other writers, publications, and editors, especially on social media. For new writers, this can also be a valuable way to build up your writing resume, so to speak. And for pro writers, publication in anthologies and magazines can help you reach a new and untapped audience for your other work.

4: Fun

You can have a lot of fun with short stories. Because the time investment is relatively low, it’s easier to experiment. You can try new voices, genres, approaches, and POVs that you might not have a chance to in novel writing. Plus, I’ve heard from many writers–as well as experienced this myself–that short stories can often create a breeding ground for longer, successful works, including a novel. This happened with my debut supernatural western novel MELINDA WEST: MONSTER GUNSLINGER. I wrote short stories about these characters for years beforehand that were well received before diving into the novel.

Reasons NOT to write a short story

1: Money

Short story rates vary, ranging anywhere from $0 to pro-payments of $.08/word and upwards. Many places pay flat rates, ranging from $5 to $100. This *can* be profitable if you write many short stories. What’s more, you can get paid for a story multiple times (to venues that accept reprints, once the rights have reverted to you). However, for most people, writing short stories is not a viable money-making path.

2: Fame

Rarely has a short story writer risen to the same level of fame as novelists. So if you crave that writerly recognition, telling someone your short story is out just doesn’t have the same impact as having a novel come out, unfortunately. Generally, author collections of short stories also tend to not sell as well as novels, at least traditionally.

Short story vs. novel writing: two key differences to keep in mind

1: Word count

While it’s fairly self-explanatory, the easiest way to define a short story is tied to word count. Short stories can range from exactly 100 words (called a “drabble”) or less, to over 8,000 (“novelette” territory). Generally the sweet spot for a short story ranges from 2,000-5,000 words or so, and around 1,000 for flash stories. Note: always check the word count requirements of the place you submit to. 

2: Focus

A short story is much more focused than a novel. Instead of having a cast of characters, a short story narrows in on one, or a few, characters. Similarly, instead of many subplots or themes, you really want to drill down on a single pivotal event.

Because it’s so compressed, each part of the short story needs to be very sharp: the beginning and ending lines, for example, are critical. More on that in a minute. 

4 quick tips to make your short stories sing

1: Write a killer hook/opening

The opening is arguably the most important part of a story generally, but it’s especially critical in short stories. Slush readers often won’t get past a first sentence or paragraph if it is not engaging or unique in some way. Resist the urge to open with back story.

Similar to long fiction, the goal here is for the opening sentence to set the mood and hint at the conflict, while also introducing a question (or at least intrigue) in a reader’s mind. Google “best opening sentences” and peruse some of the lists to get a sense of beginnings that are effective.

A word of advice: avoid opening with someone dreaming, waking up, or looking in the mirror. Far too many stories start this way. So skip those openings unless you have an extremely unique twist.

2: Make sure something happens

I can’t tell you the number of stories I’ve read where nothing happens and it feels like a letdown. Just as in a novel, your character should face some sort of conflict and obstacle, and either rise to the challenge or fail in some interesting way. For inspiration (especially in the sci-fi and horror realms) think of Twilight Zone episodes. These short, snappy stories often have some interesting twist that creates momentum in the piece and leads to a satisfying resolution.

3. Make every word count

In short fiction, your word selection needs to be carefully considered and culled. Consider Hemingway’s six-word story: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” This example is almost overused, in part because it’s so effective at harnessing minimal words to indicate an emotional backstory. Making the reader’s mind work on their own to infer narrative can be an incredibly powerful storytelling technique.

One way to hone your skills in this is to practice writing stories that adhere to a strict word count, for example, that are exactly 100 words, or under 500 words.

4: Avoid this common pitfall

A short story is not a vignette, which is one of the most common errors I see when people are just starting in writing short stories. A vignette, like the photographic term it comes from, is essentially a description–painting a portrait with words. This can be a beautiful piece of writing, but *typically* it is not a sellable short story, particularly for beginning writers. Again, in a story you generally want something to happen.

A caveat: short story writing can be a fantastic approach to writing experimental and vignette-type stories that don’t focus on building tension, particularly for non western-centric markets. The tips I outline here are geared toward writers looking to create sellable narratives for western markets, so they are focused on building tension and a narrative arc. However, many of the best short stories don’t follow narrative form at all. So, as with most crafts, I encourage you to master the basics and then venture into experimentation.

Additional tips

In a regular workshop I give (check upcoming Appearances for details), I go into detail into a formula that can help you write sellable short stories. For the purposes of this post, I’ll simply say that you want to make sure you have a beginning, conflict, and resolution in a short story. Simple in theory, but this takes attention and practice to get right.

Once you have a rough draft, there are a few things you can do to develop your story. Ask yourself: what would make this story more interesting? More stressful for the main character? More urgent? Can you expand the story, doubling its length? Can you shrink the story, halving its length? Can you tell the story in exactly 100 words (a drabble)?

Selling your short stories: where to submit and how to get paid

One of the advantages of writing in this form is that short stories can work for you long after you’ve completed them. What I mean by this is that many publishers are open to reprints (check guidelines to be sure). Once your story rights revert back to you, you can submit it back into the world again and get paid again, indefinitely.

Story rights will vary by contract, but sometimes rights immediately revert back to you, or you may have to wait a few months up to a year before you can sell that story again. In any case, make sure you track and log when your story rights revert to you, so you know when to get it back out in the submission circuit.

When you’re readying to submit your short stories, I recommend these sites to find what magazine and anthology calls are looking for short stories:

• The Submission Grinder – this is my go-to resource. They share user-generated stats of rejections and response times, and have a useful weekly newsletter.
• Duotrope (paid service)
• The Horror Tree
• Facebook Groups (here’s one for fantasy and sci-fi, and another for horror).
• Author blogs and websites (https://www.gwendolynkiste.com/Blog/ is one I especially like)

Places to submit

Here’s a brief list of magazines I recommend keeping an eye on for short genre fiction submissions, particularly in the horror, sci-fi and fantasy spaces.

• The Dark Magazine
• Interzone
• Apex Magazine
• Beneath Ceaseless Skies
• Uncanny
• Strange Horizons
• Asimov’s Science Fiction
• Fantasy & Science Fiction
• Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores
• The Deadlands
• Clarkesworld
• Apex
• Nightmare
• Pseudopod
• Andromeda Spaceways
• Augur
• Flash Fiction Online
• Aurealis
• Cast of Wonders
• Shotgun Honey
• Ghoulish Tales
• Cosmic Horror Monthly

Here are just a few of the indie/small presses that put out short story calls for themed anthologies. Follow them on social media or check out their websites for open subs.

• Brigids Gate Press
• Dead Sky Publishing
• Off Limits Press
• Cemetery Gates Media
• Cohesion Press
• House of Gamut
• Sley House Publishing
• Dark Recesses Press
• Cursed Morsels
• Dark Matter Ink
• Tenebrous Press
• Strange Wilds Press
• Kangas Kahn Publishing

Parting thoughts

Make sure to read short stories as much as you can. There are many wonderful online magazines and anthologies (free and paid) to name, but a few great ones to start with include: Uncanny, Nightmare, Apex, Clarkesworld, SF&F, Fantasy, Asimov’s, and so many more!

If you feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start, one approach I recommend is looking at the previous year’s Stoker or Nebula award winners for short fiction. This way you can find some of the top tales and authors in the short story space.

There are many reasons to experiment with writing short speculative fiction. Loads of magazines and anthology calls pop up every month, and it seems like readers’ appetite for short fiction is continuing to increase. Hopefully these tips help you get short stories out in the world.

More resources

• I teach regular workshops at Reach Your Apex. Check out the website to see what’s upcoming.
  
• Read my blog post “How to Make Your Short Story Shine (From An Editor’s Point of View)“
  
• Tune into this episode of Hidden Gems to hear me discuss in more detail how to write and sell a short story. The conversation includes tips on how to create a strong plot and well-developed characters, the finances of short stories, and much more. Listen here: https://www.hiddengemsbooks.com/podcast/episode-54/.
  
• Read my article “The Power of Fear: How Short Horror Stories Can Jumpstart Your Writing” on Reach Your Apex.
  
• Read my article “Level up your writing: how short stories can enhance your writing career” in Books & Buzz Magazine‘s March 2023 issue.
  
• Read my article “How to Create a Compelling Science Fiction or Fantasy Story” in Authority Magazine.
  
• If you’re interested in my full workshop, message me or subscribe to my newsletter to get notice of upcoming events, here: https://mailchi.mp/a9f0d76bba28/welcome. 
  
• One resource I strongly recommend is this book: A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders. This book is like taking a literary masterclass on short stories. It is brilliant, anything but boring, and a must-read for short story authors.

Do you have a favorite tip, trick or resource for writing short stories? Feel free to drop it in the comments!