Writing Short Stories: The Essential Guide
What you'll learn
- By the end of this course you will understand the different elements of short fiction writing and how to weave them into a completed story.
- You'll learn how to identify suitable markets, and how to edit, prepare and submit your manuscript.
Requirements
- You don't need any prior knowledge or experience to complete this course and you definitely DON'T need any academic qualifications - although students who complete the course usually enjoy reading, have a love of words, a creative imagination, and a burning desire to write.
- There are no specific course requirements, although access to a word processor will be required to type up your manuscript before submitting it to an editor.
Description
If you want to write fiction, then short stories are a great place to start and they can be a good source of income. This course will show you how to find ideas, how to put your stories together, and how to submit them to an editor.
You'll learn the essential elements of short story writing such as plot and structure, dialogue, characterisation, setting, tense, viewpoint, and much more.
Why not give it a try? Sell one short story and the course will more than pay for itself!
With over 1,500 students, this is my most popular course. Sign up today and learn the art of short fiction.
And don't forget that the course is backed by Udemy's 30 day money-back guarantee. If you're not completely satisfied, you can ask for a full, no-questions-asked refund - which means you've got absolutely nothing to lose by enrolling on the course TODAY.
During the course we'll look at:
- story openings
- conflict
- using flashback
- creating characters
- writing dialogue
- viewpoint and tense
- settings and description, and
- how to end your story.
You'll be able to download writing exercises, a regularly updated list of current short story markets (including how much you can expect to be paid), lecture handouts, and short stories.
Towards the end of the course we'll look at one of the most important parts of the writing process - editing. You'll also get tips on proofreading, and how to prepare and submit your manuscript to fiction editors.
And in case you get struck down with it, we'll look at how to overcome writer's block.
The course will be delivered using video lectures, writing exercises, information sheets, stories to read, and a recap quiz.
Who this course is for:
- This course is aimed at anyone interested in learning the craft of writing short stories. No previous experience is necessary - all you need is a creative imagination, plenty of enthusiasm, and a willingness to write!
Featured review
![Wendy Vaccaro](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 64 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E){kind=avatar}
Instructor
- 4.4 Instructor Rating
- 1,401 Reviews
- 9,273 Students
- 3 Courses
Jane has written short stories and non-fiction articles that have been published in women's magazines in the UK (such as My Weekly, Hello Magazine, The Weekly News, The People's Friend, Yours and Woman's Weekly), as well as in literary magazines and newspapers. She is also the author of the DI Isabel Blood crime series, published by HQ HarperCollins. The first book in the series won the Gransnet Novel Writing Competition in 2019.
Her journey as a writer began with a childhood love of reading and books. As an adult, she enrolled for an evening class in creative writing and began to produce short stories. Her first story was published in 1992.
In 2004 Jane completed an MA in Creative Writing, which she found both challenging and enjoyable because it gave her an opportunity to try different genres and experiment with writing styles.
Jane has been a teacher of creative writing since 2007, and is always amazed at how much talent is out there and how many untold stories are waiting to be written. She loves helping others to develop their short story skills and find their writing voice.
Jane is based in Derby the UK. As well as writing and teaching, for ten years she ran a publishing and communications company. Jane is now focussing full-time on her writing, including her crime novels.