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30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

This course includes:

  • 2.5 hours on-demand video
  • 2 articles
  • 52 downloadable resources
  • Full lifetime access
  • Access on mobile and TV
Teaching & Academics Humanities Short Story Writing

Writing Short Stories: The Essential Guide

Discover how to create short fiction for magazines and other markets
Bestseller
Rating: 4.5 out of 54.5 (822 ratings)
5,952 students
Created by Jane Bettany
Last updated 2/2019
English
English [Auto]
30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

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
Wendy Vaccaro
10 courses
4 reviews
Rating: 5.0 out of 5a year ago
This course is packed with information on how to become a successful short story writer. The numerous downloads are a nice perk that offer even more information that is easily accessible. I found myself taking lots of screenshots and placing them in a folder on my desktop for future reference.

Course content

8 sections • 48 lectures • 3h 30m total length

  • Preview05:08
  • Course overview (the 3-minute tour)
    02:57

  • How short is short?
    04:14
  • Story types - what kind do you want to write?
    06:36
  • DOWNLOAD - Writing Exercise 1 - What's Your Story Type?
    5 pages

  • Find your market before you start to write
    10:57
  • DOWNLOAD - Some Short Story Markets
    4 pages
  • Analysing the short story markets
    06:27
  • Other ways to get your stories published
    08:04
  • DOWNLOAD - Competition Tips
    4 pages

  • Where do you get your ideas?
    10:54
  • DOWNLOAD - Cook-up-a-Story
    2 pages
  • Creating a great opening
    10:32
  • Preview08:54
  • DOWNLOAD - Plot Structure
    1 page
  • DOWNLOAD - Story Plan Worksheet
    2 pages
  • Using flashback
    05:44
  • DOWNLOAD - Story 'Gently Does It'
    4 pages
  • DOWNLOAD - Story 'Gently Does It' with author comments
    4 pages
  • Viewpoint
    07:43
  • Tense
    04:16
  • The essential ingredient: conflict
    05:44
  • Creating characters
    04:48
  • DOWNLOAD - Naming Your Characters
    3 pages
  • Settings and description
    05:35
  • DOWNLOAD - Using the Five Senses
    2 pages
  • Writing dialogue
    09:20
  • Bringing it to an end
    06:19
  • DOWNLOAD - The Big Freeze
    4 pages
  • Mapping The Big Freeze to the plot diagram
    02:03

  • Kill your darlings!
    10:15
  • DOWNLOAD - Editing Exercise Part A
    1 page
  • DOWNLOAD - Editing Exercise Part B
    1 page
  • Another editing exercise
    2 pages
  • An extra editing exercise
    1 page
  • Proofreading your work
    02:28
  • DOWNLOAD - Proofreading Tips
    3 pages

  • How to submit your story
    05:25
  • DOWNLOAD - Cover Sheet
    1 page
  • DOWNLOAD - Cover Sheet including a pen name
    1 page
  • DOWNLOAD - Manuscript example
    2 pages
  • Manuscript example including dialogue
    4 pages
  • DOWNLOAD - Example of a Covering Letter
    1 page
  • Dealing with rejection
    04:36

  • Keeping writer’s block at bay
    03:18
  • Preview02:17
  • 12-Step Action Plan
    02:20
  • Test your knowledge
    20 questions

  • Bonus lecture
    01:59

Instructor

Jane Bettany
Novelist, Short Story Writer, Creative Writing Teacher
Jane Bettany
  • 4.5 Instructor Rating
  • 1,130 Reviews
  • 7,838 Students
  • 3 Courses

           Jane's debut crime novel In Cold Blood will be published by HQ (part of Harper Collins) in September 2020. She has written short stories and non-fiction articles that have been published in women's magazines in the UK (such as My Weekly, The Weekly News, The People's Friend, Yours and  Woman's Weekly), as well as in literary magazines and newspapers. 

           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.

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