A Writing Tip: She Unhooked Her Bra

 She unhooked her bra.

That’s a great line to open a short story with.  But now what?

And not only does the writer of that great first line have to come up with the next line, but the writer has to come up with, oh, I don’t know.  Let’s say 200 more lines until the story is completed.

Unfortunately, too many writers never finish a story.

I use to get stuck writing short stories.  I’d have a great opening.  A pretty good middle.  Then it came time for the ending.  I would get stuck and end up never completing the story.

If you get stuck and end up not finishing your story, try what I did.  Make an outline before you begin writing.

That’s right, before you start writing.

I use to write down an outline that included just about everything: the number of characters, the theme, the conflict, pieces of dialogue, and most importantly how the story would end.  When I started outlining, I never got stuck again writing a story.

I don’t write down outlines now.  After years of practice, I can do the outline in my head.

But if you are getting stuck writing your short story, try writing down an outline so that you have an idea of how your story will end.  And don’t start writing your short story until you know how the story will end.  Make the outline a general outline.  This way you will have plenty of room to change things while you are writing your story.  You may even change the ending of your story.  The outline should only be a general guide to get you to the end of your story.

That way, you will never get stuck writing a short story again.

My Ebook for Serious Writers will help you to take your short story writing to the next level.  And the Ebook is also great entertainment.