Today's blog comes to us courtesy of our resident Coyote Cub, @astone2292.  He's put aside his Ask the Author and Guess the Author hats to give us his thoughts on writing short stories.  Thank you, Aaron for sharing your ideas with us!  I would like to do a series of these blogs, so if there's a particular topic you would like to see addressed, please PM me and let me know.  Now on to our feature presentation!  

Only one word comes to mind when I think about short story crafting:  Excitement. I might be considered a selfish dink when I say this but I am not thinking about a reader's excitement here. I'm thinking of my own. If I'm not excited for it, why would anyone else be? 

Me, myself, and I, I tend to live in the now. If I find something funny, I'll be swimming in that proverbial pool all day. Retelling the event or joke over and over in my head, sharing with my friends and coworkers, and using that EXCITEMENT in my bounding gait for hours. That is the power of a short story, at least in my life. It's what I look for after reading one. Exciting things happen to us all in some shape or form, so why not use them in our field of expertise? 

One of my favorite ways of crafting a short is using dad jokes. I know, I know, I feel several bullseyes on my person. But look at the core value: it's a joke that, albeit groan-worthy, will leave a lasting impression on one's mind and add itself to one's arsenal of conversation pieces. All you have to do is expand on it a bit. Why was the bicycle too tired to compete in the race? What was the true reason for the drummer to name his twin daughters Anna-one and Anna-two? See, I either made you giggle or grab the nearest can to pelt me with. Harness that emotion, grab your creative toolbelt, and run with it!

I follow a piece of advice from one of my English professors in college. "If you don't have to think about it, don't." And I might as well have that line tattooed on my hand. I am notorious for my lack of brainstorming, and while it drives beta-readers up the wall, I can't help but cackle maniacally like an evil villain. Combine that with a golden rule Carlos Hazday gave me, "A chapter is done when it's done, regardless of word count," I have a fair idea when a story is done. Looking at the second story in my "Sticks and Stories" collection, I used 288 words to create a cute tale of a gingerbread man escaping a castle's kitchen. Did it need more? Heck no! I got my point across, and several people got their fair share of giggles. 

So, with my rambling out of the way... What goes into a short story? Contrary to my advice of wild and rampant writing with no concern for whether your britches are being held, thought is required. Not much, but some. I recommend sticking with the basics: a beginning, a middle, and an ending. Refrain from branching out potential avenues, lest you tread into novella/novel territory. 

Humble beginnings? More like crucial beginnings. This is the beast. The big game. This was my rambling earlier. What happened to pique your interest in creating a short story? Without the inspiration, you have nothing. Let's use... Oh, what's a good example? The too-tired bicycle dad joke! *dodges a thrown tomato* I was joking! Jeezums! In all seriousness, your beginning lays out the potential path to victory. Odds are you already know the ending, but you need to dissect the correct branch to form your middle. Trim the weeds, in this case, the audibles that speak for you to widen the story's length and winding road. Iron out the wrinkles of the chosen route that leads to the middle. 

Speaking of, we're skipping the middle for now. The ending is the easiest part of the battle. How will your tale finish? Does the hero overcome his adversary or problem? Are you going to pull a Game of Thrones and lop off his/her head? Is it a happy-ever-after with a smoking-hot beefcake? I know my preference. *cough* But remember this: once you set your ending, you must coordinate it and your beginning to craft your...

Middle! Oh, jeez. This can either be easy or challenging. Taking this year's Secret Author contest as an example, you have up to 30,000 words to use. What may be even more daunting is the concept of having one chapter to play with. Do you dare use every word at your disposal and create a lengthy document, or shall you cut it to make a precise piece? As an author, you must dance. Tango with the details long enough, and you lose your readers to repetitive boredom. Do the Lindy, and your readers will hop into the ending without realizing it. The key is placing your few plot points in proper beat to the rhythm of the short bop you're making. 

Aside from all of the, what some may consider goofy nonsense, the most critical advice I can give for short story creation is to have fun. We're authors. We write because we love to express ourselves. I adore writing shorts. They consist of subjects or ideas that I want to put out there but don't have the proper time or attention span to give them. Do those ideas deserve more tender, love, and care? Probably, but I also have to conserve my energy. If I exhaust myself with novels, I'll be on the floor gasping for air in a forest cabin with no WiFi and a typewriter. Short stories are also an exciting way to throw spitballs on a wall. Readers will comment and clamor for more from certain shorts than others. That can signal you, the author, to expand on a story universe, thus creating a beloved tale, novel, or even a series. 

For those who think they can't write a short story, I'm gonna poke you on the nose. You can do it. If some snot-nosed man-child from Banjoland, Kentucky can, you can. I found a home in writing novels. In the last year, I've popped out more short stories than I ever anticipated. I'm having an absolute blast! Toying with new ideas, giving dusty side characters new life, and experimenting with tones and emotions gives me writing energy. So, I'm challenging you, novel-exclusive authors. Make a story that resembles an elementary school science fair project. And if that paper-mache volcano explodes green goop instead of red, let it stain the gymnasium floor for all to enjoy for the years to come. In the end, you'll laugh and love it just as much as your readers. I promise you this.