Short stories are as appreciated as full-length novels. Well-written short stories always find the right audience of readership. The subjects of short stories may be biographical, non-fiction, opinion pieces, historical or fiction. Writing short stories requires planning. The most important issue is to define the genre in which it will be written. Biographical short stories require research on the subject's life and the basis of their importance. The same is true of historical pieces where the research of dates, important characters and other specific historical factors are critical to accuracy and overall presentation. Nothing is more embarrassing to a writer than a historical piece that is inaccurate. It can create a black eye with editors and potential editors.

The Importance of Short Literary Stories

Many writers of short literary stories do so as a means of introducing their style and genre. Literary shorts help develop readership where a full manuscript may take a longer amount of time to reach publication and arouse reader appeal.

How To Write Short Stories

The simplest lesson in writing short stories is to write what is most familiar. Find an interesting anecdote, subject, or locale and simply write a short essay on the topic. Some writers prefer to preface writing with an outline. This is extremely helpful for full-length novels and makes a short literary piece easy to organize. Set the word length that will be written before and stick to it. Short stories are rarely more than 1500 words in length. For beginners, reduce that to 500. Anyone can write 500 words when the topic is planned and an outline is followed. Beginners can start with a family event such as a birthday, anniversary or other celebrations.

"Tightening Up" Your Writing

Once the work of writing is completed, the real work of editing begins. Spell-check every word, be certain it is grammatically correct. This is simple to do now that most word processors include a grammar checking mode. Make sure that paragraphs begin with each new thought apart from the previous. Next, read the short story as if you are a reader, not a writer. Be as objective as a reader would be. This helps determine reader interest.

Young Writers Cup Contest Now Accepting Submissions
The Great Little Publishing Company is encouraging writers, from elementary school age through high school, to submit their poems, short stories and short novels by September 15, 2010 to www.greatlittlepublishing.com/young-writers-contest. Grand prize winners will receive an Apple iPod and have their entire book professionally edited and published.

Short Stories Woven With Ghanaian Cultural Values
Author’s Engaging Short Story Collection is Ideal for Schools and Libraries of All Kinds

Audio Publisher Sniplits Names Chicago Actor Narrator of the Year
Sniplits' audio short story listeners have selected Chicago actor Kailey Bell as the audio publisher’s first Narrator of the Year. Sniplits launched the program to mark its second year of publishing audio short stories by authors from around the world.