How to write a short story - National Centre for Writing

1. Be the Magpie

Gather shiny things. Shiny things for a writer include: your own memories. Interactions you have witnessed. Snippets of "found" dialogue or conversations you've overheard. Children can be a rich resource. So is eavesdropping. When observing an interaction, watch the space between the two: the tension or ease. Listen to what's unsaid. Collect images: maybe the excess of flamingos plugged into a neighbour's lawn, or a man walking his kitten. Comb the news for kooky, probably local, headlines. I wrote a story this way, after a missing tiger and two camels were found in an abandoned trailer.