Story in a week- Day 3

Write a short story in seven days

Follow our step-by-step programme to produce a finished, edited piece of creative writing in a week.

You can write a story of your own choosing or if you’d prefer set guidelines, we suggest a story between 2,000 and 2,500 words on one of the following themes: a journey; the moment that changed everything; an encounter with a stranger.

Day 3. Get plotting

Today’s task is plotting. It’s time to give your story a shape and a structure. How will it begin? What is its dramatic arc? How are you going to get your characters from the beginning to the end? How are you going to resolve the story’s central conflict? Think about how you are going to tackle the middle of your story. What is the ending?

Think about dialogue and how it will work in your story. Whether it reveals character or moves the plot along, whatever your characters say in your story needs to serve its purpose.

Aim to have a written plan of your story’s arc, and all the pivotal plot points, by the end of the day. Come back tomorrow for Day 4!