Why You Need A Short Story Checklist

So you’ve finished writing your short story, but you’re not sure if it’s good enough. In this post, we discuss why you need a short story checklist.

Why You Need A Short Story Checklist

I can still remember the first short story I wrote and submitted. I was terrified. The whole idea of sharing my story, my writing, with other people was debilitating.

I even put off finishing my stories so that I wouldn’t have to show them to anyone, and, when I finally did finish a story, I hid it away and didn’t tell a soul. Eventually, I came to realise that if I wanted to be a writer I had to start sharing my work.

How I Created The Checklist

I had spent hours reading and researching short stories. I wanted my story to be perfect (they were anything but), but the more I wrote the more I started figuring out what I had to do to write short stories. I started creating a checklist.

Along the way, I was lucky enough to win a major short story competition – The Mills&Boon Voice of Africa.

Years later, I still love short stories. They are my passion. I have even created a website and on online community for short story writers. I have spent hours writing them and this checklist is a tool I use to make sure I’ve not lost the plot. Literally.

This isn’t a rigid list of rules that you must use. I am a great believer in ‘to each to his own’ when it comes to writing, but it does help to have a framework to refer to before submitting. A framework I wish I had when I first started.

The checklist grew and became a class that became the Short Story Checklist Workbook.

How It Will Help You

1. This workbook will help you identify what is missing in your short story.
2. It’ll help you figure out what to cut.
3. It’ll help you decide how much story you need.
4. It’ll give you an overview of the art of the short story.
5. It becomes an evaluation tool for your (and other writers’) stories.

The workbook explains each step. It is broken down into 29 sections.

With the workbook, you receive a downloadable version of the checklist to print as many times as you need it.

I have used it for flash fiction, stories of 2000 words, and stories of 6000 words. It works for all of them.

Buy it now: Short Story Checklist Workbook

 by Mia Botha

If you enjoyed this post, you will love:

1. The Appraisal
2. The Final Draft & Rewriting
3. 31 Writing Prompts For August 2020
4. 12 More Reasons To Write Short Stories
5. 30 Writing Prompts For June 2020
6. Do You Need A Writing Coach?

LOOK: If you want to learn how to write a short story, click here: How To Write A Short Story