This document provides guidance on writing short fiction. It discusses key elements of fiction like plot, characters, point-of-view, setting and theme. It also offers tips on starting with flash fiction or very short stories and recommends masters of the form like Chekhov, Hemingway and O. Henry. The document encourages beginning writers to practice the craft, submit their work, enter contests and read other short fiction writers.

1. Writing Short Fiction
A Workshop for Beginning Writers
By Dominique Gerald M. Cimafranca
villageidiotsavant.blogspot.com
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Philippines
License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ph/ or send
a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

3. “Story is the
basic unit of
human thought.”

4. “Fiction is not the opposite
of Truth; the opposite of
Fiction is Fact.
“Good Fiction contains
an element of Truth.”

5. “Truth is a matter of
the Imagination.”

6. Elements of Fiction
Plot
Characters
Point-of-View
Setting
Theme
Style

7. Start with a
Character...
...throw her into a
Situation...
...then Complicate things...

8. Kurt Vonnegut Jr. on Writing
Give the reader at least one character he or she
can root for.
Every character should want something,
even if it is only a glass of water.
Every sentence must do one of two things—reveal
character or advance the action.
Start as close to the end as possible.

9. Take a hint from poetry
Image
&
Metaphor

10. Starting with Flash Fiction
...fiction of extreme brevity...
...300 to 1,000 words...
...sometimes even less...
...55 Fiction (55 words)
...Drabble (100 words)
...69er (69 words)
...or even just six words...

11. Attributed to Hemingway
“For sale:
baby shoes,
never worn.”

12. Very Short Stories (Wired Magazine)
“Longed for him. Got him. Shit.”
--Margaret Atwood
“The baby's blood type? Human, mostly.”
--Orson Scott Card
“Computer? Did we bring batteries? Computer?”
--Eileen Gunn
“Leia: 'Baby's yours.' Luke: 'Bad news...'”
--Steven Meretzky

13. Dancer by Dominique Cimafranca
She cut the dance floor like an arc welder through sheet
metal. Danny stared, goggle-eyed. "She's a goddess,
man!"
"Want her number?" I offered.
"You know her?"
"Classmates in high school."
Danny's jaw dropped. The dude was ecstatic.
Then, realization hit him like a brick: "Didn't you go to
an all-boys' school?"

14. Memories of Mother by Dominique Cimafranca
"Why do you spend so much time making that? Can't you just buy it from Aling
Siony?"
Carding always asks me that question each time I go through my weekly ritual. It's
not so much petulance, I think, as it is concern. Boiling rice over our woodfire
stove, pounding ginger, adding a dash of chocolate and pinipig.... It's a long
process, molded by years of tradition.
I say nothing, though, I only smile, and Carding shuffles off to another household
chore, as if to show what else I could be doing. I calmly wrap the rice in the
banana leaves and put it in the clay pot.
But I know in an hour's time, when the fragrance of the sticky rice wafts through
the house, his mood will mellow down. When I remove my work of art from the
pot, he will be at the table waiting silently.
Then he will say: "Ah, Neneng, this brings back memories of mother you know. Aling
Siony could never really get it right."
And I know it will all have been worthwhile. Suman latik, just like mother used to
make.

15. Exercise
Write a flash fiction
story. (Were you expecting
something else?)

16. Need ideas? Some prompts...
The last time I saw Momoy, he was pushing a junk-laden
kariton down the alley; today, he rode in the back seat
of a chauffered Mercedes.
“Honey...the rubber broke...”
“Di' na JUD ko mo-usab!” nagtiyabaw si Linda.
“Mahal kita, pero...”

17. Next steps
Submit your stories!
http://dagmay.kom.ph is a good start
Join contests! Workshops!
See http://deadline.kom.ph,
join the Young Davao Writers mailing list
Read! Especially the masters of short fiction
Write! Practice makes perfect

18. Masters of Short Fiction
Anton Chekhov
Ernest Hemingway
O. Henry Ray Bradbury
Chinua Achebe
Guy de Maupassant

20. Writing Short Fiction
A Workshop for Beginning Writers
By Dominique Gerald M. Cimafranca
villageidiotsavant.blogspot.com
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Philippines
License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ph/ or send
a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.