ESSAY: WRITING A SHORT STORY You have now completed a great deal of the work on your story and are ready to begin writing. Let the characters and scenes come alive in your mind; then you can begin to write.

OBJECTIVES
Write, evaluate, and revise a short story.
Instructions:
Write the first draft. Write rapidly for as long as you can, while the scenes and people are fresh in your mind. You may be able to finish only one incident, or you may be able to write the whole story at one sitting. When your thoughts begin to wander, take a break and return a little later. Try to write your way through the entire story before doing the revisions you are sure to need.

Leave your finished draft for a while!

Return later to reread your story draft. On this second try, you will find places where the writing is not clear, dull stretches where you must use more interesting language, and essential points of the plot that you have failed to include. Rewrite these passages as best you can.

Evaluate, revise, and edit: Use this checklist to locate the weaknesses in your story.

Are the characters believable and interesting?
Have I described the setting sufficiently, without too many details?
Is the plot clear with incidents in logical order?
Is the conflict clear to the reader?
Is the point of view the same throughout the story?
Is the conflict resolved at the climax?
Is the denouement brief and satisfying?
Does the dialogue sound natural?
Have I used colorful and interesting figures of speech and other descriptive words?
Is there variety in the sentence structure?
Is my intended theme clear to the reader?
I know this story is not perfect; is it the best I can do?
When you have made the desired revisions in content, check your latest draft for mechanical errors, such as misspelled words and faulty punctuation. When you are satisfied with both content and form, remember to proofread the story before submitting it for your teacher to grade. Your finished story should be at least 1,000 words long.