Short Story Guidelines

1. Before you start your short story, you should develop an outline covering the beginning to the end of your story. This will help you in determining the direction of your story.
2. It is likely you will alter this outline as your story develops.
3. Try to pick characters, plots, and settings with which you are familiar. You may wish to pick an event in your life which made an impression on you; don’t hesitate to use the event changing the names, and places.
4. Most short stories have less than four characters, one plot, and no more than two settings.
5. It is recommended you develop your story in the following order:
   1. Introduce your characters and setting
   2. As you introduce the characters and setting, give some details about them (appearance, personality, what and where the setting is)
   3. Have a conflict occur ( this may be between characters, between a character and a force of nature, or between a character and his or her society)
   4. The conflict may be external (outside of the character), or it may be internal ( in the character’s mind)
   5. Have the conflict reach a climax ( this is a point of no return or where the events which have happened cannot be changed)
   6. Have a denouement which is the falling action which leads to a resolution of the conflict
   7. Have the conflict resolved
6. You should have your paper typed using a font of 12 and be doubled spaced; it should be no less than eight pages. If, however, you need to write the paper in long hand, it should be no less than nine doubled spaced pages long.
7. The paper is due at the end of the first week in January (January 6, 2012). You will receive three test grades for this assignment. If the story is turned on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (November 23rd), you will receive an additional 50 points added to each test grade. If you turn the story in the day before Christmas break, you will receive an additional 25 points added to each test grade.