8 Fantasy Short Story Writing Tips YOU MUST KNOW!
Need to beef up your short story writing? Or want to make your next fantasy short story the best one yet?
In this video, I show you the 8 writing tips YOU MUST KNOW to help you do just that. So stick around.
These 8 steps I’m about to share are ones I use in every short story I write, including my book, TWINS OF SHADOW, which is three short stories made into one a novella.
Let’s dive in!
And remember, For the best fantasy writing advice, subscribe to my channel (Abby Arthur) and hit the bell to be notified when I post a new video every Tuesday!
1 Super High Stakes
You HAVE to have super high stakes – and I don’t mean death.
You can risk the character’s life, but that’s not going to make a deep connection between your character and your reader.
Life and death is risked all the time, so take it deeper.
For Example
Let’s look at Harry Potter by JK Rowling. Yes, Harry’s life is on the line because “He who shall not be named” is after him. But is that why we care about him? NO!
We care about Harry because he is an orphan and his aunt’s family treats him horribly, so we are sympathetic towards him. We also want to root for his freedom from their tyranny.
The steaks, therefore, become more than life and death, but the question of whether Harry will break free from his miserable life and have a better future.
Do you see how the deeper risk makes the “stakes” higher? This in turn makes YOU become interested and start to care about the story line? Your readers feel the same!
So the more depth you can put into what your character is risking, the more HIGH your stakes end up being.
2 Awesome Main Character
This doesn’t mean they have to be a superhero figure. It means there must be something about them that’s special
Some Examples:
A prince with a disability that makes it difficult for him to talk with people – (I’d like to know how he saves the kingdom despite THAT obstacle!)
A blacksmith’s daughter who wants to be a scholar, but instead is forced to learn the skills of the blade.
This special trait can be a magical power in addition to the character’s desires, abilities or lack thereof.
Bottom line, I’m telling you to veer away from cliché. If you’ve read about it before, don’t copy the character idea, give it your own twist!
I what to read what you come up with! Your imagination is phenomenal, so let it take you to the depths of your amazing, not cliché, character.
3 Absolutely No Pointless Descriptions
In short stories, you don’t have a lot of time to tell you story. Therefore, you should not waist your precious word count on pointless descriptions like the color of a flower and the texture of its petals.
You also don’t need to tell me everything your character is wearing or describe ever scar on their body.
Some character descriptions are acceptable. So let me show you an example of good and bad descriptions:
Good Example
“His purple eyes turned to the sky,” could work because it’s super quick and included in the actual text of the story.
Bad Example
“He had black hair and pale skin, dressed in clothes as black as night with a long sword strapped to his side. A deep scar cut across the side of his face. The expression he bore drove daggers into the hearts of whoever saw him.”
This is a chunk that would take up too much space in your precious short story. What you should do instead is this:
Describe your character’s physical qualities (hair, eyes, clothes, etc.) in a way that drives your story forward.
Give the briefest information your reader needs for the story to make sense.
Here’s how I’d change the bad example:
“His black hair blew in the wind as he swung his long sword towards the demon.”
… and then continue on with description scattered through the story. It doesn’t waist your word count and makes the story smooth like caramel. YUM!
In this area of ABSOLUTELY NO POINTLESS DESCRIPTIONS, what we said about describing a character goes the same for settings.
Don’t spend a full paragraph or two explain what the setting is. Show it as you reveal the epic plot your short story is about.
I say all of that with love and no harsh feelings, btw. Short stories are like a drill, so I apologize if I sound like a drill sergeant here.
Mastering this point will sharpen up your stories and make them much more professional. And you want to be professional! No mediocre here!
4 Use Magic
It may seem obvious, but just in case it wasn’t, I’m pointing it out here.
Have you ever read a fantasy story without magic?
It’s a must in our genera, and if you are labeling you short story as fantasy, your readers are EXPECTING magic, so please, don’t let them down!
On that note, comment below and tell me what your favorite type of magical powers is! Mwahaha! (Evil laugh, why did you sneak in there?)
My favorite power, btw, is invisibility. I’d be so cool to hide whenever I want and move objects to freak people out! (Sorry, evil side coming out again!)
Let’s check out point 5.
5 Don’t Use Too Many Characters
I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but remember, you only have a short amount of time to tell your story. (Hence the word short, right? 
