Authors of speculative short stories manage to present fully lived-in worlds while still delivering satisfying narratives and character complexity. How do they do it all in the span of several thousand words?

Bringing a character to life in any work of fiction is a difficult task, but the charge is even more challenging in short fiction, where the author has far fewer scenes and pages to make their characters feel alive. Here, I share some takeaways I gleaned from reading short stories with memorable characters.

Revision is a crucial step of the storytelling process, although the type of creativity we employ during this stage feels different than freewriting or drafting, and probably requires a different process. I tried out some revision techniques offered by Lynda Barry and Jeff VanderMeer, and was really pleased with the results!

Short stories are a great way for novelists to “cross-train” with their craft; I wrote a bunch of shorter pieces for my MFA program. But because these pieces are shorter, their openings have to be that much more enticing. Some takeaways from reading masters of the craft…