How to Do Character in 5,000 Words or Less

Short stories are just that—short. Which makes everything harder, because you don’t have infinite words and pages to flesh out every aspect of your story. Character work is one of the biggest challenges, because you have to find ways to establish your characters and make them feel real with just a few lines. There are some specific strategies you can use to accomplish this quickly: 1. Noodle incidents; 2. Illustrative moments; 3. Phrasing!; 4. The Artful Use of Telling.

Instructor: 

Jeff Somers

Jeff’s published over thirty short stories as well; his story “Sift, Almost Invisible, Through” appeared in the anthology Crimes by Moonlight, published by Berkley Hardcover and edited by Charlaine Harris and his story “Ringing the Changes” was selected for Best American Mystery Stories 2006. He survives on the nickels and quarters he regularly finds behind his ears, his guitar playing is a plague upon his household, and his lovely wife The Duchess is convinced he would wither and die if left to his own devices, but this is only half true.