Components of a short story

1. Setting - geographical location, time, social setting, and a mood or atmosphere)
   
2. Plot - the sequence of events arranged with a beginning, middle and end. Characters are introduced, a catalyst for conflict enters the story, characters are challenged and react to the conflict that leads to a climax followed by a denouement or resolution. All stories need conflict. All characters need a reason to react. A conflict can be described as the character receives information, accepts the information and then reacts (makes a choice) about the information. Conflict can be internal and external.
   
3. Character - a character needs to be convincing
   
4. Point of view
   
5. Theme - the theme will not be stated plainly in the text but will be seen by the action of the characters
   
6. Show don't tell - a writer needs to show the reader by using imagery, tone of voice and sensory images.

Some tips:

• Start as close to the climax as possible
• The characters in a short story should be created by a writer, not discovered, borrowed or stolen from life. You will give them what they need to serve the purposes of your story
• In real life people may be thrown together in interesting or dramatic situations (such as a stalled lift) in which they all get along well without tension or conflict. In writing a story you will often create characters deliberately different and throw them into situations where these differences have to be worked through.
• In real life the scandalous surfaces of some people's lives create sensational headlines and stories that last for a day or a week and do not satisfy and are not remembered. The writer often looks more intimately at quieter moments in lives, or looks deeply into the intricate causes of unhappiness or happiness.
• What happens to your characters happens because you have planned it to happen, so that you can achieve a particular purpose in plotting or in character development.