In the last two articles in the Crafting A Short Story series, I discussed plot and character development. In the next two articles, I will be piecing it all together. I’ll go step by step through the process of drafting a 1000 word short story. When I write a draft in real time, I’m not generally this organized, but for the sake of being coherent, I will break down each part into segments. I’ll be piecing it all together at the end so you can see the final result. Which in this case is just the first draft. The goal here isn’t a polished piece, but a whole story.

Step One: Just Start Writing

I’ve got my story and character arcs ready to go. I have my inciting incident, my climax, my resolution, my complex struggles. Now it’s time to begin. The first few sentences of a first draft can always be edited if they don’t work. Remember that the goal is to write a whole story. Here we go.

INCITING INCIDENT

This was the moment.

I stared at the metal tray accepting applications for Valedictorian. From its place on top of the school secretary’s desk, squished between file folders and incident reports, it didn’t look like much. But wondrous things were often hidden in mundane, unlikely places.

My eyes lingered on my name, written neatly at the top right corner of the newest application.

Amy J. Warren.

My fingers still held the white corner of one of the five pages. Whether it was fear, or a whisper of intuition, I’ll never know for sure. I exhaled and walked away.

SETUP

If I could describe myself in one word it would be determined. I’ve never backed down from a challenge. When Gerald Baker told me girls couldn’t dunk, I joined the sixth grade all stars team and proved him wrong. I was the first African American cheer captain for my high school last year. This year my best friend Candice Williams (correction, ex-best friend) became the second.

You name it, I’ve done it and won it. Beauty pageants, service awards, honor society, the list goes on. There’s nothing I can’t do. Not if I’m determined to do it.

So when Mom’s new boyfriend told her Mimley High would never let a black girl become valedictorian, I took it as a personal challenge.

Step Two: Write the meat of the story

Take a break, read what you’ve written, then start working on the juicy parts of your story. Those troublesome challenges can enter one by one or all at once, but all together they represent the rising action, or buildup of your story.

RISING ACTION (INTRODUCE CHALLENGES/OBSTACLES)

I had a plan. Executed in three simple steps, I was sure I’d win the Valedictory title.

Step one: Alter my extracurriculars. Mimley High’s Valedictorian was selected by the student body. That meant I needed to maximize my visibility and cut off dead weight. Goodbye debate team, hello Spring Musical.

Step Two: Activate my assets. If I was going to win hearts, I needed to use everything at my disposal. Brains, beauty, soft, bouncy curls. Head turning smiles and just the right balance of compliments.

Step Three: Annihilate the competition. There were six other applications in that tray. Two of them would be disqualified by their grades alone. That left four enemies.

“Hey there, Amy.”

My “fake” meter leveled up as soon as I heard Enemy #1’s squealy voice. Sasha Turner won first place in the microaggression awards in all of our interactions.

“Heard it’s supposed to rain after school today.” Sasha motioned to my curls and wrinkled her nose. “Isn’t that gonna be a problem for you?”

If I’d been more than a meter from the office, I might have blessed her with a finger. But petty arguments wouldn’t win me the highest honor offered at Mimley high, and people were watching.

I swung my curls and sashayed to Spanish class, making sure I smiled at everyone I passed. Senora Gomez announced a pop quiz as I slid into my chair, but I wasn’t phased. Spanish was my specialidad. I finished first, settling my paper on her desk before excusing myself to study hall.

On my way, I passed Mr. Franz, the creative arts teacher and director of the spring musical. He stood on a stool, taping the audition results to the wall.

“Hey, Mr. Franz! Can I take a peek?”

As expected, I took the lead. Candice would be my understudy. Poetic justice. I continued on to study hall, then three more AP classes before the long ride home.

My neighborhood was ten miles south of Mimley High. It took two buses to get back and forth. Every day began at four, and I usually got home by six, earlier on the days I didn’t have after school activities.

I hopped off at my stop and grabbed a snack from the corner store. Mr. Edwards greeted me at the register with a grin. He’d been around since my dad was a kid.

“Afternoon Miss Warren. Did you put in the Valley application today?”

I smiled at him. Mom must have been running her mouth. “Yes sir, I did.”

He laughed, then added a pair of lollipops to my chips and water. “Want you to know we’re all rooting for you.”

I thanked him and headed home, noting a change in the air. Everywhere I looked, people smiled at me, shook my hand, or patted my shoulder. Old Mrs. Hubert gave me a whole dollar as I passed through the security door to our apartment complex.

“That’s our girl!” she shouted.

I lifted my head a little higher.

Take a break and reread what you’ve written. Check to see if you’re still in alignment with your plot points and character development. Adjust as needed. I’ll be working on the final steps in the next article, Piecing It All Together, Pt 2. By the end, the first draft will be complete. For now, keep piecing together that short story.

That’s my Write or Die Advice. Happy piecing.