How to Fan Your Short Story Idea Sparks into a Bright Fire

By Rayne Hall, @RayneHall

Part of the Focus on Short Fiction Series

JH: When you've trained yourself to think "big" when creating story ideas, it can be hard to think "short." Rayne Hall shares tips and questions on how to turns your idea sparks into stories.

How often have you thought, "I want to write a story about this”—and then waited for the muse to come? You may have visited an intriguing place, listened to a friend's marital vows, chuckled about a social media post, or heard about an astonishing true-life event. These ideas are like sparks, hot, bright and fascinating—but how do you get from idea to story, from a mere spark to a bright flame?

Staring at the spark, waiting for the muse to come and fan it into a fire, rarely works. The sparks die, and all that's left is a cold crumb of ember. To build a fire, you need tinder (crumpled newspaper, birch bark, cotton wool balls) which ignites when touched by a spark. Without tinder, you won't get a flame, and without a flame, you can't light the kindling which sets the logs on fire.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com