Short Fiction Friday: Tips for Writing Short Stories (guest post)
- C.C. King
- Oct 24
- 4 min read
Greetings, writers!
I’m thrilled to kick off a new series here on the blog—Short Fiction Friday, a monthly spotlight celebrating the art (and joy!) of short fiction.
As someone who loves reading and writing short stories, I can’t think of a better way to start than with today’s guest post from Rhea Thomas, author of Let Birds Fly, a collection of magical realist stories where the extraordinary glimmers just beneath everyday life. (And stay tuned—I’ll be sharing my full review of her collection this December!)
In her post below, Rhea shares practical, encouraging tips on writing short stories, from finding inspiration to trusting your first drafts, and why sometimes the best stories start with one surprising image.
If you’ve been wanting to write short fiction, or just need a nudge to return to it, this one’s for you. Let's dive in!
—CC
Tips for Writing Short Stories
by Rhea Thomas
I love the short story form. It’s a concise moment in time, feeling or experience that you jump into and then leave in a brief period of time. Because so little time (and words) are used, it needs to be powerful and pack a punch, and it’s a fun challenge to make that work in a short piece.
I’ve always been drawn to short stories. I figured if I could successfully figure out how to write short stories, then that would lead naturally to learning how to write novels. I thought that was the natural order of writing. (That’s incorrect. You can write whatever you want, whenever you want!) Neil Gaiman’s short story collections are what inspired a lot of my own magical realism stories in my published collection, Let Birds Fly.
To start writing a short story, I take a strong feeling or a captivating setting or an unexpected experience and exaggerate that and throw in a dash of magic as a roadblock or agent of change.
In other words, I start my stories in all different ways.
One story I wrote started with a strong character. I knew he was a hard worker in a digital marketing agency and accidentally bought hallucinogenic coffee that he brews at the office. Hijinks ensue.
Another story, I started with the setting. I was blown away by Santa Fe and knew I wanted to set a story there. I started by describing the casita on the hill, and eventually, I developed a character who was fleeing there for her mental health.
I had another story idea that started with someone unzipping their skin, and I realized that was an ending. I needed to determine the why and who behind someone who ended up doing this.
There are numerous articles and how-to guides on the internet offering short story writing tips. The best prep work you can do? Read a lot of short stories in different genres by different authors. See what works for you, what draws you in, what inspires you. Write what you want to read.
Then, the most important part … is to write. Don’t judge yourself, don’t edit as you go.
Just write down the story.
Vomit out the words. Keep going until it ends. Then you can go back and see what you have, maybe use all of it, or maybe just pull bits and pieces of it and go in another direction. No one has to read that first draft. It’s just for you, and it’s just a beginning. Expect several drafts and lots of editing. The story doesn’t come out perfectly the first time.
One of the things I love most about short stories is the sense of accomplishment and gratification of finishing something relatively quickly (say, a month or two) versus waiting several years to finish a novel. Both are satisfying and worth it, of course, but sometimes it’s really nice to finish something sooner rather than later.
I’m currently working on my first novel, and I have to pause occasionally and churn out a short story idea to feel that real sense of accomplishment before I return to the novel that has at least another year to go. That may not work for everyone, but it seems to be how I operate.
But no matter what you’re working on, keep writing and don’t give up. Work on that story percolating inside you.
—Rhea
About the Guest Blogger
Rhea Thomas lives in Austin, Texas where she works as a program manager in the digital media world. Her short stories have been published in multiple publications, including, most recently, The Fictional Café, Toasted Cheese, and Does It Have Pockets.
She spends her free time hoarding books, walking her stubborn Labrador retriever, playing games with her sons, kayaking and swimming in rivers, searching for mysteries and writing short stories that explore magical moments in the mundane. Her first book, a collection of short stories called Let Birds Fly, came out in August 2025, and she’s currently working on a literary mystery novel.
Connect with Rhea:
And, of course, you can pick up a copy of her collection, Let Birds Fly, through Main Street Rag or Goodreads.
Have thoughts on these tips or ideas of your own? Let Rhea and me know by commenting or sending me a note!
Peace & Plenty,
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