How to Tell Any Story in 500 Words

chillibreeze writer — N G Kesari

Ponder over what you want to write. The plot has to be simple. Get as much information as possible beforehand and write them all down in a book. Single words, sentences and whatever that comes to your mind, put it down all there. You will later on be using only some of these points gathered. If you are writing a love story, be warned that a love triangle will be too complicated to deal with in the limited size. Boy chasing girl around a tree in Bollywood style is manageable, but a third person throwing a spanner in the works will complicate the story. In case you’re stumped about how to carry the plot through do not be disheartened. Put your book aside or switch off that computer and come back to it later on. You’ll be surprised about how easily the plot will take shape this time around.

Your story should be like a Limerick. A Limerick is a poem with 5 lines that has amazing brevity in ‘telling a telling tale’. I remember reading the following limericks a long time ago:

There was a man called Bright
Who could travel faster than light
He set out one day
In an Einsteinian way
And came back the previous night!

I sat next to the Duchess at tea
It was as I thought it would be
Her rumblings abdominal
Were truly phenomenal
And everyone thought it was me!

See, it has all the elements of a good short story. Has a beginning (or an introduction) that arouses the interest of the reader, a good body or middle that describes the exploits and then the clincher. A good beginning is a must. It must capture the interest of the reader from the first sentence itself forcing him to carry on right till the end.

The body of your story will not be as short as this. Do not use two words where only one will do. Use a matter of fact language and cut out the flowery and verbose matter. The ending is all left to you. You could end it on a happy or a sad note or on one that leaves the reader guessing. Going back to Limericks again, here are two that I wrote myself:

There was a tall man called Kesaree
Who desired to write a short storee
He picked up a pen and paper
And there ended the matter
He suffered from writer's block, you see.

There was a tall man called Kesari
Who desired to write a short story
He picked up a pen and paper
And there ended the matter
For what he wrote is still a mystery.

Your first draft will certainly not be the last. You will be writing and rewriting many times over till you are satisfied about the turn-out. Take heart that no writer has ever written a first copy that was published as such.

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Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in April, 2011. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

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—About our writer:

Kesari has a bachelors degree in Science as well as in Electronics Engineering. He was with the Defence R&D Organization for 20 years before he quit to start out on his own. He has wide experience in designing and developing medical electronics equipment and now manufactures surgical diathermy units and traction units for physiotherapy. He has a good sense of humour and writes on topics that catch his fancy. He is based in Bangalore, India.

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