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Where You Can Publish Short Stories Online Easily And For Free

Where To Publish Short Stories

Are you wondering where to publish short stories online?

You can find sites that accept short stories, but many have strict submission guidelines. Some don’t allow simultaneous submissions and only accept specific genres of short fiction.

If you are a short story writer and want to publish your work online, you want an easier way.

There are quite a few online writing platforms where you can publish short fiction and nonfiction stories for free and without all the hassle.

11 Sites where you can publish short stories online

Here are ten options for you to quickly and easily post and publish your short stories online.

All of them will help you find readers for your work and get feedback on your writing.

When you start writing, you want people to read it.

But waiting around for literary journals or a literary magazine to accept your submission is time-consuming.

You want a quick and easy way to publish your writing.

The sites I have listed below accept all styles and genres of short stories.

You might be writing romance, science fiction, speculative fiction, or creative nonfiction.

Whatever your style or genre , you can post your short stories immediately and for free.

Take a look and see which options are going to be the best for you.

Let’s get started.

1. Commaful

commaful publish short stories online

I have to start with Commaful for short stories because the site is just gorgeous.

It is a hugely popular site.

Because of this,  you’re bound to get a lot of interaction from readers.

There is no restriction on previously published work.

So it’s possible to use a short story to promote your other work.

You can even promote a book you published.

The best feature of Commaful is that you can publish picture book stories.

You can be creative with images to attract attention to your writing.

picture book short stories

You can let your imagination run wild.

With a little practice, you can create page-turning stories for your readers.

Take a look and see why it’s a popular choice to publish short stories online.

2. The Young Writers Society

The Young Writers Society

Are you looking for a writing site with an active community? If so, The Young Writers Society might be an option.

The site is well-organized for writers and readers. It is ideal for young writers and features a lot of new short stories.

You can participate in forums to discuss aspects of your writing with other writers.

The site has an extensive FAQ page to help you.

Have a browse of the site and see if it’s an option for you to publish your writing online.

wattpad media

You probably know about Wattpad, which has been the launching pad for a lot of published writers.

But there is a special section in Wattpad for short stories .

Every day there are newly published stories, and you can see from the stats that there is a lot of user interaction.

You can publish any type of story, from a personal essay to teen fiction to literary fiction. When there are so many active users, it’s a great place to start publishing your stories.

medium logo

You probably associate Medium with articles and content marketing.

However, there is a huge selection of Medium short stories.

Because it is such a popular platform, it gives you an excellent opportunity to share your writing.

Another great thing about Medium is that it is so quick and easy to publish your work.

booksie short stories online

It’s not quite as pretty as some other sites, but it has a large following of readers and writers.

This makes Booksie for short stories an obvious choice to help you promote your writing.

Once you register, you are ready to go.

6. StoryWrite

storywrite

I included this site in my list because StoryWrite specializes in short stories .

However, judging by the lack of likes on recently published stories, the site may not be very active.

But it might be worth a look.

7. Story Star

story star online short stories

This might be a site more suited to younger writers.

But Story Star for short stories looks like it might work if you can match what readers are looking for.

It’s a little lacking in style, but it’s an easy site to navigate.

Tumblr Logo

When you think of Tumblr, you probably associate it with being a blogging platform.

However, there is a vibrant community of short story writers on Tumblr .

The beauty of the platform is how easy it is to set up an account and start posting or reblogging your stories in a flash.

You have no restrictions on word count, genre, or even how often you post.

Take a look and get started.

quotev

Quotev is a very active site for publishing stories in a variety of genres, including fanfiction.

It’s probably a little more teen-focused than other platforms.

But well worth a look if you are trying to find readers.

There are also quizzes and surveys.

10. Archive of Our Own

archive of our own

It certainly is not the most attractive website around.

But Archive of Our Own makes up for it with a huge database of writing and related posts and articles.

The structure of the site is a little challenging to navigate. But the search function works well to find what you are looking for.

It’s not at the top of my list, but it might suit you if you are into fan fiction.

11. Start a free blog for your short stories

free blogs

Of course, there is one last option you might want to consider for publishing your short stories online.

Starting your own blog for your writing means you are in control. Once you set up your blog, you can get comments from your readers and build relationships.

Another benefit is that you can share your short story posts on social media to create more buzz about your writing.

You don’t need to spend a cent to start your writing blog. You can choose from many free blogging platforms .

But my recommendation would be WordPress as the best choice. The free version is all you need.

But if you find it a bit technical, Wix has a simple drag-and-drop interface that is easy to use, and the free version offers everything you need in a blog.

Lastly, there is Google’s Blogger. It’s been around for a long, long time, so it looks a bit old-fashioned.

But it has a huge community, so it’s a great way to interact with other users, bloggers, and fellow writers.

If you love writing short stories and want to share them with the world, there’s nothing to stop you.

You don’t need to wait around for publishers to accept your submissions and then be in a long line to have your stories published.

There’s nothing to stop you from publishing your stories online in an instant. That means you are in control and can use your writing in any way you wish.

Don’t forget that you also have the option to self-publish your short stories if you want to earn money from ebook sales.

Perhaps you are writing a book and want to use your short stories to attract readers. Another option is to link your story sites to your social media accounts.

There are so many possibilities for you to try.

But of course, make sure you check your writing before you publish your stories.

Related reading: Free Sites Where You Can Publish Poetry Online

About The Author

Avatar for Derek Haines

Derek Haines

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21 thoughts on “where you can publish short stories online easily and for free”.

Avatar for Pamela Weaver

Thank you for being so helpful with this comprehensive information. WOW!

Avatar for Dafny Anessa Guiali

Thank you so much for this! I have lots of drafts and I’m just looking for a site where I can post this writing hobby and share it with others.

Avatar for Daniel Renuart

Hi! I’m doing some research about the sites you mention. I was wondering if there are sites accepting short stories with adult containt, as obviously these stories can’t be shared with young readers.

Avatar for Derek Haines

Adult content is usually a problem on open sites like these, Daniel.

You will need to hunt the web for sharing sites that might accept adult content.

Avatar for Wendy kegley

What is the limit on how many words I can are can not have.

I’m not sure these sites have strict word limits, Wendy.

But in general, short stories are usually 1,000 words or more.

Avatar for Patience Ikhayere

i would like to publish my short stories . Can you please give me advice on how to do this ? i rang yesterday and was told that i should upload on ‘file assessment’. Can you please help

Avatar for Daniela

Which app is better for post a story? How many line I can make my story ? Can my story can be happy and sad and put a little drama

Avatar for Emma

Do you lose rights to a story when you post it on these websites?

Generally no, Emma. Most of these sites do not ask for the rights to your work.

But you can check the FAQs or conditions on each site to be sure.

Avatar for Nthabiseng

Am looking for someone who can help me to publish my stories.even if someone who can be my editor.

Avatar for Clinton Narzary

Can I write single short story

Avatar for Wayne Haning

Finally a great article that isn’t misleading in its title. Thank you for writing this. _Wayne

Avatar for Emma

it’s my first time here I’m learning so much about publishing my stories

Avatar for Viola Maria Nalunkuma

I want to start writing but when it comes to giving chapter titles, problem .

Avatar for Valerie haberland

I have wrote a small true story it’s in England when I was born to 11 I just want for my family to be handed down

Avatar for H. James Harrington

I’m trying to find a copy of the form that I need to fill out when making a comment on the book I bought from Amazon. Can you send me a copy of the form I should be using.

Go to the book on Amazon. You can post a review on that page.

Avatar for Mounika

Which app is better for post a story? I can’t find out!

Avatar for Mary

Hi, I was wondering if on Commaful, is it possible to share the stories you post throughout your social media accounts or website? I’m trying to decide on one of these platforms and making my own site as long as I don’t have to post multiple times.

Yes, there’s a share button on each story. It’s small, but look at the bottom of a story and you’ll see it.

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Generate thousands of unique stories using our ultimate story generator. Just enter some words about your story, and press the 'Generate Story' button. You can create a unique story within minutes to share with your friends. Writing stories has never been so easy! Try out our story generator and step-by-step story maker tool now!

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Story starters are a brilliant way to fix blank page syndrome (or writer's block). Did you know that 67% of authors say the most challenging part of writing is starting their story? We have thousands of story starters to get you writing in no time! And that's not all, if you're still stuck for inspiration we even have a ton of artwork to inspire you.

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Yes. Imagine Forest is 100% free. There are no additional costs or subscription fees. All features you see on the site are fully available for free.

How do you use Imagine forest?

To use Imagine Forest simply explore the site or click the 'Create a Story' button at the top of this page to access the story creator. Once inside the story creator, you can select the type of story you want to write and continue following the on-screen instructions. At the end, you can download a PDF of your book. You can also explore the rest of the site to find some interesting activities and writing resources to help you become a better story writer.

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Is it possible to upload my own images?

At this moment in time, no it is not possible to upload your own images in the story creator tool. We may bring this feature in the future. The purpose of Imagine Forest is to guide you on how to write a good story. It is an educational tool for helping beginners write stories and poems. We do however provide a huge built-in library of photos, and illustrations to use. You can also request more specific images by contacting our team .

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Last updated on Oct 29, 2023

How to Write a Short Story in 9 Simple Steps

This post is written by UK writer Robert Grossmith. His short stories have been widely anthologized, including in The Time Out Book of London Short Stories , The Best of Best Short Stories , and The Penguin Book of First World War Stories . You  can collaborate with him on your own short stories here on Reedsy .  

The joy of writing short stories is, in many ways, tied to its limitations.  Developing characters, conflict, and a premise within a few pages is a thrilling challenge that many writers relish — even after they've "graduated" to long-form fiction.

In this article, I’ll take you through the process of writing a short story, from idea conception to the final draft.

How to write a short story:

1. Know what a short story is versus a novel

2. pick a simple, central premise, 3. build a small but distinct cast of characters, 4. begin writing close to the end, 5. shut out your internal editor, 6. finish the first draft, 7. edit the short story, 8. share the story with beta readers, 9. submit the short story to publications.

But first, let’s talk about what makes a short story different from a novel. 

The simple answer to this question, of course, is that the short story is shorter than the novel, usually coming in at between, say, 1,000-15,000 words. Any shorter and you’re into flash fiction territory. Any longer and you’re approaching novella length . 

As far as other features are concerned, it’s easier to define the short story by what it lacks compared to the novel . For example, the short story usually has:

  • fewer characters than a novel
  • a single point of view, either first person or third person
  • a single storyline without subplots
  • less in the way of back story or exposition than a novel

If backstory is needed at all, it should come late in the story and be kept to a minimum.

It’s worth remembering too that some of the best short stories consist of a single dramatic episode in the form of a vignette or epiphany.

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A short story can begin life in all sorts of ways.

It may be suggested by a simple but powerful image that imprints itself on the mind. It may derive from the contemplation of a particular character type — someone you know perhaps — that you’re keen to understand and explore. It may arise out of a memorable incident in your own life.

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For example:

  • Kafka began “The Metamorphosis” with the intuition that a premise in which the protagonist wakes one morning to find he’s been transformed into a giant insect would allow him to explore questions about human relationships and the human condition.
  • Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” takes the basic idea of a lowly clerk who decides he will no longer do anything he doesn’t personally wish to do, and turns it into a multi-layered tale capable of a variety of interpretations.

When I look back on some of my own short stories, I find a similar dynamic at work: a simple originating idea slowly expands to become something more nuanced and less formulaic. 

So how do you find this “first heartbeat” of your own short story? Here are several ways to do so. 

Experiment with writing prompts

Eagle-eyed readers will notice that the story premises mentioned above actually have a great deal in common with writing prompts like the ones put forward each week in Reedsy’s short story competition . Try it out! These prompts are often themed in a way that’s designed to narrow the focus for the writer so that one isn’t confronted with a completely blank canvas.

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Turn to the originals

Take a story or novel you admire and think about how you might rework it, changing a key element. (“Pride and Prejudice and Vampires” is perhaps an extreme product of this exercise.) It doesn’t matter that your proposed reworking will probably never amount to more than a skimpy mental reimagining — it may well throw up collateral narrative possibilities along the way.

Keep a notebook

Finally, keep a notebook in which to jot down stray observations and story ideas whenever they occur to you. Again, most of what you write will be stuff you never return to, and it may even fail to make sense when you reread it. But lurking among the dross may be that one rough diamond that makes all the rest worthwhile. 

Like I mentioned earlier, short stories usually contain far fewer characters than novels. Readers also need to know far less about the characters in a short story than we do in a novel (sometimes it’s the lack of information about a particular character in a story that adds to the mystery surrounding them, making them more compelling).

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Yet it remains the case that creating memorable characters should be one of your principal goals. Think of your own family, friends and colleagues. Do you ever get them confused with one another? Probably not. 

Your dramatis personae should be just as easily distinguishable from one another, either through their appearance, behavior, speech patterns, or some other unique trait. If you find yourself struggling, a character profile template like the one you can download for free below is particularly helpful in this stage of writing.   

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Reedsy’s Character Profile Template

A story is only as strong as its characters. Fill this out to develop yours.

  • “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman features a cast of two: the narrator and her husband. How does Gilman give her narrator uniquely identifying features?
  • “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe features a cast of three: the narrator, the old man, and the police. How does Poe use speech patterns in dialogue and within the text itself to convey important information about the narrator?
  • “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor is perhaps an exception: its cast of characters amounts to a whopping (for a short story) nine. How does she introduce each character? In what way does she make each character, in particular The Misfit, distinct?

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He’s right: avoid the preliminary exposition or extended scene-setting. Begin your story by plunging straight into the heart of the action. What most readers want from a story is drama and conflict, and this is often best achieved by beginning in media res . You have no time to waste in a short story. The first sentence of your story is crucial, and needs to grab the reader’s attention to make them want to read on. 

One way to do this is to write an opening sentence that makes the reader ask questions. For example, Kingsley Amis once said, tongue-in-cheek, that in the future he would only read novels that began with the words: “A shot rang out.”

This simple sentence is actually quite telling. It introduces the stakes: there’s an immediate element of physical danger, and therefore jeopardy for someone. But it also raises questions that the reader will want answered. Who fired the shot? Who or what were they aiming at, and why? Where is this happening?

We read fiction for the most part to get answers to questions. For example, if you begin your story with a character who behaves in an unexpected way, the reader will want to know why he or she is behaving like this. What motivates their unusual behavior? Do they know that what they’re doing or saying is odd? Do they perhaps have something to hide? Can we trust this character? 

As the author, you can answer these questions later (that is, answer them dramatically rather than through exposition). But since we’re speaking of the beginning of a story, at the moment it’s enough simply to deliver an opening sentence that piques the reader’s curiosity, raises questions, and keeps them reading.

“Anything goes” should be your maxim when embarking on your first draft. 

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How to Craft a Killer Short Story

From pacing to character development, master the elements of short fiction.

By that, I mean: kill the editor in your head and give your imagination free rein. Remember, you’re beginning with a blank page. Anything you put down will be an improvement on what’s currently there, which is nothing. And there’s a prescription for any obstacle you might encounter at this stage of writing. 

  • Worried that you’re overwriting? Don’t worry. It’s easier to cut material in later drafts once you’ve sketched out the whole story. 
  • Got stuck, but know what happens later? Leave a gap. There’s no necessity to write the story sequentially. You can always come back and fill in the gap once the rest of the story is complete. 
  • Have a half-developed scene that’s hard for you to get onto the page? Write it in note form for the time being. You might find that it relieves the pressure of having to write in complete sentences from the get-go.

Most of my stories were begun with no idea of their eventual destination, but merely an approximate direction of travel. To put it another way, I’m a ‘pantser’ (flying by the seat of my pants, making it up as I go along) rather than a planner. There is, of course, no right way to write your first draft. What matters is that you have a first draft on your hands at the end of the day. 

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the ending of a short story : it can rescue an inferior story or ruin an otherwise superior one. 

If you’re a planner, you will already know the broad outlines of the ending. If you’re a pantser like me, you won’t — though you’ll hope that a number of possible endings will have occurred to you in the course of writing and rewriting the story! 

In both cases, keep in mind that what you’re after is an ending that’s true to the internal logic of the story without being obvious or predictable. What you want to avoid is an ending that evokes one of two reactions:

  • “Is that it?” aka “The author has failed to resolve the questions raised by the story.”
  • “WTF!” aka “This ending is simply confusing.”

Like Truman Capote said, “Good writing is rewriting.”

Once you have a first draft, the real work begins. This is when you move things around, tightening the nuts and bolts of the piece to make sure it holds together and resembles the shape it took in your mind when you first conceived it. 

In most cases, this means reading through your first draft again (and again). In this stage of editing , think to yourself:

  • Which narrative threads are already in place?
  • Which may need to be added or developed further?
  • Which need to perhaps be eliminated altogether?

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All that’s left afterward is the final polish . Here’s where you interrogate every word, every sentence, to make sure it’s earned its place in the story:

  • Is that really what I mean?
  • Could I have said that better?
  • Have I used that word correctly?
  • Is that sentence too long?
  • Have I removed any clichés? 

Trust me: this can be the most satisfying part of the writing process. The heavy lifting is done, the walls have been painted, the furniture is in place. All you have to do now is hang a few pictures, plump the cushions and put some flowers in a vase.

Eventually, you may reach a point where you’ve reread and rewritten your story so many times that you simply can’t bear to look at it again. If this happens, put the story aside and try to forget about it.

When you do finally return to it, weeks or even months later, you’ll probably be surprised at how the intervening period has allowed you to see the story with a fresh pair of eyes. And whereas it might have felt like removing one of your own internal organs to cut such a sentence or paragraph before, now it feels like a liberation. 

The story, you can see, is better as a result. It was only your bloated appendix you removed, not a vital organ.

It’s at this point that you should call on the services of beta readers if you have them. This can be a daunting prospect: what if the response is less enthusiastic than you’re hoping for? But think about it this way: if you’re expecting complete strangers to read and enjoy your story, then you shouldn’t be afraid of trying it out first on a more sympathetic audience. 

This is also why I’d suggest delaying this stage of the writing process until you feel sure your story is complete. It’s one thing to ask a friend to read and comment on your new story. It’s quite another thing to return to them sometime later with, “I’ve made some changes to the story — would you mind reading it again?”

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So how do you know your story’s really finished? This is a question that people have put to me. My reply tends to be: I know the story’s finished when I can’t see how to make it any better.

This is when you can finally put down your pencil (or keyboard), rest content with your work for a few days, then submit it so that people can read your work. And you can start with this directory of literary magazines once you're at this step. 

The truth is, in my experience, there’s actually no such thing as a final draft. Even after you’ve submitted your story somewhere — and even if you’re lucky enough to have it accepted — there will probably be the odd word here or there that you’d like to change. 

Don’t worry about this. Large-scale changes are probably out of the question at this stage, but a sympathetic editor should be willing to implement any small changes right up to the time of publication. 

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Commaful is home to professionals and amateurs alike. The short nature of the stories makes Commaful a fun place for all types of creatives to share online and get feedback for their stories.

Many top creative minds experiment and try new fiction ideas on the Commaful platform, creating a library of creative ideas for you to get inspired by!

The Easiest Way To Write When You Are Busy

One of the fastest ways to share writing online and keep your online fans happy, even when you're busy! Type some text or paste some past work, add a few images, and voila! Commaful is designed with short stories in mind. Are your fans demanding you to update with new stories? Commaful makes it easier to manage expectations and get something short published and appease the thirst of readers.

"Commaful is a great online story writing platform which is quick and easy for those that like to write in between their busy lives! It's quick and easy to make a story and the support from the community makes it all worthwhile! 😊"

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Join A Supportive Community And Get Feedback

Interact with readers, writers, and fans! We strive to keep the community a positive and safe space for creators of all backgrounds and experience levels. We know that it can feel scary to share your works online and we want to support you! The community includes all skill-levels from beginning creators to international award-winning writers, so there's room for all writers. There is both a messaging and comment system to make it easy for writers and readers to communicate with each other.

"It’s this really pleasant community of writers who support and actually give back feedback on any work you post. I’ve been there for almost 7 months now and of all my poetry posts, I’ve never gotten one negative comment. I’ve never seen a negative comment on the site period."

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Be Part of The "Future of Fiction"

Multimedia storytelling has been called "the future of fiction." Commaful is the largest site dedicated to multimedia storytelling and multimedia fiction. The site allows you to easily add visuals to create a beautiful multimedia story. By creating on Commaful, you'll be part of a movement in the future of storytelling.

"Multimedia fiction is a big trend because the visual nature makes stories relatable to a much wider audience, especially in a world where everybody is on Snapchat and Instagram."

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Reach a Big Audience With The World's First Automatic Story Trailers

Turn your writing into "trailers" that share perfectly into any social media! Commaful automatically makes short video clips and photosets of your stories that can be shared directly to your fans on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and more at the tap of a button. This makes sharing fiction and poetry on social media extremely easy. The trailers are designed to look amazing and help your stories reach the most people possible!

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Writers.com

The short story is a fiction writer’s laboratory: here is where you can experiment with characters, plots, and ideas without the heavy lifting of writing a novel. Learning how to write a short story is essential to mastering the art of storytelling . With far fewer words to worry about, storytellers can make many more mistakes—and strokes of genius!—through experimentation and the fun of fiction writing.

Nonetheless, the art of writing short stories is not easy to master. How do you tell a complete story in so few words? What does a story need to have in order to be successful? Whether you’re struggling with how to write a short story outline, or how to fully develop a character in so few words, this guide is your starting point.

Famous authors like Virginia Woolf, Haruki Murakami, and Agatha Christie have used the short story form to play with ideas before turning those stories into novels. Whether you want to master the elements of fiction, experiment with novel ideas, or simply have fun with storytelling, here’s everything you need on how to write a short story step by step.

The Core Elements of a Short Story

There’s no secret formula to writing a short story. However, a good short story will have most or all of the following elements:

  • A protagonist with a certain desire or need. It is essential for the protagonist to want something they don’t have, otherwise they will not drive the story forward.
  • A clear dilemma. We don’t need much backstory to see how the dilemma started; we’re primarily concerned with how the protagonist resolves it.
  • A decision. What does the protagonist do to resolve their dilemma?
  • A climax. In Freytag’s Pyramid , the climax of a story is when the tension reaches its peak, and the reader discovers the outcome of the protagonist’s decision(s).
  • An outcome. How does the climax change the protagonist? Are they a different person? Do they have a different philosophy or outlook on life?

Of course, short stories also utilize the elements of fiction , such as a setting , plot , and point of view . It helps to study these elements and to understand their intricacies. But, when it comes to laying down the skeleton of a short story, the above elements are what you need to get started.

Note: a short story rarely, if ever, has subplots. The focus should be entirely on a single, central storyline. Subplots will either pull focus away from the main story, or else push the story into the territory of novellas and novels.

The shorter the story is, the fewer of these elements are essentials. If you’re interested in writing short-short stories, check out our guide on how to write flash fiction .

How to Write a Short Story Outline

Some writers are “pantsers”—they “write by the seat of their pants,” making things up on the go with little more than an idea for a story. Other writers are “plotters,” meaning they decide the story’s structure in advance of writing it.

You don’t need a short story outline to write a good short story. But, if you’d like to give yourself some scaffolding before putting words on the page, this article answers the question of how to write a short story outline:

https://writers.com/how-to-write-a-story-outline

How to Write a Short Story Step by Step

There are many ways to approach the short story craft, but this method is tried-and-tested for writers of all levels. Here’s how to write a short story step by step.

1. Start With an Idea

Often, generating an idea is the hardest part. You want to write, but what will you write about?

What’s more, it’s easy to start coming up with ideas and then dismissing them. You want to tell an authentic, original story, but everything you come up with has already been written, it seems.

Here are a few tips:

  • Originality presents itself in your storytelling, not in your ideas. For example, the premise of both Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Ostrovsky’s The Snow Maiden are very similar: two men and two women, in intertwining love triangles, sort out their feelings for each other amidst mischievous forest spirits, love potions, and friendship drama. The way each story is written makes them very distinct from one another, to the point where, unless it’s pointed out to you, you might not even notice the similarities.
  • An idea is not a final draft. You will find that exploring the possibilities of your story will generate something far different than the idea you started out with. This is a good thing—it means you made the story your own!
  • Experiment with genres and tropes. Even if you want to write literary fiction , pay attention to the narrative structures that drive genre stories, and practice your storytelling using those structures. Again, you will naturally make the story your own simply by playing with ideas.

If you’re struggling simply to find ideas, try out this prompt generator , or pull prompts from this Twitter .

2. Outline, OR Conceive Your Characters

If you plan to outline, do so once you’ve generated an idea. You can learn about how to write a short story outline earlier in this article.

If you don’t plan to outline, you should at least start with a character or characters. Certainly, you need a protagonist, but you should also think about any characters that aid or inhibit your protagonist’s journey.

When thinking about character development, ask the following questions:

  • What is my character’s background? Where do they come from, how did they get here, where do they want to be?
  • What does your character desire the most? This can be both material or conceptual, like “fitting in” or “being loved.”
  • What is your character’s fatal flaw? In other words, what limitation prevents the protagonist from achieving their desire? Often, this flaw is a blind spot that directly counters their desire. For example, self hatred stands in the way of a protagonist searching for love.
  • How does your character think and speak? Think of examples, both fictional and in the real world, who might resemble your character.

In short stories, there are rarely more characters than a protagonist, an antagonist (if relevant), and a small group of supporting characters. The more characters you include, the longer your story will be. Focus on making only one or two characters complex: it is absolutely okay to have the rest of the cast be flat characters that move the story along.

Learn more about character development here:

https://writers.com/character-development-definition

3. Write Scenes Around Conflict

Once you have an outline or some characters, start building scenes around conflict. Every part of your story, including the opening sentence, should in some way relate to the protagonist’s conflict.

Conflict is the lifeblood of storytelling: without it, the reader doesn’t have a clear reason to keep reading. Loveable characters are not enough, as the story has to give the reader something to root for.

Take, for example, Edgar Allan Poe’s classic short story The Cask of Amontillado . We start at the conflict: the narrator has been slighted by Fortunato, and plans to exact revenge. Every scene in the story builds tension and follows the protagonist as he exacts this revenge.

In your story, start writing scenes around conflict, and make sure each paragraph and piece of dialogue relates, in some way, to your protagonist’s unmet desires.

4. Write Your First Draft

The scenes you build around conflict will eventually be stitched into a complete story. Make sure as the story progresses that each scene heightens the story’s tension, and that this tension remains unbroken until the climax resolves whether or not your protagonist meets their desires.

Don’t stress too hard on writing a perfect story. Rather, take Anne Lamott’s advice, and “write a shitty first draft.” The goal is not to pen a complete story at first draft; rather, it’s to set ideas down on paper. You are simply, as Shannon Hale suggests, “shoveling sand into a box so that later [you] can build castles.”

5. Step Away, Breathe, Revise

Whenever Stephen King finishes a novel, he puts it in a drawer and doesn’t think about it for 6 weeks. With short stories, you probably don’t need to take as long of a break. But, the idea itself is true: when you’ve finished your first draft, set it aside for a while. Let yourself come back to the story with fresh eyes, so that you can confidently revise, revise, revise .

In revision, you want to make sure each word has an essential place in the story, that each scene ramps up tension, and that each character is clearly defined. The culmination of these elements allows a story to explore complex themes and ideas, giving the reader something to think about after the story has ended.

6. Compare Against Our Short Story Checklist

Does your story have everything it needs to succeed? Compare it against this short story checklist, as written by our instructor Rosemary Tantra Bensko.

Below is a collection of practical short story writing tips by Writers.com instructor Rosemary Tantra Bensko . Each paragraph is its own checklist item: a core element of short story writing advice to follow unless you have clear reasons to the contrary. We hope it’s a helpful resource in your own writing.

Update 9/1/2020: We’ve now made a summary of Rosemary’s short story checklist available as a PDF download . Enjoy!

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Click to download

How to Write a Short Story: Length and Setting

Your short story is 1000 to 7500 words in length.

The story takes place in one time period, not spread out or with gaps other than to drive someplace, sleep, etc. If there are those gaps, there is a space between the paragraphs, the new paragraph beginning flush left, to indicate a new scene.

Each scene takes place in one location, or in continual transit, such as driving a truck or flying in a plane.

How to Write a Short Story: Point of View

Unless it’s a very lengthy Romance story, in which there may be two Point of View (POV) characters, there is one POV character. If we are told what any character secretly thinks, it will only be the POV character. The degree to which we are privy to the unexpressed thoughts, memories and hopes of the POV character remains consistent throughout the story.

You avoid head-hopping by only having one POV character per scene, even in a Romance. You avoid straying into even brief moments of telling us what other characters think other than the POV character. You use words like “apparently,” “obviously,” or “supposedly” to suggest how non-POV-characters think rather than stating it.

How to Write a Short Story: Protagonist, Antagonist, Motivation

Your short story has one clear protagonist who is usually the character changing most.

Your story has a clear antagonist, who generally makes the protagonist change by thwarting his goals.

(Possible exception to the two short story writing tips above: In some types of Mystery and Action stories, particularly in a series, etc., the protagonist doesn’t necessarily grow personally, but instead his change relates to understanding the antagonist enough to arrest or kill him.)

The protagonist changes with an Arc arising out of how he is stuck in his Flaw at the beginning of the story, which makes the reader bond with him as a human, and feel the pain of his problems he causes himself. (Or if it’s the non-personal growth type plot: he’s presented at the beginning of the story with a high-stakes problem that requires him to prevent or punish a crime.)

The protagonist usually is shown to Want something, because that’s what people normally do, defining their personalities and behavior patterns, pushing them onward from day to day. This may be obvious from the beginning of the story, though it may not become heightened until the Inciting Incident , which happens near the beginning of Act 1. The Want is usually something the reader sort of wants the character to succeed in, while at the same time, knows the Want is not in his authentic best interests. This mixed feeling in the reader creates tension.

The protagonist is usually shown to Need something valid and beneficial, but at first, he doesn’t recognize it, admit it, honor it, integrate it with his Want, or let the Want go so he can achieve the Need instead. Ideally, the Want and Need can be combined in a satisfying way toward the end for the sake of continuity of forward momentum of victoriously achieving the goals set out from the beginning. It’s the encounters with the antagonist that forcibly teach the protagonist to prioritize his Needs correctly and overcome his Flaw so he can defeat the obstacles put in his path.

The protagonist in a personal growth plot needs to change his Flaw/Want but like most people, doesn’t automatically do that when faced with the problem. He tries the easy way, which doesn’t work. Only when the Crisis takes him to a low point does he boldly change enough to become victorious over himself and the external situation. What he learns becomes the Theme.

Each scene shows its main character’s goal at its beginning, which aligns in a significant way with the protagonist’s overall goal for the story. The scene has a “charge,” showing either progress toward the goal or regression away from the goal by the ending. Most scenes end with a negative charge, because a story is about not obtaining one’s goals easily, until the end, in which the scene/s end with a positive charge.

The protagonist’s goal of the story becomes triggered until the Inciting Incident near the beginning, when something happens to shake up his life. This is the only major thing in the story that is allowed to be a random event that occurs to him.

How to Write a Short Story: Characters

Your characters speak differently from one another, and their dialogue suggests subtext, what they are really thinking but not saying: subtle passive-aggressive jibes, their underlying emotions, etc.

Your characters are not illustrative of ideas and beliefs you are pushing for, but come across as real people.

How to Write a Short Story: Prose

Your language is succinct, fresh and exciting, specific, colorful, avoiding clichés and platitudes. Sentence structures vary. In Genre stories, the language is simple, the symbolism is direct, and words are well-known, and sentences are relatively short. In Literary stories, you are freer to use more sophisticated ideas, words, sentence structures and underlying metaphors and implied motifs.

How to Write a Short Story: Story Structure

Your plot elements occur in the proper places according to classical Act Structure so the reader feels he has vicariously gone through a harrowing trial with the protagonist and won, raising his sense of hope and possibility. Literary short stories may be more subtle, with lower stakes, experimenting beyond classical structures like the Hero’s Journey. They can be more like vignettes sometimes, or even slice-of-life, though these types are hard to place in publications.

In Genre stories, all the questions are answered, threads are tied up, problems are solved, though the results of carnage may be spread over the landscape. In Literary short stories, you are free to explore uncertainty, ambiguity, and inchoate, realistic endings that suggest multiple interpretations, and unresolved issues.

Some Literary stories may be nonrealistic, such as with Surrealism, Absurdism, New Wave Fabulism, Weird and Magical Realism . If this is what you write, they still need their own internal logic and they should not be bewildering as to the what the reader is meant to experience, whether it’s a nuanced, unnameable mood or a trip into the subconscious.

Literary stories may also go beyond any label other than Experimental. For example, a story could be a list of To Do items on a paper held by a magnet to a refrigerator for the housemate to read. The person writing the list may grow more passive-aggressive and manipulative as the list grows, and we learn about the relationship between the housemates through the implied threats and cajoling.

How to Write a Short Story: Capturing Reader Interest

Your short story is suspenseful, meaning readers hope the protagonist will achieve his best goal, his Need, by the Climax battle against the antagonist.

Your story entertains. This is especially necessary for Genre short stories.

The story captivates readers at the very beginning with a Hook, which can be a puzzling mystery to solve, an amazing character’s or narrator’s Voice, an astounding location, humor, a startling image, or a world the reader wants to become immersed in.

Expository prose (telling, like an essay) takes up very, very little space in your short story, and it does not appear near the beginning. The story is in Narrative format instead, in which one action follows the next. You’ve removed every unnecessary instance of Expository prose and replaced it with showing Narrative. Distancing words like “used to,” “he would often,” “over the years, he,” “each morning, he” indicate that you are reporting on a lengthy time period, summing it up, rather than sticking to Narrative format, in which immediacy makes the story engaging.

You’ve earned the right to include Expository Backstory by making the reader yearn for knowing what happened in the past to solve a mystery. This can’t possibly happen at the beginning, obviously. Expository Backstory does not take place in the first pages of your story.

Your reader cares what happens and there are high stakes (especially important in Genre stories). Your reader worries until the end, when the protagonist survives, succeeds in his quest to help the community, gets the girl, solves or prevents the crime, achieves new scientific developments, takes over rule of his realm, etc.

Every sentence is compelling enough to urge the reader to read the next one—because he really, really wants to—instead of doing something else he could be doing. Your story is not going to be assigned to people to analyze in school like the ones you studied, so you have found a way from the beginning to intrigue strangers to want to spend their time with your words.

Where to Read and Submit Short Stories

Whether you’re looking for inspiration or want to publish your own stories, you’ll find great literary journals for writers of all backgrounds at this article:

https://writers.com/short-story-submissions

Learn How to Write a Short Story at Writers.com

The short story takes an hour to learn and a lifetime to master. Learn how to write a short story with Writers.com. Our upcoming fiction courses will give you the ropes to tell authentic, original short stories that captivate and entrance your readers.

' src=

Rosemary – Is there any chance you could add a little something to your checklist? I’d love to know the best places to submit our short stories for publication. Thanks so much.

' src=

Hi, Kim Hanson,

Some good places to find publications specific to your story are NewPages, Poets and Writers, Duotrope, and The Submission Grinder.

' src=

“ In Genre stories, all the questions are answered, threads are tied up, problems are solved, though the results of carnage may be spread over the landscape.”

Not just no but NO.

See for example the work of MacArthur Fellow Kelly Link.

[…] How to Write a Short Story: The Short Story Checklist […]

' src=

Thank you for these directions and tips. It’s very encouraging to someone like me, just NOW taking up writing.

[…] Writers.com. A great intro to writing. https://writers.com/how-to-write-a-short-story […]

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Home » Writing » 15 writing websites and online resources to help you write your own story

15 writing websites and online resources to help you write your own story

Just like any craft or task, having the right tools for the job can make writing your own story or short story much easier. There are myriad writing online resources and websites out there to help with every aspect of story writing, from story title ideas and plot development to editing. We’ve picked a few of our favorite websites to help you get started, improve your writing, develop your characters, and learn how to edit your work. Ultimately, we want to help you become a more confident and productive writer. But remember, in addition to writing tools, reading more books is the best way to improve your writing because it exposes you to a wide range of writing styles, vocabulary, and language structures.

Resources for getting started

Nothing strikes fear into the heart of an aspiring author more than the blank page. The endlessly flashing cursor. Even when your head is full to the brim with plot twists and characters, getting it all down on paper in a coherent form is another thing altogether. Luckily, this is a common first hurdle for lots of writers, so hundreds of tools and apps have sprung up—dedicated to helping you gather your thoughts and start writing.

Get Started

1. Evernote

This bookmarking tool is a great way to collect moments of inspiration and ideas for your story together in one place, where they can be filed and organized, ready to be put to good use. It might be a ‘how to’ article you want to read, a quote that reminds you of one of your characters, or an image that would be the perfect setting for your next scene. Inspiration strikes in the most unexpected of places, but as Evernote is available on pretty much every platform, you can collect notes wherever you are. You can choose to have one notebook that you throw everything into, or you can set up separate notebooks to help you organize your thoughts and ideas as you go. If you’re working on a novel, why not set up separate notebooks for each character or each chapter?

2. NaNoWriMo

November is a special time of year for writers. If you are struggling to get started writing your own story, then joining NaNoWriMo is the perfect opportunity. Confident that anyone can write a novel in just 30 days, NaNoWriMo provides tools, advice, and resources throughout November to help writers do just that. Be spurred on by the hundreds of writers around the world who join across social media and NaNoWriMo forums to cheer each other on and share learnings from their own experiences. All you need to start is a draft title for your book.

3. The Time is Now

Check out this section of Poets & Writers Magazine online to get weekly writing prompts—poetry on Tuesdays, fiction on Wednesdays, and creative nonfiction on Thursdays. It’s a great resource to help you build a daily writing practice, get new ideas, and improve your craft. Most prompts are inspired by specific books, so you can also grow your reading list!

4. Underlined

Formerly known as Figment , Underlined is a website that provides story starters, writing inspiration, and advice from published authors . You can also join a community of aspiring writers, share excerpts of your work, and provide feedback to each other—all valuable parts of the creative life.

Sites for improving your writing

Whether this is your first attempt at writing your own story or you have a few books behind you always, there are always new things to learn and more ways to improve your writing.

5. 750 Words

As with any skill, the best way to improve your writing is practice, practice, practice. Story writing websites like 750 Words or Writer’s Digest’s Creative Writing Prompts , provide daily nudges to get your creative juices flowing. By just writing without an agenda and without judgment, you’ll make writing every day a regular productive habit and steadily build your confidence.

6. Helping Writers Become Authors

The Helping Writers Become Authors podcast recourse hosted by award-winning author, K.M. Weiland, offers practical tips and advice on story writing from structure and plot to character identity and honing your craft as a writer.

7. Grammar Girl

Get to grips with the quirks of language and the rules of good grammar with this entertaining and hugely useful podcast. Popular Grammar Girl episodes include “Affect Versus Effect” and “Active Voice & Passive Voice.”

Resources for developing your characters

We’re betting you have more than one favorite character from more than one book. Characters like Elizabeth Bennett, Albus Dumbledore, and Bilbo Baggins live on in reader’s minds long after they’ve turned the final page. Your characters should become like old friends, that you know inside and out, to add depth and humanity to your story.

8. Writer’s Digest – Character Development Sheets

Subscribing to the Writer’s Digest mailing list gets you access to this free worksheet designed to flesh out each of your characters. Working through a series of questions, you’ll develop their key hopes, fears, and skills, their personality quirks, how they might act in different situations, and how all of this will be revealed to the reader throughout your story.

9. The Write Practice – Characterization 101

This free course from The Write Practice guides you through seven key steps to creating memorable characters, covering important character archetypes, character motivations, how not to introduce a character to your story, and much more.

Resources for editing, reviewing, (and repeating it)

In addition to proofreading for spelling, language, and grammar errors, two other forms of editing should form part of your review process. Developmental editing, which is editing for the structure, flow, and consistency of your story, and substantive editing, which is concerned with clarity, accuracy, and reader comprehension.

When your manuscript or first draft is complete, let it sit a while before reviewing. It also helps to have a second and third set of eyes on your work. Even better, if budget allows, employing the skills of a professional editor can give your story the polished finish it deserves.

10. Grammarly

Available as a Google Chrome extension, Grammarly works across your web pages as you write to help you catch common writing errors. It will highlight and fix grammar, punctuation, and contextual spelling mistakes. The premium version can also suggest alternative vocabulary choices.

Remember not to rely on online spell checks alone to proofread your work. Always give your text a thorough sense check yourself, too.

11. Hemingway Editor

As the name suggests, Hemingway Editor is an online editing tool and website that will help make your writing clearer, bolder, and more direct—just like the author it’s named after. Simply copy and paste your text into the tool to check for overly complex sentences, overuse of adverbs, and the passive voice. It will also highlight instances where a shorter word could serve the same purpose.

Every writer needs a good editor, and the Reedsy website only works with the best. Their hand-picked, experienced, professional editors can review your story development, structure, consistency, and style, helping to perfect and polish your manuscript. Reedsy also offers a tool to easily  write and format a book , the same way a professional typesetter would.

Resources for promoting your writing

13. wattpad.

Use this storytelling platform to connect with writers and readers around the world, build an audience, and even get discovered. On Wattpad , you start by sharing a story, and then if you build a big enough fan base, you may have a chance to work with entertainment companies and publishers looking to feature your work.

On this writing and reading hub, you’ll find stories, articles, and inspiration that are curated to your taste, written by people like us. Want to share your own writing, photos, or videos? You can do that on Medium —and potentially earn money. The platform lets you see how your stories are performing and what kinds of readers like your writing, plus it offers tips for starting a newsletter, submitting to publications, and curating your work.

15. FictionPress

If you’re interested in getting feedback on your own work—and browsing an archive of self-published short stories, fiction, and poetry—see what’s happening at FictionPress (a sister site to FanFiction ). You can upload your own writing for free and let other people review it. Sometimes all you need is a little motivation and support from like-minded writers to keep you on track toward your writing goals.

From collecting inspiration to the final finishing touches, there’s a whole world of tools , websites, support, and advice out there to help you with every stage of writing your own story and making your own book. But, when it comes down to it, the thing that will make the most difference is you. You have all the tools you need. Now write!

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14 Free Platforms To Share Your Short Stories Online

In recent weeks, I’ve spoken a lot about writing short stories , because I believe in the many benefits they posses. All this is fine, except, where do you share your short stories online? You’re after readers, after all, yes? You desire feedback and an audience and a platform to showcase your skills.

Well, lucky for you, there are many places to share your short stories online. You’ve no doubt heard of some, used others, and exist on certain platforms where you may or may not be taking advantage of them.

In this post, I wish to showcase a selection of these platforms, why they’re good for a writer like you, and how you can use them in super efficient ways. Oh yes indeed, there’s an entire world to share your short stories online. You excited? Good, because I am 🙂

14 FREE PLATFORMS FOR YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE

Before we get into these free platforms where you can share your short stories online, let me speak about your Blog/Website.

That isn’t on the list, because although I suggest you share as much content on your blog as possible, unless you have a large existing audience, it’s difficult to grow your readership without leaving your own house . That’s why these Free Platforms are great for sharing your short stories online, because they each have an existing audience ready and waiting for YOU.

BUT , you should always look to direct people back to your site, offer Free Ebooks that readers can sign up to, and provide a wonderful home for your writing that helps you communicate with your readers on a regular basis. Other platforms are great, but your main aim should ALWAYS  be to funnel them back to your site.

With this in mind, let’s look at the 14 Free Platforms Where You Can share Your Short Stories Online: …

It takes commitment, though, and before you ask people to Read Read Read, you must first read other people’s work, and join in the community fun. There’s lots of Clubs to check out, and it’s a great place to gather feedback from REAL readers. These folks are avid, and love to interact with authors. Play your cards right, and you can see much success ( Colleen Hoover has over the years ).

[su_button url=”http://www.wattpad.com/home” target=”blank” background=”#1d2abf” size=”9″ icon=”icon: heart”]SHARE YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE: WATTPAD[/su_button]

Scribd isn’t exclusive to books, so expect to see plenty of presentations, poetry, guides, and a whole host more. You can see this as both good and bad, although books remain the popular majority. Oh, and I will say this: Scribd is Sexy!.

As soon as you upload your short stories online, they transform into sleek looking wonders that captures the attention of eager eyes. Plus, you have the opportunity to earn some money, so Scribd could be your new best friend.

[su_button url=”http://www.scribd.com/” target=”blank” background=”#1d2abf” size=”9″ icon=”icon: heart”]SHARE YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE: SCRIBD[/su_button]

Because the purpose of Medium is quick and digestible content, I believe it’s ideal for your short stories  -so long as you don’t mind sharing them for free. It’s visual yet minimal; full of features, but at the same time, offers only the ones you need; and has an ever-growing audience eager to reader fiction and non-fiction alike.

You can create Collections, too. This means you can serialise your writing, or reserve a special place just for your short stories online. If you haven’t checked Medium out yet, you should – the very least you’ll get out of it are some amazing reads.

[su_button url=”https://medium.com” target=”blank” background=”#1d2abf” size=”9″ icon=”icon: heart”]SHARE YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE: MEDIUM[/su_button]

Although I sense this community offers many more writers than readers, it does provide an amazing platform to gather feedback, meet like minded individuals, and perfect your craft. When it comes to your short stories, this may be what you’re looking for.

Sites like this often look cluttered and outdated, but Figment remains fresh and easy on the eyes. I should note that – like Wattpad – the vast majority of work surrounds Young Adult and other teen reads. As such, it might not be for you, but I have a feeling this site will continue to grow and expand as time ticks away.

[su_button url=”http://figment.com/” target=”blank” background=”#1d2abf” size=”9″ icon=”icon: heart”]SHARE YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE: FIGMENT[/su_button]

5: WRITERS CAFE

Possibly not the best place to find readers, but to perfect your writing? Heck yes!

With lots of contests and groups ( not just for writing, but publishing, marketing, etc.. .), this is a site all writers can take something from. Although I warn you, place a bunch of writers in a forum, and sly remarks are sure to be had. This is what happens in my experience, anyways.

[su_button url=”http://www.writerscafe.org/” target=”blank” background=”#1d2abf” size=”9″ icon=”icon: heart”]SHARE YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE: WRITERS CAFE[/su_button]

6: AUTHONOMY

I’ve not used this site for a few years now, so hopefully things are better these days. But enter this world with caution.

Again, used by writers more than readers, this is another great place to gather feedback and perfect your work before sending it out to larger audiences. Certainly worth checking out, especially after it’s recent overhaul.

[su_button url=”https://www.authonomy.com/” target=”blank” background=”#1d2abf” size=”9″ icon=”icon: heart”]SHARE YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE: AUTHONOMY[/su_button]

7: FICTION PRESS

This is certainly a no-nonsense kind of site, that focusses on the writing, rather than sleek features and the like. This isn’t a bad thing, either, because we want our writing to shine through, right? Not how pretty our book page looks.

I haven’t used Fiction Press myself, but it does look like a solid platform, and an ideal place to gather more feedback from fellow writers and eager readers.

[su_button url=”https://www.fictionpress.com/” target=”blank” background=”#1d2abf” size=”9″ icon=”icon: heart”]SHARE YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE: FICTION PRESS[/su_button]

8: FANFICTION.NET

However, as its name suggests, the aim here is to share your Fan Fiction. It’s a world I’ve never ventured into myself, but I’m aware how popular Fan Fiction is, and how many stories begin life in this form. When it comes to sharing your short stories online, what better place to do it, especially if you like to add your own spin on your favourite books and films.

Harry Potter and Twilight lead the way ( isn’t this how Fifty Shades began life? ), although there’s fan fiction covering just about every type of story – including F. Scott Fitzgerald’s This Side of Paradise. Well, I never… “_

[su_button url=”https://www.fanfiction.net/” target=”blank” background=”#1d2abf” size=”9″ icon=”icon: heart”]SHARE YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE: FANFICTION.NET[/su_button]

9: SHORT BREAD STORIES

Very cute and quaint, with the option to turn your short stories into audiobooks, too. I love this feature, and adds a different dimension that isn’t seen on the other sites we’ve looked at.

There’s plenty of features for both readers and writers, although it is a rather small platform. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, because it makes it easier to stand out and form real connections. It’s all about quality, not quantity, folks. If you wish to share a few short stories online, I’d say this is a good place to start.

[su_button url=”http://www.shortbreadstories.co.uk/” target=”blank” background=”#1d2abf” size=”9″ icon=”icon: heart”]SHARE YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE: SHORT BREAD[/su_button]

10: SMASHWORDS

If you want to share your short stories online, and in as many place as possible, but without the hassle of doing it all yourself, Smashwords is your buddy. It can be a bit of a pain to use at times, and requires a well overdue overhaul, but all-in-all, this place AMAZES ME . It’s great, and it’s what I use to ensure my own short stories remain FREE in the long term.

[su_button url=”https://www.smashwords.com/” target=”blank” background=”#1d2abf” size=”9″ icon=”icon: heart”]SHARE YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE: SMASHWORDS[/su_button]

11: TWITTER

Woah, chill your beans, kid. Because although Twitter remains the web’s central hub for images of your lunch, there are folks who write seriously short stories and produce them via Tweets. Take this guy , for instance. Or how David Mitchell released his own short story through these mini snippets.

As creatives, we spend our lives thinking outside of the box. You can use Twitter to share your short stories online, but you may have to split them up into many segments. This is fine, and through the use of hashtags, you can keep things organised and tidy and very cool indeed. Don’t knock it until you try it.

[su_button url=”https://twitter.com/” target=”blank” background=”#1d2abf” size=”9″ icon=”icon: heart”]SHARE YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE: TWITTER[/su_button]

12: GOODREADS

Well, you can. So, whether you upload and share your short stories online in full, or serialise them and share them in weekly Blog Posts, Goodreads is a fantastic place to share and share some more.

Considering this is a place readers flock to, and that there are many groups to join and interact with, sharing your short stories on Goodreads could be what keeps you ahead of the pack. A little like Twitter, it’s all about thinking outside of the box.

[su_button url=”http://www.goodreads.com/” target=”blank” background=”#1d2abf” size=”9″ icon=”icon: heart”]SHARE YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE: GOODREADS[/su_button]

13: FACEBOOK

Other writers like James Altucher and Srinivas Rao have done this too, and whether it’s a short story you share, a snippet from a book, or a rough draft of something you’re working on, it gives your followers and friends a reason to interact with you.

I think people overlook Facebook in this way, often directing folk to other sites. But the average person loves to spend time on Facebook, so allow them to stay there. Just make sure they’re reading your words, and falling in love with what you create.

[su_button url=”https://www.facebook.com/” target=”blank” background=”#1d2abf” size=”9″ icon=”icon: heart”]SHARE YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE: FACEBOOK[/su_button]

Writers have made it work for them, too. One that comes to mind is Nick Miller , who built a strong following on Tumblr after sharing his words and stories. It lead to his popular novel, Isn’t It Pretty To Think So , and an army of readers who remain loyal by his side.

If everyone else shares pictures and cool videos, write a few short stories instead. It may help you stand out, and find the readers you deserve.

[su_button url=”https://www.tumblr.com/” target=”blank” background=”#1d2abf” size=”9″ icon=”icon: heart”]SHARE YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE: TUMBLR[/su_button]

START SHARING YOUR SHORT STORIES ONLINE TODAY

There you have it, 14 free platform to share your short stories online… TODAY!

What on earth are you waiting for? Short stories are a great way to keep your creative juices flowing, and whether they’re part of a larger body of work, or mere ideas you wish to share with the world, don’t keep them to yourself. Share your short stories online, and start gathering feedback and readers right now.

The sooner you begin, the easier it gets.

Not all of the above platforms are relevant to you, but I’m certain one or two are. You’re already on a couple of them, right? If so, try something new and see what happens. Tweet a few short stories. Start a Facebook Page dedicated to them. Get creative and have fun doing so, because that’s what writing is all about. Having fun and being a creative son-of-a-gun.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please shoot me a message on either TWITTER or FACEBOOK , and let me know what you think of the above 14 platforms.

Speak soon, you crazy misfit.

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18 Great Short Stories You Can Read Free Online

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Sarah Ullery

Sarah suffers from chronic sarcasm, and an unhealthy aversion to noise. She loves to read, and would like to do nothing else, but stupid real life makes her go to work. She lives in the middle of a cornfield and shares a house with two spoiled dogs and a ton of books.

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18 excellent short stories you can read for free online. Check 'em out! short stories | free short stories | short stories to read online | book lists | online writing

As to where to find great stories, The New Yorker stories are generally best, but require a subscription if you read too many in a month. I also like Narrative Magazine , which will ask you for an email, but their stories are free too. Tor of course has some great free stuff, and you can find most of the classics through Gutenberg . The stories on this list that are not from any of these publications, I found through simple Google searches. If I’m interested in an author, but don’t necessarily want to read a whole book, I look to see if they have any short fiction available that I can read first.

From this list, my favorites are Zadie Smith and Italo Calvino’s stories. I’d never read Zadie Smith, but after loving “The Embassy of Cambodia” I started On Beauty  (a 500 page book) and I absolutely love it. Both stories satisfied a reading itch I needed scratched.

Here are a few of my favorite free short stories you can read online right now.

“ The Library of Babel ” by Jorge Luis Borges

The world is a library that contains all the books that have ever been written, but most of them are indecipherable. Many people venture to the library to find the meaning of life. It reminded me of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld library.

“Perhaps my old age and fearfulness deceive me, but I suspect that the human species — the unique species — is about to be extinguished, but the Library will endure: illuminated, solitary, infinite, perfectly motionless, equipped with precious volumes, useless, incorruptible, secret.”

“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson

This used to be my favorite short story, and I might only think that because I read it when I was a freshman in high school and I remember being shocked by the ending. It’s always stayed with me.

“A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor

Another story with an ending that you won’t forget anytime soon. O’Connor was a master. If you’ve never read any of her work I would start here.

“In the Penal Colony” by Franz Kafka

It’s a chilling story. A man known as the Traveller is visiting a foreign penal colony where he is shown a special machine used to execute prisoners. The machine inscribes the prisoner’s crime onto their body until they die. It takes 12 hours of torture before the prisoner dies. I told you it was chilling!

“The Devil in America ” by Kai Ashante Wilson (Tor)

Kai Ashante Wilson has quite a talent. This ties present day police brutality towards African Americans to post-emancipation America and a family of freed slaves that are living with the Devil that followed them from Africa.

“The City Born Great” by N.K. Jemisin (Tor)

Cities, once they are old enough, must be born. New York City is ready to be born, and must be led into the world by a reluctant midwife.

“Spider the Artist” by Nnedi Okorafor (Lightspeed Magazine)

Okorafor is a wonderful storyteller, and if you’ve never read her books, this would be a great place to start. And if you like this short story, check out Binti: The Complete Trilogy .

“Exhalation” by Ted Chiang (Lightspeed Magazine)

Oh, you’ve never read Ted Chiang? Well, you must go out now and read this story and then read Stories of Your Life and Others  and his collection Exhalation: Stories . I was shocked by how good and complex his writing was. I had no idea that the movie The Arrival was based on one of his short stories.

“The Daughters of the Moon” by Italo Calvino (The New Yorker)

I don’t know. It’s either Zadie Smith’s “The Embassy of Cambodia” or this story that is my favorite on the list… I can’t decide. I think it’s this story. A story about the people of Earth deciding to throw away the Moon. It’s a story of consumerism. Luckily, I own The Complete Cosmicomics , so I can continue reading Calvino’s magnificent short story collection.

“The Embassy of Cambodia ” by Zadie Smith (The New Yorker)

After you read “The Devil in America” read this story and see if you can find the parallels. This was my first time reading Zadie Smith because I’d always heard mixed reviews, but if her longer fiction is anything like this short story, I’m in love. If you need help figuring out where to start with Zadie Smith’s books, check out our Reading Pathway guide to Zadie Smith .

“Sweetness” by Toni MOrrison (The New Yorker)

A prelude to Morrison’s book God Help the Child , this is the story of Bride’s mother, and her rationale for raising her daughter in a loveless home.

“Girls, At Play”  by Celeste Ng (Bellevue Literary Review)

“This is how we play the game: pink means kissing; red means tongue. Green means up your shirt; blue means down his pants. Purple means in your mouth. Black means all the way.”

The first four sentences of this short story sent chills down my spine. A superbly told story of the extremes of girlhood and adolescence; the pressures girls face as they get older.

“On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning” by Haruki Murakami (Genius)

Love at first sight, if you believe love is predestined rather than a choice. Fated love, to me, no matter how hard my heart becomes, still seems ridiculously romantic. I haven’t read Murakami in a long time but now I’m itching to pick up one of his books (I really want to read 1Q84 , but it’s soooo long!).

“Chechnya”  by Anthony Marra (Narrative Magazine)

This was Anthony Marra’s first published short story, and works as an outline for his novel A Constellation of Vital Phenomenon . It’s the kind of story you read while holding your breath.

“The Fruit of My Woman” by Han Kang (Granta)

This story was written in 1997 before the publication of The Vegetarian . The two stories share many of the same themes, and it’s evident that this story served as a blueprint for the later book. In “The Fruit of My Woman” the wife is slowly turning into a tree (something that also comes up in The Vegetarian ). The allusions to Daphne turning herself into a laurel tree to escape the advances of Apollo are hard to miss, but there’s no clear indication that Daphne was an actual influence on either story. Han Kang can do no wrong in my eyes.

“A Lady’s Maid” by Sarah Gailey (Barnes & Noble)

I love Sarah Gailey. This is a great introduction if you’re unfamiliar with her work. It’s Victorian London with androids — so much to love!

“A Bruise the Size and Shape of a Door Handle” by Daisy Johnson (American Short Fiction)

A hot and bothered story about a house falling in love with the girl who lives in the attic. I loved everything about this story. This is included in Johnson’s short story collection, Fen , and I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Also, the writing style reminded me of Samantha Hunt.

“Hollow” by Breece D’J Pancake (The Atlantic)

Breece D’J Pancake died when he was 26. He was from West Virginia, and I would label his writing “grit-lit”. This story was almost too gritty for me. He’s the kind of writer that other writers love. His short story collection has a blurb from Joyce Carol Oates.

Want more short stories? Check out our post on the 100 must-read contemporary short story collections , 20 must-read short stories on audio , and the best short stories of all time !

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The Best Short Story Collections That Keep You Reading

Which of these captivating collections will you be picking up next?

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Short story collections offer the perfect medium for fiction writers to craft compelling, affecting narratives that simply may not warrant a full-length novel to explore the ideas. The short story collection’s compact form delivers concise, impactful ideas and can free authors to explore a multitude of themes, characters, story arcs and styles within a single collection. Collections of short fiction have allowed writers like Edgar Allen Poe, Flannery O’Connor and James Baldwin to experiment with different tones, voices and plot devices while providing readers with gripping but approachable standalone stories.

These 8 short story collections are extremely readable, cover a variety of genres and authors and may give you a newfound appreciation of writers you already love.

Homesick For Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh

a ring with a person's face on it

From one of the most compelling, propulsive voices in contemporary fiction, Moshfegh’s 2017 short story collection is an eclectic compendium of some of her best fiction work—much of which was previously published in places like The Paris Review , The New Yorker and Vice . Exceedingly atmospheric and permeated with Moshfegh’s hallmark sordid wit, Homesick For Another World interrogates the ubiquitous afflictions of the human condition and our capacity for cruelty through the collection’s generally amoral, misanthropic protagonists. A highly anticipated follow-up to Moshfegh’s breakout debut novel Eileen , Homesick was later named a New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2017 and drew innumerable comparisons to the work of renowned authors like Mary Gaitskill and Flannery O’Connor.

Earth Angel by Madeline Cash

a lizard on a woman's head

An electric debut from author Madeline Cash, Earth Angel is a collection of short stories that rockets through the reader’s imagination like a fever dream. Teeming with chimeric vignettes synthesizing the mundanely sinister realities of a capitalist culture with cataclysmic doomsday tropes, Earth Angel manages to be both endlessly funny and deeply poignant without feeling didactic. Cash both parodies and embraces the myopic stylings dominating popular fiction in a way that never feels malicious, but rather like the playful ribbing of a writer that refuses to take herself too seriously. Irreverent, compelling and laugh-out-loud funny, Earth Angel marks the emergence of one of contemporary fiction’s most exciting new figures.

Bliss Montage by Ling Ma

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A surrealist collection from Severance author Ling Ma, Bliss Montage marks Ma’s first published short story collection after her phenomenal debut novel (which has no relation to the recent Apple TV+ series, by the way). Uncanny, otherworldly and above all evocative— Bliss Montage contains eight wildly different stories each touching on universal themes of the human experience against phantasmagoric, though eerily familiar backdrops. Ranging from a tale of two friends bonded by their shared use of a drug that turns you invisible to the story of a tourist caught up in a fatalistic healing ritual, Ma’s unforgettable collection manages to be both ingeniously unique and undoubtedly universal at once. Somehow both outlandish and quotidian, Bliss Montage keeps readers wrapped up in Ma’s captivating prose from start to end.

Daddy by Emma Cline

a person lying on a train

A thrilling examination of unspoken power structures (predominantly male power in a patriarchal society), Daddy by Emma Cline offers glimpses into the unexamined lives of each story's protagonist, often playfully alluding to, but never explicitly pointing to, a certain moral paradigm. Fraught familial dynamics, imbalanced romantic relationships and moral nuance permeate Cline’s collection, and each story offers a taste of her infectious prose and incisive style. The ten stories on offer often end achingly realistically, rejecting a tidy, personally gratifying ending—making each story appear as a certain tableau harkening to an idea rather than a traditional beginning, middle and end. Suspenseful, richly descriptive and engrossing—Cline’s collection begs to be devoured.

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

a poster with a black dragon

First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami

diagram

First published in July 2020, First Person Singular is a collection of eight short stories each told from, you guessed it, the first-person singular perspective. Written by Japanese author Haruki Murakami, First Person Singular explores themes of nostalgia and lost love through stories from the perspective of mostly unnamed, middle-aged male protagonists believed to be based largely on the author himself, though some are more fantastical than others. Ranging from slice-of-life stories wherein the narrator reminisces on a past relationship, to the tale of a monkey doomed to fall in love with human women, the stories employ a myriad of hallmark Murakami techniques like magical realism, music, nostalgia and aging.

The Houseguest and Other Stories by Amparo Dávila

a green and pink bag

The first collection by beloved Mexican author Amparo Dávila to be translated into English, The Houseguest is a collection of 12 short stories touching on themes of obsession, paranoia and fear primarily featuring female protagonists and narrators. Often compared to horror writers like Edgar Allen Poe and Shirley Jackson, Dávila’s writing often deals with abstract feelings of dread and paranoia, imbuing them with magical realism to craft jarring, transfixing narratives that seem both eerily familiar and preternatural. Each tale menaced by an unseen, pernicious force, Dávila’s writing revels in its ambiguity with no straightforward answers. The Houseguest is an anxiety-inducing page-turner which will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

text, letter

Though technically a short story cycle (a collection of self-contained short stories arranged to convey a concept or theme greater than the sum of its atomized parts), Olive Kitteridge consists of 13 stories each taking place in the fictional town of Crosby, Maine. The stories predominantly center on Olive Kitteridge, a brusque but caring retired school teacher and longtime resident of Crosby. Other stories show Olive only as a secondary character or in a cameo capacity and are from the point of view of other townsfolk. Winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the collection was later adapted into a critically acclaimed miniseries starring Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins, Zoe Kazan and Bill Murray. Profound, heartbreaking and human, Olive Kitteridge is an unforgettable first-read that will still impact you even if you watched the miniseries before.

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The Short Fiction International Short Story Prize 2024

Short Fiction

  • 16 February 2024

Competition deadline: 31st March 2024

The Short Fiction International Short Story Prize 2024 is open for entries. This year’s prize will close for entries at midnight (GMT) on March 31st, 2024. Entries cost £10 in January and February, and £12 in March (to encourage early submissions!). 40 free entries are available to those for whom the fee represents a barrier to entry (twenty of these are reserved for UK entries). In addition to the prizes, the winning, runner-up and third place stories will be published by Short Fiction journal.

Our judges:

Yan Ge was born in Sichuan, China in 1984. She is a fiction writer in both Chinese and English, and is the author of fourteen books in Chinese, including six novels. She has received numerous awards and was named by People’s Literature magazine as one of twenty future literature masters in China. Her work has been translated into eleven languages, including English, French and German. The latest English translation of her novel, Strange Beasts of China, was one of The New York Times Notable Books of 2021. Yan’s English writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Irish Times, TLS, Granta, The Stinging Fly and elsewhere. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia where she was the recipient of the UEA International Award 2018/19. Her English language debut short story collection Elsewhere was published by Faber in the UK and Scribner in the USA in summer 2023. Yan lives in Norwich with her husband and son.

Wendy Erskine is the author of two short story collections, Sweet Home and Dance Move. She edited an anthology, well I just kind of like it, on art in the home and the home as art. Her non-fiction has appeared in The Guardian, The Quietus and many other publications. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, she has been listed for the Edgehill Prize, the Republic of Consciousness Prize, the Gordon Burn Prize and the Sunday Times Short Story Award. She was awarded the Butler Prize for Literature. She is a full-time secondary school teacher.

Terms and Conditions

  • Dates: The Prize is open for entries from 9am GMT on 15 January 2024. The deadline for receipt of entries is 23:59 GMT on 31 March 2024.

​2. Language: All entries must be in English.

​3. Geographical restrictions: There are no geographical restrictions on entry: while the Prize is UK-based, all writers – within and outside the UK – are welcome to enter.

​4. Length: The maximum length of submissions is 5,000 words, not including the title. There is no minimum length.

​5. Genre/theme: There are no restrictions on genre, style, theme, or subject, but entries should be prose fiction – not poetry or memoir.

​6. Entry fee: There is an entry fee for each story submitted (though see 7. Free entries, below). To encourage early submissions, the fee for entries submitted in January and February will be £10 – the discounted fee will apply until 29 February 2024 (23:59 GMT). In the final month, March, the entry fee will be £12. Payment is made through the Submittable portal for the Prize. At the time of entry, writers can opt to pay a supplement of £1 to subsidise a free entry for a writer in more difficult financial circumstances.

​7. Free entries: Forty (40) free entries are available to writers for whom the fee would be a barrier to entry. Twenty (20) of these are reserved for writers resident in the UK. To request one, please email [email protected] (once the Prize opens) and let us know your country of residence. The free entries are offered on a first-come, first-served basis, and you do not need to give us detailed information about your circumstances, though please let us know your general situation (whether you’re on a low income, unwaged, or a student, for example). Free entries will be judged blind, the same as paid entries.

​8. Blind judging: Entries will be read and judged anonymously; entrants’ names and contact details should only appear on the entry form and not anywhere on their stories/manuscripts. The stories/manuscripts must be free of all personal or identifying information about the author. This includes age and address.

​9. Entry format: Entries should be in a standard 12pt font and double-spaced, unless the form of the story demands otherwise. Entry is online-only, via Submittable.

​10. Multiple entries: Writers may enter as many stories as they like; each separate story requires a separate entry fee.

​11. Simultaneous submissions: Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please withdraw your entry via Submittable as soon as possible if the story is accepted for publication elsewhere, in print or online (including self-published, e-book, magazines, journals, audio, websites, blogs, social network sites), or broadcast.

​12. Age restriction: Entrants must be 18 years old or over on the closing date.

​13. Corrections: No corrections or alterations can be made after receipt of an entry.

​14. New work only: Entries must be entirely the work of the entrant and must never have been previously published, in print or online (including self-published, e-book, magazines, journals, audio, websites, blogs, social network sites), or won a prize in another writing competition. Any entry found to have been plagiarised will be disqualified.

​15. Judging process: Each entry will be read by at least two members of a diverse panel of experienced short story readers from Short Fiction. A shortlist, announced in late April 2024, will then be forwarded to our judges, Yan Ge and Wendy Erskine, who will select the winner, runner-up and third place story for a final announcement in May 2024. The panel’s and judges’ decisions are final and no individual correspondence will be entered into.

​16. Prizes: £1000 will be awarded to the main prize winner; the runner-up will receive £300, and the third place story will win £100.

​17. Publication: The winning, runner-up and third place stories will be published online at Short Fiction journal. Acceptance of any prize implies agreement for the relevant story to be published online.

Short Fiction

​18. Results: Entrants will not be contacted individually about the competition results unless they are selected for the shortlist.

​19. Rules acceptance: Entry implies an acceptance of these rules. Entries that fail to comply with the entry rules and requirements may be disqualified.

See here for further information and to enter.

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Guest blogs, courses & events.

One Truth and Two Liars with GT CaribSA

Professional cappers, it’s your time to shine! Join us this week as we play One Truth and Two Liars 😶‍🌫️

How it works: Everyone will write down a short description of a crazy story that happened to them. Each round, three people will be chosen to tell the same story in their own way. Everyone else has to figure out whose story it actually is.

Check out our Instagram page for more information, and more events! @gt.caribsa

Event categories

Georgia Tech

Room 052, College of Computing

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Kamori Cori Sawyer

This event is open to:

Invited audience

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Georgia Tech

CSA Basketball Tournament

Teaching with the un sustainable development goals (sdgs): a faculty-led introductory workshop for instructors.

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SDG Interactive Art Hours

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COMMENTS

  1. Wattpad

    1 Create Share your unique voice and original story on Wattpad. Find the writing resources you need to craft a story only you can tell. 50+ Writing Resources 2 Build Establish a global fan base as your story gains readership and momentum. Connect with other like-minded writers through storytelling. 97 MILLION People² 3 Amplify

  2. 15 Websites And Apps For Creative, Fiction, and Short Story ...

    1. Commaful One of the most friendly writing communities I've come across. People are very active, friendly, and engaging. The site is mostly teens, but definitely spans a wide range where I've...

  3. Where To Publish Short Stories Online Easily And For Free

    1. Commaful 2. The Young Writers Society 3. Wattpad 4. Medium 5. Booksie 6. StoryWrite 7. Story Star 8. Tumblr 9. Quotev 10. Archive of Our Own 11. Start a free blog for your short stories Conclusion 11 Sites where you can publish short stories online Here are ten options for you to quickly and easily post and publish your short stories online.

  4. Thousands of Short Stories to Read Online

    25000+ Best Short Stories to Read Online for Free with Reedsy Prompts Thousands of Short Stories to Read Online Looking for a steady supply of short stories? Every week thousands of writers submit stories to our writing contest. Submitted by writers on Reedsy Prompts to our weekly writing contest . Recently featured

  5. Create Your Own Story Online: Free Story Creator ️

    Just enter some words about your story, and press the 'Generate Story' button. You can create a unique story within minutes to share with your friends. Writing stories has never been so easy! Try out our story generator and step-by-step story maker tool now! Get Started Daily Writing Challenges

  6. How to Write a Short Story in 9 Simple Steps

    Know what a short story is versus a novel. 2. Pick a simple, central premise. 3. Build a small but distinct cast of characters. 4. Begin writing close to the end. 5. Shut out your internal editor.

  7. Write A Story

    Write stories online with Commaful Share your stories quickly and easily in Commaful's multimedia format! Share alongside all types of creators from beginning writers to bestselling authors. START SHARING Share Alongside Bestselling Authors and Popular Screenwriters Commaful is home to professionals and amateurs alike.

  8. Online Short Story Writing Courses

    Online Short Story Writing Courses Develop your craft and tell the stories you're burning to tell, in our online short story writing courses. You'll get personal weekly instructor feedback on your work, ongoing collaboration with other writers, and a supportive course structure that will help you set and meet your writing goals.

  9. How to Write a Short Story: The Short Story Checklist

    Caitlin Scarano Chin-Sun Lee Denise Santomauro Elizabeth Winder Freesia McKee Giulietta Nardone Gretchen Clark Jacinda Townsend Jacquelyn Stolos Janée Baugher Jeanne De Vita Jeff Lyons Jennifer Billock Jessica Festa Jessie Roy Joanna Penn Cooper Jonathan J.G. McClure Joy Roulier Sawyer Jude Nutter Kelly Bingham Lisa C. Taylor Lissa Jensen

  10. 15 Writing Websites & Online Resources │Blurb Blog

    4. Underlined. Formerly known as Figment, Underlined is a website that provides story starters, writing inspiration, and advice from published authors. You can also join a community of aspiring writers, share excerpts of your work, and provide feedback to each other—all valuable parts of the creative life.

  11. 27 Online Short Story Writing Courses

    Writing Short Stories - Curtis Brown Creative. SET COURSE DATES 6-WEEK COURSE. BEGINNER & ADVANCED WRITERS. On this course, participants will "write and edit a complete short story and learn essential fiction-writing techniques on our course from award-winning short story-writer Cynan Jones".

  12. Where to Submit Short Stories: 30 Options for Writers

    1. The New Yorker 2. The Atlantic 3. The Threepenny Review 4. One Story 5. AGNI 6. Kindle Vella 7. Barrelhouse 8. The Cincinnati Review 9. The First Line 10. The Georgia Review 11. Boulevard Magazine 12. Story 13. Vestal Review 14.

  13. Story Write

    Story Write - Publish your short stories online : Story Write. While you move you should move lightly on your feet. Chapter 8. Chapter 9. When you do blocks you have to use the right stance with the right kind of arm block. You have to use your body for a lot of techniques. Its a good idea. You can do a few punches which move a lot in its path.

  14. Where To Publish Short Stories Online: 11 Best Websites You ...

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  15. WritersCafe.org

    Today's Top Writing PATRICIA ALICE A Poem by Vol Sometimes at the edge of the pasture, and under the eaves of trees, the soft greens of spring slide through my eyes and paint the curves and shadows of you to float like the bare-bottomed moon settling softly into the grass out there .. At the Blue Flame Inn A Poem by jacob erin-cilberto

  16. Write, Submit, Publish and Get Paid for Short Stories

    Sign up for free Earn Revenue | Global Audience | Collaborate Everyone has a story to tell but few actually do. Submit your story with us and we will take care of the rest. Get feedback, advice, editing, tools and much more to help you get published. And most importantly we will make sure your story reaches a wide audience.

  17. 14 Free Platforms To Share Your Short Stories Online

    1: WATTPAD. Home to 40 million stories and 25 million Wattpadders, this is one of the largest places to share your short stories online. Popular among younger generations, this is an ideal place for all you Young Adult and New Adult writers. There's rather a lot of OMG's and LOL's, so not ideal for all, but there's no denying the tight ...

  18. Short Stories and Poems, Read and Write for Free

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  19. 22 Free Online Short Stories to Read on Your Next Break

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  20. 21 Best Places to Read and Write Short Stories Online

    Literally. It works as a publishing platform for 80 million and more users and of course, with a larger variety of stories to discover in all types. There's no place to get bored with Wattpad ...

  21. AI Story Generator & Plot Generator

    Plot, write, and share stories anywhere, on any device. Save time in story plotting and brainstorming ideas with our free AI story generator tool. Use it on any Canva Doc, whether on desktop, mobile, or tablet devices, and across different web browsers. With everything in one place, your writing process is simplified.

  22. 18 Great Short Stories You Can Read Free Online

    It's a chilling story. A man known as the Traveller is visiting a foreign penal colony where he is shown a special machine used to execute prisoners. The machine inscribes the prisoner's crime onto their body until they die. It takes 12 hours of torture before the prisoner dies. I told you it was chilling!

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  25. The Short Fiction International Short Story Prize 2024

    The Short Fiction International Short Story Prize 2024 is open for entries. This year's prize will close for entries at midnight (GMT) on March 31st, 2024. Entries cost £10 in January and February, and £12 in March (to encourage early submissions!). 40 free entries are available to those for whom the fee represents a barrier to entry ...

  26. One Truth and Two Liars with GT CaribSA

    Professional cappers, it's your time to shine! Join us this week as we play One Truth and Two Liars 😶‍🌫️How it works: Everyone will write down a short description of a crazy story that happened to them. Each round, three people will be chosen to tell the same story in their own way. Everyone else has to figure out whose story it actually is.Check out our Instagram page for more ...