This is how to write

Here is a posting I recently made on the DSI message boards to a girl that was having trouble writing a short story. I hope it was helpful to her and to anyone who might want ot write their very own short story.

(ahem)

DO NOT:
-tell the story. (ie, show it instead)
-start at the beginning. Whats happened isn't important, whats happening is.
-concentrate on dialogue, if you do include dialogue, make it absolutely necessary to the story. (Why is this person saying these words at this time? Why is it essential?)
-use flowery language unless it is absolutely necessary. No one cares if the walls are a melancholy chartruese.
-try and cover a long amount of time in a short amount of space. your story shouldn't be epic, especially if it is a short story. Save the saga for a novel.
-concentrate on conflict or plot. I know Cece mentioned that all fiction revolves around conflict, but if you create too much conflict, you tend to concentrate on that. Anything can be conflictual, ie getting to the bus on time, deciding what to eat for lunch. The story isn't about the conflict, its about how your character chooses to deal with the conflict. (this is also a good rule for improv, Kit!)
-use cliche. This is your story, make it such. No one has icy blue eyes.
-use generalizations or superlatives. ie "Mary Beth never got what she wanted for Christmas." "Danny had the worst day of his life." Use specifics instead.
-by any means, use "to be" verbs when you can use active verbs. Wrong: "Sarah Elizabeth was sad when she was visting her grandmother at the hospital." Right: "Sarah Elizabeth hovered beside her grandmother's hospital bed and shuddered as sadness slapped tears into her face."
-give characters accents. I personally will put a story down if I read: "Well, Ah sahpose we'd best get to tha shawvelin'."
-use comma splices, run-ons, and/or improper tense.

DO:
-find a balance between FAMILIARITY and CREATVITY. There is such a balance that will make people care about your characters as if they were real people and be intrigued by their uniqueness all at once.
-read stories by authors that you like, and then find the things that make you really like them. Then do exactly the same thing in your own words with your own characters and situations.
-use proper grammar and spelling.
-show action rather than emotion. Let the reader have the emotion. Wrong: "Sarah Elizabeth's grandma died. She was really sad." (No shit) Right: "Sarah Elizabeth dug her nails into her father's palm. He smiled gently down at her as Grandma Doris was returned to the wet earth."