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Characters in the Short Story

Character development
There are two methods through which we learn about the characters in a short sto
ry: directly and indirectly. We learn about characters directly when the author
describes the characters for us and tells us what he thinks about the character.
We learn about them through descriptions of their physical appearance and perso
nality. As well, we learn about them when the author tells us his opinion of his
characters.
In the indirect method, the author allows us to learn about the characters by te
lling us about their thoughts, feelings and words, about the comments and reacti
ons of others and about the actions of the characters themselves.

Character development in a short story
Two or three main characters is all a short story can effectively deal with as t
oo characters many will make it difficult to resolve your plot problem quickly.
Also, you will need to be very concise in developing your characters. Do not pro
vide detailed backgrounds on your characters . Decide on the qualities of your c
haracters that are important for your plot and theme and stick to those.
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Setting in the Short story
Since you have such a limited time to write in the exam, you must choose your wo
rds to describe the settings carefully. Each word must contribute to painting a
'mental picture' of the setting. You should use adjectives and adverbs skilfully
here to 'connect' to your readers' five senses and to spark their imagination.
The more you can get your reader to tap into their own senses to recreate the se
tting in their mind, the more real your setting will seem to them.
One way to do this is to set your story in places that will be familiar to your
readers, this allows them to use their own knowledge of the settings to help the
m in visualizing the story.
This does not mean you have to be boring or predictable when decribing the setti
ngs. Rather, it is by using imaginative language - adjectives, adverbs, similes,
and metaphors that you can get your reader to "see' the familiar setting in an
unfamiliar way.

When you are creating the setting for a story, you need to set the story in
a place
and
a time.
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Planning the plot of a short story
Storyline 1. Put a man up a tree
2. Throw stones at him
3. Get him down from the tree

Plan of a short story plot
The beginning; paragraph 1 and maybe 2
When you come to think of it, this is good advice for any writer. When you are p
lanning a short story in an exam it is best to begin by deciding on your plot.
Start with a situation, a problem to be resolved for a main character - a man up
the tree. This is the beginning of your plot and should be present in the intro
ductory paragraph of your short story (You also introduce the setting here too).


The middle; paragrphs 3,4 and maybe 5
Present problems that could occur while he is up the tree - throw stones at him:
for example there could be a rain storm, a pitbull at the base of the tree or s
ome other problem of your choice. This is the heart of your story and takes up t
he middle three paragraphs of your short story.

The conclusion: paragraph 6
The final step in the short story is to solve the problem - get the man down fro
m the tree - safely. In getting the man down from the tree, you establish the im
portant theme or the moral of your story: courage triumphs, good conquers evil,
honesty is the best policy or the theme of your choice.
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Theme in the Short Story
Every piece of writing must have a message, a moral or a 'thread of meaning' run
ning through it. This theme is the idea or framework which gives meaning to your
plot, characters, and setting.
As you write, make sure that your words are related to this theme.
It's tempting to use your short story to show off your talents at characterisati
on, descriptive writing or dialogue. However, you have very little time in the e
xam and every word you write must contribute to the impact of your story.
The best stories are the ones that follow a narrow and even simple story line. I
f the storyline is simple it makes it much easier for you to write well and expr
ess your theme clearly. Decide what the point of your story is and stick to the
point. otherwise you end up with either a novel beginning or a mish-mash of idea
s that add up to nothing.
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POV
First person narrator
Third person narrator
Omniscient narrator
First person narrator:
Can only know and talk about the things that they have experienced in the story.

He or she can reflect on these things and make deductions from them.
The narrator cannot describe the thoughts of other characters.
This narrator is characterized by the use of 'I'.
Third person narrator:
The narrator does not comment on characters
Does not make judgments about the action of the story.
He or she can be considered to be unintrusive.
This is some-one outside the story that refers to the characters as 'they', 'him
' or 'she'.
Omniscient narrator:
The narrative knows everything about the events and thoughts of every character
in the story.
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So, how do you write a CXC CSEC English A short story in 45 minutes?
Well, there are a lot of techniques for short story writing. Many of which will
posted here over time. In this post, I just want to give you some "quick and dir
ty" tips for writing good short stories when you are not so good at it and you a
re under the pressure of time in the CXC CSEC exam room.

Tip 1: Write about things that you know well.
It is easier, faster and smarter to write about things that you know well.
When you choose a short story to write, try to stick to a story that you can con
nect to your own life and/or experiences. When you do this, you don't have to re
ach into your imagination so much. You already know much of the story because yo
u have lived it yourself or you know someone who has.

Tip 2: Write about one short event or short experience.
Write about one event, one moment in time or one emotional experience. When you
make your story take place in a short space of time, or focus on one emotional
moment, it is easier to start and end the story in 45 minutes. If you don't beli
eve me, check out the CXC best short stories, each one is about an event that ha
ppens in a few minutes.

Tip 3: Make your sentences work hard.
Every sentence in a short story has to work overtime. It has to "double up" on w
hat it does. It has to tell the story and build the mood or theme of the story a
t the same time. It's not just, " the road stretched in front of him", it's, "th
e road that stretched in front of him, seemed to echo the emptiness of his futur
e". See? In that one sentence I not only talked about the road but I also relat
ed it to the character's feelings and future.
Please note that a sentence doesn't have to be long to work hard.

Tip 4: Use short sentences.
It is easier to read short sentences than it is to read long sentences. You don'
t want the Examiner slowing down his reading to try to figure out what you want
to say. You will impress the CXC CSEC Examiner more by using simple, clear lang
uage to tell an exciting story, rather than using complex language to tell a sto
ry he can't figure out.

Tip 5: Use simple words.
Sometimes exam candidates think that they need to use "essay language" to impres
s examiners. They use '10 dollar words' when '10 cent words' will get the job do
ne just as good or better.
One way to tell if you are using 10 dollar words in your essay is to read your e
ssay back to yourself as you are writing. If you find yourself stumbling over wo
rds, change the ones that you are stumbling over for easier words.
If the essay does not flow smoothly when you are reading it to yourself, see whe
re you can rewrite it so that it is easier to read.

Tip 6: If you are not sure, don't use it.
If you are not sure about using quotation marks and other punctuation signs when
writing direct speech, don't use direct speech in your story. Make life easy fo
r yourself, use normal sentences and write in paragraph form.
If you are not sure about the spelling of a word, don't use it. Use another word
that you are sure you know how to spell.
This is an easy way to save some marks.

Tip 7: Do not write about sex (or a lot of unnecessary violence).
The CXC CSEC English A Examiners really, really do not like when exam candidates
write sexually explicit stories. They have said this publicly.

Tip 8: Write neatly.
I know this sounds too easy, but many people do not write neatly in exams. They
are so busy trying to get everything down on paper, within the time limit, they
don't worry about neat handwriting. This is not a good idea.
When your handwriting is neat and easy to understand, you are reducing the work
the Examiner has to do to read your essay. This puts him/her in a good mood, you
want that. I repeat, you want that.

Tip 9: Leave time to proof-read your essay.
Leave 5 minutes out of your 45 minutes to proof-read your essay at the end.
We all make mistakes. In the heat of trying to get your whole essay on paper, yo
u may have made spelling and/or grammar mistakes. Take a few minutes at the end
of the exam to clean up the essay and make sure it reads well (sounds good to yo
ur ear).

Well, that's it for now. If I think of any more tips, I will add them as time go
es on.