I am an accidental historical romance author.

Which sounds a little odd. How can you accidentally start writing in a genre?

In 2022, I had been writing fiction for a few years. Mostly historical fiction, and a mix of time-travel and literature. I had written a few short stories, along with trying to write a novel, but I kept coming up against a wall when trying to write steamy scenes. Not so much writing the scenes themselves, but in getting constructive feedback. Part of it was the people doing the reading didn’t quite know how to respond, and part of it was my own embarrassment in wondering what people would think about me writing, you know, scenes like that, and not sharing them.

But I really wanted to learn, and to get better at writing spicy scenes, not to necessarily include them, but because I hate being scared of things. I wanted the option to decide what I would write, and to not default to fade to black because I was scared.

So, in 2022, I wrote a little short story and self-published it, complete with a homemade cover. I read the reviews, gathered up some feedback, read some books and then I wrote another story, and another. One of those stories has won a Romance Writers of Australia RUBY for best novella, at a little under 11,000 words. 

Over time I’ve learnt and refined my process, and these are some of the things I have learnt that help keep me on track.

One main plot or turning point 

Don’t follow a heap of beats. Don’t squeeze in two no ways. There is one plot point, and that plot point is the obstacle that is stopping the couple from getting it on. Another way I’ve seen this written is that a character has a problem, and that problem can only be solved with sex, but I think this depends on what you are writing. My short stories are not just about getting to The Good Bit but also tackle an emotional barrier. This barrier has stopped the character from forming connections. Processing it allows for emotional (and sexual) intimacy with another. 

Focus on every paragraph, every sentence, every word. Is it working hard enough? Is it carrying its weight? If not, it has to go.

No dumping

Don’t feel tempted to put in a scene where one-character talks through all their emotional baggage, aka exposition, with a friend so that you get it all out. You need to make that background work harder, my friend. No dumps.

Feed relevant back story as it's needed. Don’t try to set up the story with all the background in the first or second paragraph. Just say it short and sharp, through action. Feed out exposition that helps as the story progresses. Tell what you need to tell at the moment it is relevant. 

I also try to make sure that all the backstory is out by the time we get to the turning point/plot point. After that, everything is an extension or deepening of what has already been set up, but not new information.

Slice of life

I always think of a short story as a slice of life, a snippet about the people involved, whereas a novel is the Biggest, the Bestest, the most exciting (or terrifying or life changing) thing that happened. It doesn’t need an epilogue or a wedding or loads of other things. It should still be a significant moment, but it doesn’t have to be everything. If you are having trouble pulling your short stories into line, this approach may help. Which slice—and only one slice—are you going to write about?

Short stories don’t have to be light on or lacking in conflict just because they are short stories. A good short story can have as much depth as a novel. The biggest difference between a short story and a novel is not depth or meaning, but focus. There is less other stuff going on. A novel has periphery, or other sub-plots that are pulled in and out of focus. A short story is more focused on one thing.

Short doesn’t have to mean light

A short story should also be about something else, some common universal theme (or, to quote T Taylor in 7 Figure Fiction, some kind of butter). At its heart, Hide and Seek is about how we carry the wounds of betrayal into new relationships, and sometimes, the person who provides the healing isn’t the person who inflicted the wound. I write a lot about the complexity of grief, and how it doesn’t go away until it is dealt with, because time heals nothing. All of this sits beneath the bigger story.

But having written this, I realise that there’s a very good chance you won’t know the story’s theme until after you’ve written it. There’s a very good chance you’ll look back and go Oh, I think that’s what I was trying to say. But if your stories seem lacking, try to find this theme, and add in a few lines to help it shine.

In late, out early

This is my favourite piece of advice, and one of the hardest for me to learn. It took many rewrites and restarts to learn what it meant. The opening paragraph needs to work super hard in a short story, to establish:

• Point of View
• Location
• Emotion
• Character

That’s a LOT!

One way to hit all of these is to show the character in action. I like to start after the inciting incident, or after the thing that sets the entire story in motion has happened.

• Tryst with a Viscount doesn’t start with Lilian being told she’s going to marry, but with her refusing to dance with her friend because she is too worried about her future to enjoy herself.
• The Portrait Sitting starts not with Clarke receiving Francine’s letter, but as he is waiting for her to arrive.
• Hide and Seek doesn’t feature the wedding ceremony, even though it’s a newlywed story. The story starts just after the ceremony.
• My Fake Mistress starts moments after Blythe has lied and said she is Julian’s mistress, not with the lie itself.

These stories all could have started earlier but starting that bit later allows me to show all those important things about the character, setting, everything, without slowing down the pace. If your short stories feel like that take a while to get going, think about if you are starting with the inciting incident, and of you are, can you move the beginning to later in the story, and show us the characters already in action and dealing with the consequences?

Out early is the same thing, only reversed. We don’t need the epilogue; we just need the action that starts the wrap-up of the story. For me, in a romance, this is with the promise of forever. I also like to end with the suggestion that the couple are about the get it on again very shortly, but this isn’t necessary. It’s just what I like to do to create that feeling of a growing relationship, and to allow the reader to imagine their own epilogue for the characters.

Write, write, write/Cut, cut, cut!

Overall, the best way to get better at writing short stories is to write them. Start them and see where it goes. Wrestle with the plot, set a word count and make yourself pull the story into line. Don’t use that lazy adage—the muse ran away on me! Show discipline. Free writes and explorations of ideas can go rogue, but if you are writing a short story, set the word count and make it behave. Cut the subplot. Lose that character. Make every word work. That’s how you learn. 

What are you waiting for? Get writing!