A short story is a piece of fiction that has a limited number of words and a few characters.
Parts of a short story
- Title: It summarizes the whole story, or it is related to the main theme. The theme is the central idea or belief in a short story.
- Exposition: It is the beginning of the story where you introduce the main characters. It also serves as the introduction to the next part.
- Climax: It is the action part where the main characters try to solve the conflict or problem.
- Resolution: In this part, the conflict is solved.
Let’s see a short story sample for the B1 Writing test
Useful vocabulary for a short story
Time expressions:
- at that moment
- as soon as
- _____ minutes later
- just in time
- then
- after that
- meanwhile
- while
- one morning in + month
- one afternoon in + month
- one evening in + month
Adverbs and adverbials to spice up your story
- suddenly
- in the end
- eventually
- unexpectedly
- right away
- nearly
- actually
- in fact
- apparently
- gradually
- basically
- obviously
- anyway
- all of a sudden
- without warning
Finishing your short story
- in the end
- eventually
- finally
- luckily
- when it was all over
Verb tenses used for short stories
Short stories usually take place in the past, for that reason, the most common narrative tenses you should use for your short story are:
Writing Practice 1
You are going to write a short story about a past mistake you have made.
Plan your story
The following questions can help you make your own story
- Where were you?
- What were you doing?
- What was happening around you?
- What surprising thing happened suddenly?
- What did you do?
- What did you think/ say?
- How were you feeling
- How did the story end?
Write your story in about 100 – 120 words in the comment section below.
Checklist:
- Title: Have you included a title that accurately reflects the content of your story?
- Exposition: Have you introduced the characters, setting, and plot of your story in a clear and concise manner?
- Action part: Have you included a sequence of events or actions that develop the conflict and engage the reader?
- Resolution: Have you provided a satisfactory conclusion to your story that ties up any loose ends and provides a resolution to the conflict?
- Adjectives and Adverbs: Have you used descriptive words (adjectives) and words that describe actions (adverbs) to create vivid imagery and convey your story’s mood and tone?
- Narrative tenses: Have you used the appropriate narrative tenses (simple past, past continuous, past perfect, past perfect continuous) to tell your story consistently and clearly?
- Clear ideas: Have you organized your story in a logical and coherent manner, ensuring that your ideas are expressed in a clear and concise manner?
If you use this list, you can check that you have included everything you need to in your short story.
This will help you create a story that makes sense and is interesting for people to read. In addition, if you include all the items from the checklist, you will get an EXCELLENT writing score.
Type your story in the “LEAVE A REPLY” textbox and you will receive feedback directly to your email.
I will post your final story after you have received feedback.
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Writing Practice 2
Write a short story beginning with one of the sentences below:
Plan the content:
- It was midnight when the phone rang.
- Alex had been working hard all day and was looking forward to going home.
- We had been driving for hours when we saw the sign for a small hotel and decided to stop.
1 Write what happened simply, in about 50 words.
2 Think about how you could improve your story by adding more details. For example, adjectives and adverbs.
3 Think about what tenses you need for each part of the story. For example, how to set the scene, and what significant events happened before the story starts.
Write your story in about 100 – 120 words in the box below.
Checklist:
- Title: Have you included a title that accurately reflects the content of your story?
- First line: Have you used the given first line from the instructions to begin your story?
- Exposition: Have you introduced the characters, setting, and plot of your story in a clear and concise manner?
- Action part: Have you included a sequence of events or actions that develop the conflict and engage the reader?
- Resolution: Have you provided a satisfactory conclusion to your story that ties up any loose ends and provides a resolution to the conflict?
- Adjectives and Adverbs: Have you used descriptive words (adjectives) and words that describe actions (adverbs) to create vivid imagery and convey your story’s mood and tone?
- Narrative tenses: Have you used the appropriate narrative tenses (simple past, past continuous, past perfect, past perfect continuous) to tell your story consistently and clearly?
- Clear ideas: Have you organized your story in a logical and coherent manner, ensuring that your ideas are expressed in a clear and concise manner?
If you use this list, you can check that you have included everything you need to in your short story.
This will help you create a story that makes sense and is interesting for people to read. In addition, if you include all the items from the checklist, you will get an EXCELLENT writing score.
Type your story in the “LEAVE A REPLY” textbox and you will receive feedback directly to your email.
I will post your final story after you have received feedback.
Teacher Julieta 
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