From The Master Of The Macabre

Poe on writing in short form

1) Decide on an ending. (In a short story, the reader is brought in near the climax.)

2) Commit to writing something that can be read in one sitting.

3) Decide the intent of the work. What is it’s desired effect? To inspire beauty, love, fear, etc?

4) Establish the tone of the work. How will you convey the desired effect? Through the use of humor, sadness, drama, etc?

5) Determine which characters lend themselves to the effective delivery of the work’s intent and tone.

6) Determine the setting in which the characters will deliver your message.

7) Using the decided upon tone, introduce the reader to the characters and setting while foreshadowing the climax.