Writing a Short Story Checklist

Revising:

There is a creative title.

The story has a beginning, middle, and end.

The exposition introduces the characters, the setting, and the conflict.

The introduction is an attention grabber.

The characters are described in full detail including looks and personality.

The setting is described so its easy to picture and explains when & where the story takes place.

The rising action builds to the climax and includes attempts to solve the problem with obstacles.

The climax of the story is a turning point for the character so that the problem can now be solved.

The falling action and the resolution tie up loose ends and give a solution to the problem.

The story includes an appropriate amount of dialogue to bring the characters to life.

Proofreading/Editing:

Every paragraph is indented.

Paragraphs should be approximately 3-5 sentences long. (Not a whole page)

Apostrophes and commas are used where they are needed.

Complete sentences are used throughout the entire story.

All words are spelled correctly.

Capitalization is used correctly. (The word I is always capitalized when used alone.)

Dialogue is paragraphed correctly. (Start a new paragraph each time a different character speaks.)

Dialogue is punctuated correctly with commas and quotation marks in the right place.

Final Copy:

Includes the authors name written like this: By Laura Salopek NOT By: Laura Salopek (No colon used)

Typed with size 14 point Proofread for typos/mistakes

Double-spaced Easy-to-read font