Agatha Christie once said that a short story was "something that can be read in an hour and remembered for a lifetime." However, good short stories don't just emerge by luck. Rather, they require a comprehensive, logical writing method that takes you from start to finish; that's exactly what this course is designed to do, enabling you to turn your creative ideas into short stories, either for pleasure or profit.

Short stories are one of the most well-liked forms of fiction. Many magazines depend on them to fill their allocated fiction pages, and paperback publishers find anthologies of short stories are popular sellers. So, short stories can become a rewarding form of writing, both financially and creatively.

With the help of Courses Direct's Short Story Writing specialist course, you learn how to develop plots, build suspense and maintain interest, the techniques of relating characters to their allotted situations, as well as using elements of sympathy and empathy to create characters your readers will identify with.

• Plot planning
• Writing effective stories
• Essential fiction know-how
• The way to characterise
• Selling short stories

MODULE 1: PLOT PLANNING
Introduction; incident or short story; correct manuscript presentation; formulating main plot; beginning, build-up, climax and ending; laying your story's foundations; basic plot plan formula; emotion; theme; main character's purpose; dramatic high spot; analysing published work; writing discipline; story length; tightening prose; first draft; pruning; adding final touches; example of plot analysis.

MODULE 2: WRITING EFFECTIVE STORIES
Story structure; writing style; functions of dialogue; defining characters through speech; dialogue and personality; dialect; jargon; slang/obscenities; including "white space"; the apostrophe; dialogue technicalities; laying out; indenting; quotation marks; basic plot structure; the beginning - physical descriptions and introducing characters; the build-up - weaving your story towards the climax; sub-plots; revealing mood and atmosphere; using dialogue for transition; the Black Spot; the ending.

MODULE 3: ESSENTIAL FICTION KNOW-HOW
Grades of short story markets; pulps and glossies; writer's block; stock plot plan; the first draft; main theme; individual personalities; setting and climax; introducing your main character; establishing the scene; descriptive prose; "purple prose"; introducing other characters; establishing relationships; setting the mood; dialogue and writing style; third-person viewpoint; punctuation in dialogue; "he said, she said"; action and introspection; multi speakers; unnecessary adverbs; dialogue style; rhythm and cadence.

MODULE 4: THE WAY TO CHARACTERISE
Characterisation; physical appearance; long or short descriptions; clothing; names; habits, speech and mannerisms; personality; non-physical features; making characters real, weaknesses and foibles; minor characters; consistency; sympathetic characters; main character and the climax; portraying emotions and traits; characterising the hero and heroine; the villain and villainess; summary of characterisation.

MODULE 5: SELLING SHORT STORIES
Structure and theme; time span; setting; characters; dialogue; plot; marketing saleable work; taboos; the long, short story or the mini-book; pseudonyms; preliminary letter; writing the synopsis; romantic fiction; the Western; sci-fi; the detective story; false trails; sub-plots and interplay; revision checklist; punctuation (commas, colons, semicolons, dashes, hyphens and apostrophes); editing; manuscript presentation; joining a story group; five final writing tips.