There are hundreds, no, thousands, of adult writers who send stories out to magazines, hoping to get published. Strangely enough, most editors will tell you that are desperately looking for stories they can use.

Why the gap?

I think it's because of lack of form. The unpublished writers simply aren't following some simple rules-rules you can use to your advantage in your next fiction assignment...

Let me back up a bit.

Short stories seem easier to write than novels because they are so much shorter than novels. (Would you rather finish your story in four pages, or four hundred pages?)

On the other hand, many successful novelists will tell you they can't write a short story; it's too difficult for them to wrap up the action, scene description and character development in four or five pages.

There is a secret, however, to making short stories work. Three words: beginning, middle, and end. (I know. You're saying, DUH, HELLO, thanks for the incredible news flash. But believe me, I worked as an editor at a magazine, and I've seen how few writers keep those three words in mind.)

Here are a few pointers on the short story form...

• BEGINNING Give yourself less than ten paragraphs to describe a main character who not only is faced with a problem, but who decides to solve it. The problem can be major or minor, but it must be there at the beginning, along with the person who must solve it.
  
  
• MIDDLE Show how the problem gets more difficult. It will appear that your hero(ine) won't be able to solve it. Increasing the stakes like this will keep your reader interested.
  
  
• END When it seems like all is about to be lost, have your hero(ine) try the right solution. Your solution should make sense, but not be too predictable. ideally, your hero(ine)'s life has been changed in some way.

I find the most difficult part of short story writing is thinking through the problem/solution. In fact, one six page story I sold took four hours of thinking, and only two hours of writing. And that's the final key, I believe, to a good short story. Have your solution in mind first-the rest will fall into place.

Whether your next short story is a school assignment or something you'd like to send out for publication, remember: beginning, middle, end. You'll ace the story.