How to Write a Winning Short Story • Reedsy

📚 Overview

Great short fiction proves that impact isn’t measured by length. In this exclusive two-hour session, we’ll explore short fiction in various forms, from flash fiction to the short story. You’ll learn how to work within the genre’s unique format, build emotional stakes swiftly, and make every word count.

Whether you’re just starting to dabble in this format or looking to advance your author presence online through published stories, don’t miss this opportunity to hear from award-winning short story writers (including two-time Bram Stoker Award-winner Angela Yuriko Smith) and magazine editors.

You’ll leave with a clear blueprint for writing short fiction that doesn’t just impress readers, but editors as well.

🎓 What You'll Learn

How to create immediate narrative momentum

Strategies for anchoring your story around one powerful shift

How to craft endings that linger instead of fade

Best practices for submitting to writing contests and literary magazines

🎟️ What’s Included

This workshop includes two live masterclasses from world-class instructors, with a short 15 minute break in between. You’ll also receive 1x free entry to Reedsy’s short story contest Reedsy Prompts for the chance to win $250.

Schedule

EVENT

3pm - 3:45pm EDT

How to Craft Flash Fiction Editors Actually Want to Publish

In this fast-paced, insider session, publisher and editor Angela Yuriko Smith pulls back the curtain on how flash fiction is professionally evaluated. What makes an editor keep reading? What triggers an instant pass? Why do so many clever premises fall flat?

This session focuses on execution, structure, and market awareness. We’ll break down the five elements strong flash stories must deliver — and the subtle mistakes that sabotage even the most promising work. If you want your work to rise above the slush pile, this session will show you how to write flash that sells.

EVENT

4pm - 4:45pm EDT

How to Write a Short Story (and Nail Your Hook)

A good short story grabs the reader’s attention from the first line and never lets go. In this one-hour session, author and editor Rachel Moulton discusses the elements of fiction — diction, POV, imagery, character, plot, and theme — that are crucial to crafting an engaging short story.

This session focuses on how to nail your hook, the essential elements to creating a story that lingers in a reader’s imagination, and worldbuilding with a tight word count. You’ll learn all the tools you need to create a fully realized world in a short space, and immerse your readers in every line.

Speakers

Angela Yuriko Smith

Author & Publisher of Space and Time

Angela Yuriko Smith is a two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author, former president of the Horror Writers Association, and publisher of Space and Time. As a publishing consultant and coach, she helps writers build sustainable creative careers rooted in art, not arson. She writes Authortunities on Substack.

Rachel Moulton

Author & Editor at Narrative Magazine

Rachel Eve Moulton is a long-lister for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and nominee for both Shirley Jackson and Bram Stoker awards. She has written and published multiple short stories, and is an associate fiction editor for Narrative Magazine. She’s spent most of her life as an educator, writer, and editor.