When we think about Easter baskets, we often think about jelly beans, chocolate eggs, malted eggs, and of course, colorfully decorated hard boiled eggs. How about adding a short story or two in the basket with those candies and eggs?

Philip C. Stead has written and illustrated an incredibly fun book of tales for children. He calls his short pieces small stories, yet there is nothing small about his writing or illustration. I found this volume of three small stories to be a great read for all ages.

Yes, these two can go together. Although this November event is known as National Novel Writing Month, you can still use this platform to start that short story collection. You know, the one you have been dreaming about, planning or postponing. This article outlines a plan. Let’s do this!

Let's talk about a few holiday suggestions for the short story readers and writers on your gift list. This article will share some unique, creative and fun ideas. For example, stuffing short stories in stockings, crafting short story gift jars, and creating short story starter journals.

As creatives, no matter what our creations are, we create to say or show something. As short story writers, our somethings are told through words. We write about things, people, animals, events, or places. We love to write. Yet, the hardest stories we may write are those that can help us heal.

This vignette was written by Charles Dickens in 1851. It is a far cry from the metamorphosis of character and heart we see in his well known story, A Christmas Carol. This vignette was extremely personal to Dickens. To this day, the message is still stark in meaning, and still universal to readers.

We can get our homes ready for spring by doing things such as sweeping, dusting, changing linens and rearranging. We call it spring cleaning. We can also spring clean our writing projects. This article has a few tips to get you started.

You are probably familiar with graphic novels, but are you familiar with graphic short stories? Let’s explore this creative avenue for the opportunity it offers to those who love reading and writing short stories. You just may be inspired to try illustrating on the short side of literature.

Life events can involve love found, love lost, friends, enemies, family, births, deaths, hurt, healing and hope. I knew immediately after reading the first story in Caitlin Hamilton Summie’s amazing short story collection, something inside of me was going to change because of her words.

If you are participating in NaNoWriMo, do you feel like your brain is buzzing, your fingers are cramping, and your idea well is drying up? Please, don’t fret. This article will encourage you to take some fun breaks as well as come up with some creative ways to cultivate new ideas.