Ideal for those new to the genre or for anyone who wishes to improve their technique, Ailsa Cox's guide will help readers achieve their full potential as a short story writer. The book encourages you to be inventive, to break writing habits and to try something new, by showing the diversity of the short story genre, from cyberpunk to social observation. Each chapter of the book:

• introduces key aspects of the craft of short story writing, including structure, dialogue, characterization, viewpoint, narrative voice and more
• shows how a wide variety of published writers have approached the short story genre, in order to deepen the insights you gain from your own work
• gets you writing, with a series of original, sometimes challenging but always rewarding exercises, which can be tackled alone or adapted for use in a group
• includes activities at the end of each chapter.

Ailsa Cox draws on her experience as a writer to provide essential information on drafting and editing, as well as a rich Resources section, which lists print and online journals that accept the work of new writers. Whether you're writing as part of a course, in a workshop group or at home alone, this book will equip and inspire you to write better short stories, and make you a more skilled, enthusiastic and motivated writer of short stories.