Five tips for putting together a short story collection

The moment I knew I wanted to put together my first short story collection was when I realised that several of my short stories were starting to talk to one another – through the themes, the setting, the context and tone. With these overlaps, I started the process of pulling my stories together into a cohesive book. I’ve now published two short story collections: Limelight and Other Stories, a collection of dark science fiction stories from near and far futures, and Dark Crescent, dark and seasonal tales from Scottish folklore. Here are some top tips from my experiences!

Identify your themes and genres

Most short story collections will explore a range of themes, genres and concepts, but often stories have some thematic or genre overlap or a message that appears across different stories. This overlap can help make a collection feel cohesive and allows the stories to speak to each other, while exploring messages and motifs or worlds and characters in different ways. 

Vary tone, POV, and length

Varying tone, point of view, and story length can be a way to keep readers engaged in a collection, so that stories don’t blend too much together.

For tone, for example, consider the range of serious vs comedic or dark vs light. You also may want to think about how the stories end – do they have enough setting them apart from one another? Having that variation in story arc and structure is important, too.

Try also mixing in shorter tales with longer ones – it’s common for collections to often have a central novelette or novella for example. For me, I like to include flash or vignettes in between longer stories, that engage or link with the other stories. I also add in flash where maybe there’s been a particularly dark story, as it can help offer a slight reprieve, particularly when there is a tonal shift. 

This variation across tone, length and point of view can really help to subvert reader expectations as they progress through the collection. You don’t want readers to guess the path of the next story because the ones before were too similar!

Consider a shared world or frame narrative

Some collections create cohesion with a shared world, setting, or something else like a timeline or single character connecting them. Some great examples of this are Folk by Zoe Gilbert and The Hotel by Daisy Johnson.

Other collections will create this sense of a shared world with a frame narrative – a story within a story. Sometimes this is how the book is narrated: maybe a character narrates all the stories, maybe stories are being told within a specific framing, or there are sections between the stories connecting them. One example would be Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan, which has a central narrative that weaves throughout the other stories.

It is possible to thread some of this in without a fully shared world. With both Dark Crescent and Limelight, I tried to create some parallels between stories, with shared beliefs, familiar settings, and crossover with worldbuilding details. This can also be a fun way for the reader to find hidden links as they read.

Choose a strong title

This is something I find tricky in general, especially if I don’t have them in mind from the outset – but for collections, there are shortcuts you can take to come up with the title:

• The title of one of the stories: often a longer piece like the novelette or novella
• A particularly impactful line from one of the stories
• A new title that signals the genres or themes of the book

Whatever you choose, a title should evoke something on the first read – whether hinting at tone, genre or themes. 

Create a cohesive order

Generally, it’s a good idea to put your best (or at least a strong and punchy story) first – this will grab the reader, get them engaged and wanting to read more. It’s also a good idea to have the second story distinct from the first – showcasing a different style, concept, genre, voice or structure. This will assure readers that the collection is going to be varied and interesting.

Another question to ask is: does your collection have an overarching arc or narrative? If so, when putting stories in order, consider which ones help move that arc forward and at what point in that journey the stories take place. 

Finally, keep one of your best stories for last, to end the collection on a high. It can be helpful to also consider how you want the reader to feel when they put down the book. Do you want them to keep thinking about the themes? Then end with a story that deals with those themes. You might want to end with an ambiguous story to keep the reader thinking, or conversely, with a clear resolution so they feel satisfied. Emotional resonance can also be important – ending on a sad or hopeful story can leave readers with a specific feeling. 

These choices will be a preference for every author, but I think – as with most of the advice above – it’s worth being intentional with them.

For a more in-depth look at putting together short story collections, I recorded a workshop for Elegant Lit which can be found via their author centre(this link will open in a new window).