How to Finish Your First Short Story in One Week

Most beginner writers don’t fail because they lack ideas or talent.
They fail because they never finish.

This post is about finishing something—specifically, your first short story—in one focused week. Not perfectly. Not brilliantly. Just finished.

If you’ve been following this series, you already have everything you need. Now it’s time to use it.

Why Finishing Matters More Than “Writing Well”

For indie and beginner writers, finishing is the real skill.

Finished stories teach you pacing
Finished stories reveal weaknesses
Finished stories build confidence
Finished stories can be revised, shared, or published

Unfinished drafts do none of that.

Your goal this week is completion, not quality.

What “Finished” Actually Means

Before we plan the week, let’s define finished:

A clear beginning, middle, and end
A complete character arc (even a small one)
No placeholder scenes
No “I’ll fix this later” gaps

It does not mean:

Polished prose
Perfect dialogue
Zero plot holes

Done beats good. Every time.

The One-Week Plan

Day 1: Commit to a Small Story

Keep it short. Very short.

1,000–2,000 words
One main character
One central problem
One setting (or two at most)

If the story feels “too simple,” you’re doing it right.

Day 2: Define the Spine

You don’t need a full outline—just the spine.

Answer these four questions:

Who is the story about?
What do they want?
What gets in the way?
How does it end?

If you’ve read the earlier posts on premise and character, this should feel familiar.

Write this in 5–10 bullet points. That’s it.

Day 3: Write the Beginning

Your only job today:

Introduce the character
Establish the situation
Hint at the problem

Don’t overthink your opening line. Start where the story starts, not where it’s most clever.

Aim for 300–500 words.

Day 4: Write the Middle (Yes, Even the Messy Part)

This is where most stories die.

Push through by focusing on:

Obstacles
Choices
Consequences

Use what you learned about conflict and tension earlier in the series. Make things harder for your character. Let scenes do something.

Aim for 400–800 words.

Day 5: Write the Ending

Endings don’t need to be shocking. They need to be earned.

Ask:

Did the character get what they wanted?
Or did they get something else instead?
What changed?

Even a quiet ending is fine—as long as it resolves the story’s question.

Aim for 300–500 words.

Day 6: One Clean Revision Pass

Not a full edit. Just one focused pass:

Fix obvious grammar issues
Remove repetition
Clarify confusing moments
Cut anything that doesn’t serve the story

Ignore perfection. This is a polish, not a rewrite.

Day 7: Call It Finished (And Mean It)

Save the file. Export it. Back it up.

Then do the most important step:

Declare the story finished.

You can revise later. You can improve later.
But today, you finish.

How This Ties Back to Everything You’ve Learned

Ideas → you picked one and committed
Characters → you followed one arc
Conflict → you made things harder
Dialogue → you used it to serve scenes
Structure → you gave the story an ending

Finishing forces all of those skills to work together.

What to Do After You Finish

Take a day off. Then:

Share it with one trusted reader
Put it in a folder called “Finished Stories”
Start the next one

Momentum comes from completion, not inspiration.

Final Thought

Your first finished short story won’t be your best.

But it will be the most important one you write.

Because once you finish one story, you stop being someone who wants to be a writer—and become someone who actually finishes.

Now go finish it.