Some people use ficlets as a notebook for posting their own continuous stories, 1 K at a time. If that’s all you’re using ficlets for, then this tip probably isn’t for you.

If you’re wanting to write something that other people might sequel, however, listen up. You need to do more than just write 1024 characters of story with no real beginning or ending.

Ideally, your ficlet should be a “mini story,” with its own beginning, middle, and end. Start with something happening that leads you into a middle where you can fill out more description and set up the situation.

End the story with a “hook”—a mini-cliffhanger. Something that might make the reader say to himself, “Oooh, I know just what ought to happen next!” and then click the link and write it himself.

For instance, my ficlet “Sioni Decides” starts with Sioni thinking about what’s happened. It then describes Sioni’s dilemma. In the last line she makes a choice—a “hook” suggesting that the next writer could come up with the outcome of that choice.