Write a story that explores a parent/child relationship. Your story should take place in a single afternoon (or morning or night.) Work to make both characters complex and sympathetic to your readers.
As you write your short story, keep in mind that surprise endings do not work. We’ve seen these too often for them to be effective: “And then he awoke…” and then, she was dead…” “And then the alarm clock went off. It was another Monday in Cleveland.”
As much as possible, avoid writing thoughts and feelings of your characters. Let details, gesture, action convey how they think and feel.
All good stories need titles. Don’t think of the title as a label; instead, think of it as the first line of your story.
Consider beginning this story with dialogue
Use a third-person limited or first-person POV to tell this story