Set a deadline. Plan your nonfiction short-story writing around a schedule. It may be half an hour a day, or a daily word or page count. Without a goal, it is too easy to get caught up doing other things and to let your nonfiction short story writing slide.
Begin with the plot. Sketch in ideas for a beginning, a middle and an ending. Whereas some writers will "free-write" when they are working on a novel, and let the characters develop, a nonfiction short story doesn't have that much scope. Get to the point quickly.
Start with the ending and work backward if that is what works for you. Every writer has her own style and you will have to develop yours. As you work on your nonfiction short story, test different ways of doing things.
Limit your characters to three or four at most. Decide if you are going to invent new names for these people, or if you will get their permission.
Plan whether you are going to write it in the first or third person. With your first few nonfiction short stories, you may want to try both and evaluate which is the better "voice" for you.
Maintain a consistent tone. Use small words and action verbs. When reading a short story, people don't want to have to stop to look up words in a dictionary. They don't want to get bored, so keep the action moving.
Keep background information and descriptions brief. You don't want to use a thousand words describing a sunset in a short story. Stay focused on your characters and your plot.
Use realistic dialogue and appropriate language. If you are writing about street kids, don't have them sounding like university graduates, and vice versa.
Pick a dynamic title that captures the essence of your nonfiction short story. This may happen at the beginning, the middle or the end of the writing process, so keep a list of possible titles.
Read your nonfiction short story aloud to yourself. Have a red pen in hand as you do it and make notes and edits to phrasing, grammar and flow.