How do i grow these the way i want?

these plants i have had for a long time now and i obviously did something wrong its been a couple of months now and there no where near the point they should be!

these plants i have had for 2 to 3 weeks and they seem to be doing pretty good, so my question is how do i keep them short and how do i get them to just grow outward?

Take them out of the Dixie cups for starters...they need a bigger home.

repot them for sure...
top them too...

topping is when you cut off a top section of the plant and it regrows with two branches...
this can be done multiple times to make your plant get bushy and stay short.
look up supercropping video tutorials too.... you can bend a 90 degree turn in those suckers and they'll keep on growing.

They appear to be in desperate need of more light

ok cool thanks, when should i start topping them?

I'd top em in a week or so...after they recover from their transplant.... but that's just me... depends on what height you are working with in your grow space.

Just about every possible thing in your grow area needs to be re-done.
Until then, you will be pissing in the wind.