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Introduction To Short Story

The short story is a brief work of prose fiction that focuses on a single incident or series of linked incidents to evoke a single effect or mood. It uses literary techniques similarly to novels but to a lesser degree given its shorter length, which is typically 1,000 to 4,000 words. While not historically regarded as its own genre, the short story form encourages concise narrative, few characters, and omitting complex plots in favor of revealing character through their actions and encounters.

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1K views

Introduction To Short Story

The short story is a brief work of prose fiction that focuses on a single incident or series of linked incidents to evoke a single effect or mood. It uses literary techniques similarly to novels but to a lesser degree given its shorter length, which is typically 1,000 to 4,000 words. While not historically regarded as its own genre, the short story form encourages concise narrative, few characters, and omitting complex plots in favor of revealing character through their actions and encounters.

Uploaded by

Bella Tan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Short Story

A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one


sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked
incidents, with the intent of evoking a "single effect" or mood.
The short story is a crafted form in its own right. Short stories make use
of plot, resonance, and other dynamic components as in a novel, but
typically to a lesser degree. While the short story is largely distinct from
the novel or novella/short novel, authors generally draw from a common
pool of literary techniques.
Short story writers may define their works as part of the artistic and
personal expression of the form. They may also attempt to resist
categorization by genre and fixed formation.
Short stories have deep roots and the power of short fiction has been
recognized in modern society for hundreds of years.
In terms of length, word count is typically anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000
for short stories, however some have 15,000 words and are still classed
as short stories. Stories of fewer than 1,000 words are sometimes
referred to as "short short stories", or "flash fiction"

The short story is usually concerned with a single effect conveyed in


only one or a few significant episodes or scenes. The form encourages
economy of setting, concise narrative, and the omission of a
complex plot; character is disclosed in action and dramatic encounter
but is seldom fully developed. Despite its relatively limited scope,
though, a short story is often judged by its ability to provide a “complete”
or satisfying treatment of its characters and subject.

Before the 19th century the short story was not generally regarded as a
distinct literary form. But although in this sense it may seem to be a
uniquely modern genre, the fact is that short prose fiction is nearly as old
as language itself. Throughout history humankind has enjoyed various
types of brief narratives: jests, anecdotes, studied digressions, short
allegorical romances, moralizing fairy tales, short myths, and
abbreviated historical legends. None of these constitutes a short story as
it has been defined since the 19th century, but they do make up a large
part of the milieu from which the modern short story emerged.
Short Story vs Novel
The obvious difference between a novel and a short story is that short
stories are short and novels are long. Short stories can be 1,000 to
20,000 words. More average is 3,000 to 5,000 words. A novel can be
anywhere from 60,000 to over 120,000.
 
A short story has one main character and the story is told through that
character’s point of view. Often it is told in first person or limited first
person. A novel has a cast of characters and the story can be told from
any of those characters’ viewpoints.
 
The main character of a short story has a need or fear that leads to a
major change or climactic event in that person’s life. The protagonist
comes to a single understanding or insight. A novel is much more
complex with many transformational events that more than one
characters can go through.
 
A short story usually takes place in a few hours or days in few settings. A
novel can take place over a short period of time or it may cover years or
generations in many different settings, countries and even planets.
 
A short story has one theme, whereas a novel can explore different
themes and has more breadth and scope.
 
Each story form has different challenges. The short story gives the
author a chance to explore one idea with one character. It must be
written so that it is tight and a lot conveyed in an economy of words. The
first draft may be written in one setting and rewritten and edited in a
short period of time. However, the limitation on the number of words in
itself can be a challenge. How do you make a reader care about the
character in so few pages? How do you make an emotional impact?
 
The novelist has time to explore characters, different settings, subplots
and sweeping events. The commitment to write a novel is much larger
and it may take years to research, write, rewrite and edit.

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