The Short StoryThe Short Story

Literature and Composition ILiterature and Composition I

What is a Short Story?

What is a Short Story?

From the voices of writersFrom the voices of writers

Marilyn Singer, “The Magic Bow” and “Fabulous Shoes.”Marilyn Singer, “The Magic Bow” and “Fabulous Shoes.”

A short story is, in some ways, like a photograph--a captured moment of time that is crystalline, though sometimes mysterious, arresting, though perhaps delicate.

A short story is, in some ways, like a photograph--a captured moment of time that is crystalline, though sometimes mysterious, arresting, though perhaps delicate.

Jacqueline Woodson, “On Earth”Jacqueline Woodson, “On Earth”

For myself a short story is fiction that is more immediate and urgent than a novel. I think of it cinematically--the camera zooming in on this one climactic moment, then pulling back on either side of the moment to show all that leads up to and comes after it.

For myself a short story is fiction that is more immediate and urgent than a novel. I think of it cinematically--the camera zooming in on this one climactic moment, then pulling back on either side of the moment to show all that leads up to and comes after it.

M.E. Kerr, “Guess Who’s Back in Town, Dear?”M.E. Kerr, “Guess Who’s Back in Town, Dear?”

The biggest difference, to my mind, between a short story and a novel is that after you’ve finished a short story, you and your life haven’t changed.

I think a short story is usually about one thing, and a novel about many…A short story is like a short visit to other people, a novel like a long journey with others.

The biggest difference, to my mind, between a short story and a novel is that after you’ve finished a short story, you and your life haven’t changed.

I think a short story is usually about one thing, and a novel about many…A short story is like a short visit to other people, a novel like a long journey with others.

What is a Short Story?

What is a Short Story?Definitions Definitions

Usually, the short story can be read from beginning to finish at one sitting without interruption, and the reader is able to experience the author’s single effect.

Character, setting, plot, theme, point of view, conflict, and style are basic elements of all literature, but the short story is the genre in which these elements can be analyzed most easily.

Usually, the short story can be read from beginning to finish at one sitting without interruption, and the reader is able to experience the author’s single effect.

Character, setting, plot, theme, point of view, conflict, and style are basic elements of all literature, but the short story is the genre in which these elements can be analyzed most easily.

A short story is a fictional prose tale of no specified length, but too short to be published as a volume on its own (as novels are).

A short story will normally concentrate on a single event with only one or two characters, more economically than a novel’s sustained exploration of social background.

The short story as we know it flourished in the magazines of the 19th and early 20th centuries, especially in the USA, which has a particularly strong tradition.

A short story is a fictional prose tale of no specified length, but too short to be published as a volume on its own (as novels are).

A short story will normally concentrate on a single event with only one or two characters, more economically than a novel’s sustained exploration of social background.

The short story as we know it flourished in the magazines of the 19th and early 20th centuries, especially in the USA, which has a particularly strong tradition.