by Laura Michelle Thomas
With our 7th Annual International Junior Authors Short Story Contest less than a month away, I thought this topic would be timely. More than one young writer has emailed me or left a comment asking me what exactly makes a short story a short story. Watch my vlog and then read the summary notes below.
Short stories are:
- written in prose (not poetry)
- narratives (have a beginning, middle, and end)
- less than 25,000 words
Short stories typically have:
- one plot (one story problem)
- one point of view
- one main setting
- one main character with one or two essential traits
- a single effect on the reader
- unity (every element works together to create a single effect)
If you are still not clear on what makes a short story different from a novel, poem, or script, pick up a short story collection at your local library or used bookstore and read a dozen of them. It won’t take long to see that short stories are special. They are hard to write, but when done well, they can have a profound effect on a reader.
Some classic short stories to read are:
“The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
“Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield
“The Rocking-Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence
“Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway
“The Guest” by Albert Camus
“Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut
If you are planning to enter our short story contest this year and want some help writing a story that has a better chance at winning a prize, consider picking up a copy of my new short story workbook, Polly Wants to Be a Writer Workbook #1: Write a Short Story.