Most writers would assert that the qualifications of a well-written short story are limited to length, but they would be wrong. While the length of a short story is important – most are shorter than 5,000 words – there are other qualities that a work of fiction must possess in order to be considered a short story.
You’ve probably read dozens of short stories in your lifetime, regardless of whether or not you enjoy reading. In school, you studied the process of developing a short story and probably critiqued those written by others. A short story is not just a “short novel”; it has a structure unique to its own category.
As mentioned above, length is a factor in the classification of a short story, but it is not the only factor. Most short stories are between 2,000 and 5,000 words long; anything shorter becomes “flash fiction” or a “short-short story”; anything longer branches into novella territory. According to WritersDigest.com, most short story contests and publishers are looking for stories that are closer to the 5,000-word mark.
Beyond length, however, a short story must contain all of the qualifications of a work of fiction. Characters, plot, conflict and climax are all necessary to classify your short story. Without characters, it becomes a personal essay; without a plot and conflict, it becomes a character sketch. You must be able to include all of the necessary factors in order to write a well-written short story.
One of the best ways to compose a well-written short story is to start with a concept or idea and to outline it before you begin writing. Think about the plot and how you can create conflict from a simple idea. Outlining it first will ensure that the story is small enough to fit into 5,000 words and that it’s long enough to create conflict and strife between and within characters.
A well-written short story must be tightly wound in order to get the author’s point across in as few words as possible. With novels, you can go on and on for pages about the scenery or the characters’ past, but once you melt it down into a short story, the action must begin at the opening scene and never stop until the end. Short stories are supposed to be read in one sitting, so you must be able to hold the reader’s attention throughout the manuscript.
Another hallmark of the well-written short story is the evolution of characters. Most short stories demonstrate how the main character has changed over the course of events that take place in your story. In fewer than 5,000 words, you must be able to demonstrate that the character has undergone a significant change because of what happened during the short story.
Many authors, including Henry James, have admitted that the short story is often more difficult to write than the full-length novel. If you are hoping to place your short story in a publication or a contest, you should study as many short stories as possible to get an idea for how they are written.
If you are looking for good examples of short stories from which to garner inspiration, you might want to look at some of the writings of Edgar Allen Poe, Flannery O’Conner, Ernest Hemingway and Joyce Carol Oates. Look at the way that these authors compose their short stories – the conflict, the plot and the character development.
