A short tale is often a concise piece of fiction that is written in prose. The oral storytelling custom and scenes from classical Mediterranean epics like “The Epic of Gilgamesh” and “Homer’s Iliad” might be considered the first examples of the short narrative.
The oral storytelling tradition that influenced the short story includes parables, fables, fairy tales, and anecdotes like “The Painting of the Dog and His Reflection” from “Aesop’s Fables.” Indeed, the 4th century B.C. collection of “Aesop’s Fables” may have been the first collection of short stories in Western literature.
The short tale has evolved over time as a result of the impact of genres and authors from around the globe. For instance, the form and subject matter of this work have all been significantly influenced by Norse folklore, Irish ballads, and Gothic ghost stories.
A short tale is described as a story with a fully developed topic but is much shorter and less intricate than a book by dictionaries. That last sentence should be criticized because many short tales are just as detailed as or perhaps more so than routinely published novels. So, let’s attempt to improve the definition. Fully formed fictional works that are generally between 1,000 and 20,000 words fall within the short story form or genre. In recent contemporary history, short stories have experienced tremendous cultural success, a phenomenon made possible by technological advancement. In the early 19th century, as printing press technology and economics advanced, an increasing number of people in America and across the world had access to newspapers and magazines and this is how the advancement of short stories came into being.
The importance of wordcount:
Because readers don’t want to read novels that are either hurried or too leisurely paced, word count is important. The requirements for word counts are there for a purpose. However, when you’re attempting to be published, word count is crucial. Long books written by a new author are less likely to be accepted by a traditional publisher or literary agent. A book of adult fiction with the recommended word count is the most marketable. An undiscovered author can gain more readers by adhering to the standard range of tale length and page count because audiences are accustomed to it.
And you may ask how long is a short story, well to answer your question. The modern version of short stories should be anything around 1200 to 9500 words but if you think you can carry it on a little further without making your readers mad or bored then sure, you go on cowboy!.
Short stories, Novels, and Novella – aren’t the same:
Compared to novels or novellas, short stories have a narrower focus, and their plots are frequently
based on a single series of connected incidents. The story is frequently delivered from the protagonist’s point of view since the reader has to rapidly connect with a character in order to become involved. Short stories cannot use literary devices, like switching narrators from chapter to chapter, that work well in novels. Because authors are attempting to maximize word length, language in short tales is frequently metaphorical and full of subtext.
The middle child of publishing, the novella, (between 20,000 to 40,000) has historically gotten very little attention from the business. It was challenging for publishers to turn a profit on novellas since novellas had reduced word counts, which result in smaller publications with lower cover costs. However, novellas are currently seeing a boom in popularity due to the introduction of e-readers. Novellas are the ideal length for a story that needs more depth and complexity than a short story, but not the extensive character development or grand scale of a novel.
A tale has plenty of room to breathe in novels ( words being 40,000 to 50,000) since they are the longest form of literature. A book depicts characters in conflict who experience a number of challenges, just like a short tale or novella does. The characters either overcome the challenges to achieve their objectives or they don’t and the story comes to a conclusion. Novel characters may be more fully realized than those in shorter works, and they may undergo more dramatic changes as the book progresses. Novels also have the number of pages required to develop subplots and feature supporting characters that give the narrative texture and complexity.
Understand before you proceed – write a short story:
There are several similarities between novels and short tales. They must be grammatically sound,
coherent, and spellchecked correctly. Additionally, they must tell a story, regardless of length.
Therefore, both of them must have the following components: an initiating incident, rising action
(increasing complexities), a climax, and falling action.
But the two forms are different.
Unlike novelists, who may choose the length of their works, short story authors are constrained by the word count allotted to them. They have to strip their stories of any fat information in order to deliver a comprehensive story on a smaller scale. Additionally, problems must be solved immediately.
Due to this, short tales, as opposed to novels, typically concentrate on a single area of a character’s life.
Be careful with the characters when writing a short story:
A short narrative makes it challenging to properly build a vast cast of characters, and it is challenging for readers to keep track of them. Three characters are all that is required for a short story: the protagonist, the antagonist, and the wrench or connection character.
There must be someone for the reader to root for, someone to despise, and occasionally even someone who advances the character development of the protagonist or antagonist.
Even one character might be present in a short narrative. The main character in the Tom Hanks film Cast Away spends most of the film alone himself. This is an excellent illustration of how you can develop a tale with only one character.
Make sure your readers can sense the worry in short story while keeping the word count in mind:
Every short narrative must focus on just one area of conflict. Typically, a short story needs no more than one. The protagonist should have some sort of decision-making process or difficulty. There should be a healthy amount of tension surrounding the issue. Readers are kept interested and immersed in your tale through conflict and tension. Make your major characters experience awful things to demonstrate to readers their character. There is never too much tension in a short story and trust me when I say that people love drama.
Reasons why short stories are better:
- Due to its length, a whole novel could be too much for the ordinary student to handle. Even for experienced students, reading a range of short stories by a number of authors is better than restricting oneself to a single narrative and one style. With short stories, people may get familiar with more subjects and a greater range of terminology than they might with a single novel. Even better are short story collections created specifically for language learners since they frequently include a variety of opinions and writing styles.
- It might be challenging to sit down for an hour of work or study time every day because the majority of us are really busy. Many people may read most, if not all, of a short tale on the way to and from work. Short stories are the ideal length for everyday commutes. Learning becomes more enjoyable as a result while tackling learning without a clear aim in mind might be discouraging. There is a sense of beginning, middle, and end as well as of starting, conflict, and resolution in good short stories because they have compelling plot arcs. Finishing a narrative brings a sense of fulfillment, and short stories provide a lot of this.
- Have you ever read a book that you weren’t interested in? How challenging was it to see it through to the end? Concision is advantageous for short tales. It’s simple to finish one short story and go on to the next if it doesn’t interest you. Short tales are fast detours into other realms if you’re the sort of person who gets tired of doing the same thing over and over. Short stories are several little adventures compared to novels, which are one long adventure.
The final:
The word count is the most crucial part when you write a short story so keep in mind that you can play around with the plot, and the characters, but you cannot mess with word count unless you can keep the readers glued.
