Short Story

"It is a great thing to write. To be no longer yourself, but to move in an entire universe of your own creation."
—Gustave Flaubert, French novelist

"I know I was writing stories when I was five. I don't know what I did before that—just loafed I suppose."
—P. G. Wodehouse, British author and humorist

"The universe is made up of stories, not atoms."
—Muriel Rukeyser, American poet

A short story is a short piece of fiction that has a simple plot and few settings. Short stories often revolve around a key incident that reveals insights about the main character(s). Using relatively few words, the writer of a short story aims to create a powerful impression on the reader.

An effective short story

  • establishes a setting of time and place in the reader's mind
  • is told from the point of view of a narrator, who is either a character or an impersonal voice
  • presents a main character who undergoes a change or learns something during the course of the story
  • weaves a plot—the series of events that make up the action of the story
  • introduces or develops a conflict or problem that keeps the plot moving
  • suggests a theme, or main message about life that is revealed by the time the story ends