The size limitations of the short story form can be both a blessing and a curse: among seventeen pages one may not fit the development needed for a myriad of characters, but experimentation can safely exploit the brevity of this style. Below are the primary concerns that appear when one crosses the boundary to short story.
- Short stories are brief in both text and in time.
Given the aforementioned seventeen pages, it’s easy to find that a story meant to take place over the course of a year would fail in this short form. Everything must be condensed, including the time-frames the author expects the reader to be involved in. As one begins to fold months and years into a brief tale, the attention that can be given to the smaller portions of time decreases. Most often, short stories that fill larger time slots naturally evolve into longer works of fiction: the amount of text required is simply not enough to effectively convey the events.
- With limited space, one can develop a limited characters in number and depth.
The size of the work and the depth of character development are directly proportional, though the efficacy obviously depends on the individual writer. Regardless, there comes a point when characters begin to become too plentiful; short stories are notorious for that. Not only are they incapable of supporting too many facet-less or faceted characters, but they severely limit the development available for the protagonist. It’s extremely important to monitor the story’s spotlight: one make make sure that the characters receive appropriate portions of the limited focus available.
- Description and dialogue must also concede to the greater good.
If a story requires heavy dialogue, this closes space for the writer’s wondrous description, often leading short stories to be less proportionally comprised of dialogue than their novel counterparts. The curse of having room for few characters actually becomes a blessing in surmounting this trial: dialogue will not need to be as heavily peppered with tags and physical description since the reader will have an easier time discerning characters in dialogue. This should not suggest that one should abandon the practices of clarity for brevity; it merely suggests that the writer will indeed have a easier time distinguishing his or her characters to the reader.
- The short story is the safest place for experimentation in prose.
One of the most titillating consequences of the short story’s length is its grand capability for literary experimentation. As the time investment for the writer is considerably less than taking on the task of novel-writing, one can feel free to journey into uncharted genres and techniques without the fear of losing interest or momentum partially through. It is also easier to implement heavy artistic changes over the course of a short story without their efficacy for both writer and reader becoming lost over the length of a substantial work.
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