Chapter 11
When Less is More: Crafting Short Stories
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding the short story
Composing short stories
Looking at genres
Coming up with ideas
Sending stories to competitions
Marketing your stories
Writing a novella
The short story, being short, is often the first choice for beginner fiction writers. In fact, though, the short story is one of the hardest things to write well. Every word must count, and the focus of the story must be completely clear.
The art of storytelling goes back to the very beginnings of civilization. Perhaps the oldest and most direct ancestor of the short story is the anecdote – a short personal account of an incident or event. Ancient parables and fables use a brief narrative to demonstrate a moral or spiritual truth; these tales anticipate ...
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