The aspiring writer of short stories has chosen the most delightful, instructive, and commonly helpful form of writing. Everyone loves to read short stories. The elegant delight in following the adventures, trials, and tribulations of a favorite hero or heroine is only surpassed by the pleasure of writing the story itself.
Why should you write short stories?
Writing short stories provides you with a creative platform to influence readers’ thoughts and emotions with your words, and gives you a deep feeling of satisfaction in knowing that readers are reaping the benefits of your observations, thoughts and moral teachings.
Fiction has a larger and more positive appeal than other forms of writing, and this applies to fiction’s shortest form—the short story. The fiction writer can bend the energies of his characters to some moral end. He can use his characters unconsciously, subtly, yet powerfully, to enforce some far-reaching good on the mind of the reader and make him a better person for the reading.
You can find many excellent definitions of the short story. Fiction writer Clayton Hamilton says, “The short story aims to produce a single narrative effect with the greatest economy of means that is consistent with the utmost emphasis.”
Short stories may contain from one to ten thousand words. The most popular length with magazine editors is between 2,000-2,500 words. Readers prefer this length because they can read the story in one sitting. This is especially more convenient when reading short stories online at a website. This briefness of time forces you to assemble the plot of the story more rapidly and focus on reaching the climactic conclusion. Readers prefer to read a novel in a series of sittings, or possibly at one sitting; unless the story of the novel is engaging, the reader will tire toward the conclusion. The short story bears the same relation to the novel except the shorter form is more popular and effective.
Conclusion
Everyone reads short stories—fiction, non-fiction, news and general interest stories. The young author already has a defined impression of the materials which he needs to create a story, and the ways in which to handle them. After studying the short story form, the aspiring writer can read stories with greater zest and appreciation.
