Short Story Terminology
by Paula Gail Benson
With the start of a new year, some writers may be looking to experiment with a new fictional form. Why not try short stories?
If you haven’t already dabbled in this genre, here is some terminology you may wish to use to guide you. Short stories are defined by their brevity. Their word count determines how they are categorized.
Drabble—is a story of exactly 100 words (not including the title or author attribution)
Flash Fiction—are stories of 1,000 or fewer words. Some sources say up to 1,500 or 2,000 words.
Brief fictional forms in addition to drabble and flash fiction include:
(1) “the six-word story” exemplified by one attributed to Ernest Hemingway: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
(2) the 280-character story or “twitterature” (based on the maximum number of characters allowed by X as a tweet or twitter). Philip Pullman and Neil Gaiman are practitioners.
(3) the “dribble” or “minisaga,” which is exactly 50 words (here are some examples).
(4) “micro-fiction” or “nano-fiction” is less than 300 words.
(5) “postcard fiction” is up to 500 words.
(6) “sudden fiction,” which can go up to 750 words.
(7) the “microstory.”
Novelette may be 7,500 to 19,000 words.
Novella may be 17,500 to 40,000 words.
A novel can be 40,000 words. Most mystery novels are around 80,000 words. Science fiction and fantasy novels may be as long as 120,000 words.
In addition, short stories are defined by where they are located. Many are found in magazines or online sources. A book of short stories is categorized by the number of authors whose work is contained in it.
Collection—consists of stories all written by the same author, such as John M. Floyd’s River Road and Other Mystery Stories or Barb Goffman’s Don’t Get Mad, Get Even: 15 Tales of Revenge and More
Anthology—contains the work of more than one author and may be organized by theme, for example the Malice Domestic anthologies: Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Diabolical, Malice Domestic 18: Mystery Most Devious, and Donna Andrews Presents Malice Domestic: Mystery Most Humorous.
Drabble is new to me!
Lois, I love writing with others for Loren Eaton’s Advent Ghosts Drabble challenge in December. Here’s another place to submit drabble for consideration: https://thedrabble.wordpress.com/submit-your-drabble/
All fun areas to write in … all require different types of writing styles.
Absolutely. You have great skill with both short and long forms, Debra.
I’ve written a few short stories, but I prefer writing novels. However, I do like the six-word story. “He died. Reconsidered, then came back.
I had not heard that example before. Thanks, Kathleen!
You are an inspiration, Paula, complete with a how-to. I have a short story idea and I’ll give it a whirl!
Fantastic, Donnell! Fingers crossed for publication!