Short Story 101

 

A workshop created and conducted by Joey Madia based in part on essays by Wilbur Schramm

I. What is a Short Story?

[  “A piece of fiction that has a Unity of Impression and that can be read in a single sitting.” (W. Somerset Maugham)

[  Unity of Impression: an idea developed by EA Poe. All elements flow into the main idea/theme the writer wants to present (see “The Tell-Tale Heart”)

[  1,000-5,000 words average (a modern “flash” or “short, short” may be 250-1,000 words)

[  The novel is a cannon, hitting hard; the short story is a rifle, more carefully aimed (Poe).

[  It is a particularly American art form (larger percentage than other countries)

[  Developed by Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Washington Irving

II. How the Short Story Writer Starts and Ends

[  Idea may by worked in the mind for years before any writing begins (may involve research—reading, pictures, travel, interviews)

[  Often drawn on the author’s own experiences (Stephen Crane’s “The Open Boat”)

[  May begin with a character (Willa Cather’s “Neighbor Rosicky”)

[  Story could be a working thru of a problem, tangled situation, or main theme

[  The author asks a series of questions to shape the story; writing is a series of choices

[  The story is revised many times; sometimes with many months in between revisions so the author comes back to the material fresh each time

III. The Elements of the Story

[  The characters

o   the most important element for most short story writers

o   secondary characters are often used to show aspects of the main character or to help demonstrate New Vs. Old, East vs. West, Rich vs. Poor, etc.

o   characters connected to the conflict (problem), whether person to person (often Hero and Antagonist), human against Nature or Fate (Crane’s “Open Boat”), human against self (psychological/moral) (Guy De Maupassant’s “The Inn”)

o   characterizations can be either direct (author tells you details directly) or indirect:

§  What other characters think of the character

§  Details of the character’s appearance or actions

§  What the character says (conversation reveals almost everything in Saki’s “The Storyteller”)

§  What the character thinks (the psychological story like Ernest Hemingway’s “Now I Lay Me” or Katherine Anne Porter’s “The Jilting of Granny Weatherall”)

§  How a character behaves in a situation (what they do)

[  The plot

o   the action, which moves from problem (conflicts) to complications (tension and suspense) to climax (point of highest tension/end of rising action) to the solution (denouement/falling action/resolution)

o   story ends quickly after the climax

o   the beginning and end are usually the hardest to write: the short story, because of its brevity, must introduce all the major elements quickly and efficiently

o   the order of events fits a pattern

o   use of foreshadowing to clue the careful reader as to what will happen: helps add the qualities of inevitability and credibility

o   surprise endings (very hard to do well); see O. Henry’s “The Furnished Room” and Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”

[  The theme: brief paraphrase of the story: “Fate does not discriminate”; “Human power is nothing against death”

[  The setting: time, place, scenery, season of the year, environment, region (these elements in interaction are crucial to Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle”)

[  The point of view

o   who tells the story: the main character (first person)/a spectator or observer (first person, but more limited)/the author (third person: omniscient or limited?)

o   Stream of Consciousness: where the story takes place in the mind of the character (Porter’s “Jilting of Granny Weatherall”)

[  Tone (author’s attitude toward the material presented: humorous, loving, sarcastic, ironic), mood (attitude of the characters toward what is happening), atmosphere (overall emotional quality: gloom, horror, lightness, bewilderment)

[  Meaning/symbol

o   what the events stand for

o   the story’s deeper meanings thru symbolism (often in fantasy, mythology, fairy tales; see Grimm Brothers, HC Andersen)

o   see Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter” for symbolism

IV. What a Good Short Story Accomplishes/Contains

[  Must grab the reader from the opening paragraphs

[  All action points toward the climax, giving the story a sense of inevitability

[  Rich in workmanship: accomplishes a lot in a little space

[  There must be credibility of action: Do the people behave realistically? Does one scene follow another reasonably?

[  The story has no coincidences: everything is logically planned out (the author shouldn’t “meddle” in the events)

[  Rich in meaning beyond surface events: gives intellectual (detective stories) or emotional (love/adventure/horror) pleasure; gives the reader a new insight or understanding

For 20 short story authors you should be reading, see:

https://joeymadiastoryteller.blogspot.com/2025/05/twenty-must-read-short-story-writers.html

For a list of my editing and writing services, see:

https://joeymadiastoryteller.blogspot.com/2025/02/writing-and-editing-services.html