The Importance of the Short Story

by

Duncan L. Dieterly
© 2009 All right reserved.

One of he most resilient forms of entertainment is the short story. Historically it

has always been a popular mode of amusement. It provides a distraction that can be
savored and enjoyed quickly. A short story is like a special treat; a chocolate bonbon, a
lemon bar, or tuna roll to be consumed in one delightful scrumptious session. Unlike
longer fiction a short story is a self contained bit of excitement that the reader digests
with secret satisfaction in a brief interlude. It has evolved over the centuries from the
narrative tale spun around night campfires to the written story contained within the
covers of a slick magazine. Depending on the current predominate media of information
dissemination the short story form is morphed to its style remaining an extremely popular
method of entertaining in a wide variety of presentation forms; written, oral or visual..
Today the short story is still a dynamic active ingredient of our increasing blend
of entertainment choices. Although the growing tendency to passively view short video
programs that predominate people’s current entertainment habits reduced the time spent
reading the value of reading short stories endures. When you engage anyone in
conversation and introduce the topic of short stories, they will all have a favorite and be
happy to retell it to you. Unfortunately, more and more adults hark back to a children’s
story their parents read to them or that they read to their children since they are not
actively engaged readers.
There is always a core of the reading public, that sustains the value of a short
story, which composes a vigorous reading audience. Material presented on television is
plagued by commercial interruptions that make it extremely difficult to deliver the punch
and pizzazz that a short story read alone, late at night; provides in the comfort of a quiet
dark house devoid of all interruptions, electronic noise or distractions. One of the keys to
the intense impact of a short story is that it is read without interruptions. It evolves

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within your mind. It can therefore capture the emotions desired to increase the reader’s
intensity and pleasure.
The short story is not as readily prevalent as it was in the hay day of the slick
magazines (1950-1980) prior to the emergence of television and a variety of other visual
information media forms. However, there is a large body of classic short stories as well
as a constant stream of innovative short stories slipping into our cultures consciousness.
In addition, the demand of our more complex media culture limits the short story writer’s
availability.
Writers in general are able to participate in a wider variety of opportunities, for
TV, movies, illustrated novels and video games so they are only a limited number of
writers remaining dedicated to providing their reading audience solid short stories. Many
writers are required to earn a living by their writing and are motivated by increasing their
wealth rather than delivering the ultimate short story, which may not earn any money
initially but will appear in short story anthologies for the next hundred years.
Fable, parable, tall tale, fairy tale, myth, mystery, science fiction, romance, humor
or western the short story is found across the spectrum of the entire genre of writing. A
short story is usually anywhere from four (1,600 words) to forty pages (16,000 words)
long taking six to sixty-five minutes to read.
There are occasionally longer short stories but on the average, you are confronted
with a tantalizing 7,500 words and a half an hour of reading pleasure. Of course, a longer
amount of time may be required for a slower reader and shorter for a faster reader. In
some cases, a fast reader may slow their reading pace to more fully immerse themselves
in the pleasure of the tale.
Short stories are required to follow all the rules of sound fiction writing but are
constricted in terms of scope and number of characters that may be included. They must
race from segment to segment, perhaps skipping one altogether and conclude in a
convincing crescendo. While the novelist may wander leisurely about while developing
their themes, locations and characters, a short story writer has to strip their tale, honing it
into a sharp parsimonious package. That package may even compress or accelerate to
catch the critical story elements pulling the reader along in a fresh and vivid fabrication.
While a short story is always direct, swift and exhilarating it must be fulfilling.

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 The author of a short story must be focused, relatively sparse in the selected
details and actions portrayed. The short story writer must contour their words to get the
maximum return on their investment of prose expended. In addition, they must blend the
material into a cohesive intensity that is not necessarily required of the longer novel
format.
Why have short stories always sustained us? They provide a rapid medium of
entertainment and they do not require a long attention span nor strain our memory. One
can hear or read a short story in a brief period and feel very entertained, satisfied and
enlightened. The pulp fiction titillating short story read behind closed doors in some
sense may be considered tainted or trashy. However, an engaging short story is an
excellent form of entertainment no mater where it may be published.
A factual article is the sister to the fictional short story. In the article, the author is
also pitted to minimized word length on a specific topic. Articles in addition are required
to adhere to using only substantiated facts and not be overly loose with there
interpretation of them. While the short story writer is totally unfettered in terms of facts
or the truth. Short story writers are allowed to let their imaginations soar to the fullest.
Articles and short stories appear in all forms of printed material as well as in illustrated
and visual works.
There are masters of the short story and stories that will remain with us forever:
W.W Jacobs The Monkey s Paw or O’Henry’s, The Gift of the Magi, Maupassant’s story
The Ball of Fat. Falkner’s the Bear or Hemmingway’s The Killers are all fine examples.
Any reader may make there own list, rejoice in their past pleasure of reading those
identified, and encourage others to taste of them.
The many forms short stories take may be nursery rhymes, action yarns, personal
dramas, mundane activities or tragic events. As with all fiction a short story may amuse,
anger, excite or irritate the reader. Why do authors liked to write short stories? They can
address many different human frailties or concepts quickly and feel they have contributed
a statement of concern or entertained the reader or perhaps both.
The author may write a short story quickly and create a tale that is valuable with
depth and insight. Unlike the novel which takes much longer to plot, position and
prepare a short story is an in your face direct presentation. In addition, the author may

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get instant feed back regarding their effort since it is generally read in one sitting. This
may be a good or bad aspect of the form depending upon the quality of the author’s work.
A short story is like the final stages of a bullfight. When the matador brings the
bull in closer and closer and finally sets the sword for the kill. The preliminary action
may build the suspense but this is the crux of the event; the kernel of genuineness Short
stories are the essence of some event that the author works hard to produce with a
minimum of writing but a maximum of discipline, direction and design.
In a sense, it is harder to write a solid short story than a longer work of fiction
since time is the essence and the words must be used with precision and profundity.
While it may take less time to weave or relate a short story, it is far harder to realize the
anticipated outcome using this briefer form.
It is easier for the oral storyteller to master a short story or set of short stories than
a longer narrative. While the oral short story teller is a vanishing breed since most of us
get our entertainment from electronic transmissions there are still some who exist.
Packaging short stories into a string within a novel or in formats, which consist of a series
of loosely strung short stories, are now infrequently produced. Short stores appear alone
in various media publications or in collections of short stories by either one author or as
anthology representing multiple authors.
While the crafting a short story is a process that may be learned or taught the
basic core and measure of a short story is always reader impact. That can be of many
hues but essentially, it is the crux of the issue. If the author can weave their words to spin
a story that has an explosive impact that was intended, then the story is a work of extreme
value. If the impact is missing or missed by the reader or listener then the tale is not a
quality product. It will be doomed to instant oblivion.
The intent of the author can be to frighten, excite, emotional entangle, anger or
energize the reader but only when the intent is attained has the story established its right
for permanency in the vast array of accessible short stories. Oh, by the way, when you’re
the reader who discovers a gem of a short story be sure to share it with others so it is
exposed to a wider audience.
So on the next dark and dreary evening when you are at home alone: turn off all
those electronic devices that are humming, whirring and pulsating. Pull out a short story

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you have been hording. Settle down comfortably to read it through. If it is superior, you
will finish with a tingling sensation of excitement that keeps you awake even after you
are safely tucked in your bed.

[Note: This article was published in the September 2009 issue of Fresh Ink.]