A good short story will leave a little bit of you in the real world, but it will whisk you away to another world in a way that you are both here and there. By being a short story, the author must make sure that their characters are well developed quickly and tell you what the story is about immediately. It must still have a definite beginning, middle, and end that the reader can relate to. It is a challenge that many authors are unable to get done.

The Long Story

When writing a long story, the author has time to develop everything. They can start out the story with a little backstory on the characters and then develop the plot line. They have a couple hundred pages to bring everything together in the end. This enables the reader to develop a relationship with the characters and the issues that they are dealing with. It allows them to laugh and cry along with their favorite story characters. Short stories have to be able to do the same thing, but in only a fraction of the time.

The Short Story

There are short stories, such as poems, that are less than a hundred words. During that time, a reader must come to feel something for the top that is being written about. They must be able to see themselves in that situation and develop an emotion. It is a challenge that is well worth it for some authors. Especially since there are some people who only need a few words to make you feel everything that needs to be felt and take you from here to there with it.

A great story is one that has characters that you can trace back. The character should have a past, a present, and a future. Their past does not always have to be listed as a lot of family members, or their life’s story, but anything that pertains to the point of your short story should be there. For instance, if you are writing about Suzy being afraid to fall in love with Stan, you should give some background as to why she may be afraid. If Suzy has a great uncle that is part of her story now, you may want to include a bit about her lineage or why it is important that you know who he is in relation to her family tree.