What is short stories and its types ?

There Are Many More Types of Short Stories than we know of …

If I had to nit-pick between a novel and a short story, I would still choose a short story. And, not because its shortin length and is easy to finish, but because it takes a great deal of effort and creativity to pen down a story from more than 50 pages down to a few… It is the most difficult of all tasks—to edit and cut short a limitless flow of thoughts and scenes into one short and self-sufficient piece of story. Crafting a short story is an art in itself; something aspiring novel writers should expose themselves to more—it would help them develop, shape and polish the chapters of their novels for better.

Writers like J.D. Salinger, Raymond Carver, Alice Munro and George Sauders’s short stories are a must read. Each one has a unique way of writing short stories; it reflects in their stories. Reading these writers’s work would be of great help to anyone who is trying to write down his/her short stories. But, before we could get to the types of short stories, you must first understand what story means.

What is a Short Story?

A short story, written usually in the form of a narrative prose is a part of brief literature—one that could be read within a brief span of time, and the one that is self-contained. And although, short stories are quite often thought to be the future as it would replace novels with a briefer version of a story, novels would still be crowned as the quintessential face value of literature as a whole. The effect of a short story and a novel are poles apart, even when they still share those literary components with which it is crafted—both having their charms…

Short stories mostly focus on one particular or specific incident and comprise a few cast of character. Short stories are shorter in its breath and heartbeat—more like a story and take a lesser and shorter degree of lengthto its narration than a novel does.

10 Types of Short Stories that You Might Not Know:

Given below are 10 types of short stories that you could make use of while writing short stories:

Anecdote:

An anecdote is a type of storytelling about a real person and/or incident.This short account of something is interesting as well as amusing. Often, anecdotes are used to illustrate or support a point in an essay, article, or chapter. They are very short, but have no specific limits.

Drabble:

The purpose of this type of storytelling is briefness. Exceptionally short, they comprise 100 words. Here an author’s writing skill is out to test, as he has to express himself meaningfully in a very confined space.There are many drabble examples, by the lovely Matty available over at Sugar and Blood: Light as a feather.

Fable:

It features anthropomorphic creatures (usually animals, but also mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature) telling a story with a moral. Most popular among children stories, often the moral is revealed at the end. The most well-known example of a fable would be any of the many told in Aesop’s Fables.

Feghoot:

With humour form as the most essential part of its storytelling and short length enough to lead the piece with the pun, Feghootis a story pun or a poetic story joke—type of short story. One good example would be ‘The Buck of the Draw’.

Flash Fiction:

This is an extremely short piece of literature. It has no widely accepted length, but has a debated cap of between 300 and 1000 words.

One quintessential example would be One Last Night at the Carnival before The Stars Go Out.

Frame Story

Also known as a frame tale or a nested narrative, it is a technique of placing a story within a story, for the purpose of introducing or setting the stage for a main narrative or a series of short stories.

A few good example of a frame story would be a flashback within a larger piece or a quest within a larger game environment.

Mini-saga

If you can manage to tell a story in exactly 50 words you can call it a mini saga. It is about saying a lot with a little.

Story Sequence

When a group of short stories work together to form a longer piece—it is called a story sequence. However, each story functions as a complete short story on its own. It is also called a short story cycle or a composite novel.

Sketch Story

If you come across a description of a character or a location it can be referred to as sketch story. The story is a shorter than average piece containing little or no plot.Character sketches are common, and a good way to build a character that will eventually be part of a longer piece.

Vignette

And finally, we come to the vignette, which started this whole post in the first place! A vignette is a short piece that focuses on a single scene, character, idea, setting, or object. There is little emphasis on adhering to conventional theatrical or literary structure, or story development. It can be a stand-alone piece or part of a larger work.

Conclusion:

I hope this list was beneficial for you guys. You can try reading more about it on Wikipedia in details. You can also try few out—attempt on writing the types of short stories mentioned above.