Definition

1. Noun:
   • A short work of prose fiction: A "short story" is a brief, fictional narrative written in prose. It focuses on a single incident, a limited set of characters, and aims to create a unified effect or mood, distinct from the broader scope of a novel.

Usage

• The term "short story" is used to categorize and discuss a specific literary form. It is a countable noun.
• Example:
• Example:

Examples

Advanced Usage

• "short-story writer": A person who specializes in writing short stories.
  • Alice Munro is a Nobel Prize-winning short-story writer.
• The form is often discussed in terms of its conciseness and impact:

Variants and Related Words

• Story (n): A general term for an account of imaginary or real events. A "short story" is a specific type of story.
• Novella (n): A prose narrative that is longer than a short story but shorter than a novel.
• Flash fiction (n): A very short form of storytelling, often under 1000 words, even briefer than a typical short story.

Synonyms

• Tale: (Can imply a shorter, sometimes folkloric narrative).
• Narrative: (A broader term for any spoken or written account of connected events).

Related Phrases

• Short story collection: A book containing several short stories, often by the same author.
  • She released her first short story collection last year.

Noun

1. a prose narrative shorter than a novel