How many words must be in a story for it to be considered a ’short story’?
I am wanting to start writing, but want to start off slow. Is it good to start off writing a short story, or am I just being lazy. should I just jump into an attempt at a novel? Please help, I have great Ideas, and people tell me I’m a great story teller, but I want to take it to another level. I just don’t know much about the ‘next level’.
- jeremy h
Tags: Attempt, Next Level, Novel, Story Teller, Writing A Short Story
September 22nd, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Below 20,000 above 1000.
It can be less than 1000 as well because there is no classification of a very short story.
TW K
September 25th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Write your stories the way you tell them.
Being a great storyteller is a big, big part of becoming a good writer.
Don’t worry about length, because your story will dictate that.
But FYI, short stories can go from being ‘micro-stories’ (a page or so), to short-shorts (four or five pages) to stories as long as 17,500 or so words.
After that, the murky area of ‘is this a short story or a novella?’ begins…
Suggest you just write the stories you want to tell, and think about construction and what-not later.
September 25th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
A short story is 1,000 to 20,000 words (no more, no less).
I think if you really want to go to the next level, write as much as you want on a story and when you’re done, you can publish it or not.
September 25th, 2009 at 10:05 pm
Like anything, the answer varies according to some factors.
Here’s agood response, however (see link below).
Best wishes with your writing goals
Cheers
September 28th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Most professional writers’ organizations and magazines break down lengths this way:
Up to 3,000 words = Short-short Story
3,001 to 7,500 words = Short Story
7,501 to 17,000 words = Novelette
17,001 to 40,000 words = Novella
40,001 to 75,000 words = Short Novel
Above 75,000 words = Novel