Characteristics of the short story

Characteristics of the short story

The short story is distinguished from other literary works in that it:

Short and concise

Where the palace is considered one of the most important features of the short story, so that it can be read all in almost one sitting, and is very brief, so that the information provided in the story is relevant to the whole story, this differs from the novel, as the story can differ from the main plot, just as Descriptions of events are sparse in them, and any unnecessary words are removed.

make an impression

Short stories are characterized by the fact that they usually leave one big impression, or one effect on the reader, and the short story may not be built around a character, place, idea, or a specific and specific work, as it is usually directed to readers who can have personal experiences. , or prior knowledge of the story, because it is considered brief.

a few characters

The number of characters in the short story is very few; This is because presenting any character to a person requires adding information about it, and a short description about its presence in the story, so no unnecessary character is presented to the story, as this character can occupy space or time from important events in it.

Sometimes a sudden ending

The end of short stories is surprising in many cases. If the events of the short story affected the reader greatly, and they were good, the reader will be very excited about the story even if its ending is sudden, as many good short stories have an unexpected, but reasonable ending. .

It ends after the climax of events

The story usually ends immediately after reaching the climax of the events, while the novel reaches the climax and then completes another chapter, or two chapters to be able to link the endings together, while the short story leaves room for the reader to link the events together.

Short story elements

There are many components to the short story, the most important of which are:

• story frameThe time and place in which the story takes place.
• Conflict: which is the problem, or the suffering in the story.
• Characters: Includes major and minor characters whose thoughts and actions influence the plot.
• ViewpointIt is the opinion of the person telling the story. It may be told by:
  • The first person, in which the narrator is one of the characters in the story, and refers to himself as “I”.
  • The third person finite, which is the inner thoughts of one character, and the reader cannot know the inner thoughts of the other characters.
  • The omniscient third person, a narrator who knows everything, reveals the inner thoughts and feelings of any character in the story.
• main ideaIt is the main message, or the main idea of ​​the story.
• the plotThe order chosen by the writer to present the events in the story.
• DisplayIt is the introduction to the general framework of the story, the characters, and the conflict.
• decisive events: It is the events that sequence to reach the climax.
• peakThe climax is the most interesting event in the story, followed by the events in which the conflict resolution begins.
• node solve: It is the solution, or the end of the story.