What's the difference....?

Question

between a short story and a book? I know this may sound really stupid, but I need to know. Can't a short story have chapters too? How many chapters does a story have to have to be a book?

Answer 1

Of course the obvious is that a short story is shorter than a novel. But there's more to it than that.

No a short story doesn't have chapters, though it does sometimes have "white space" between breaks to indicate change in time, place, or point of view. A short story is also usually centered around one character and one plot event. There is less backstory, and not as many scene changes, if any. A lot is packed into a short story and they are not necessarly easier to write than a novel. A short story can run from 100/1000 words (flash story), 1000/8000 words (short story) or 8000/14000 (novella). number of words vary with the market and publishers needs (how much room they allow for fiction on the magazine).

A novel has no limit on the number of chapters, word count can run from 40000 (epub) to 100000 again depending on the genre and market. Mass Market paperback and Trade market tend to be shorter than hardback. Chapters are determined by the author to show a change in character Point of View, change in location, or lapse of time. Several character changes and shifts in scene can be contained in one chapter but separated by white space (in a manuscript this is shown by using a blank line with *** centered on it, in print there is a wide white space between sections).

Novels (if done well) can feed the reader backstory while telling the main plot events. There is also more description and detailed action, feelings shown by the characters.

I hope this helps.

Answer 2

A short story can have chapters, yes, but not as many as a book. Books may have twenty, thirty or even forty chapters, short stories don't usually have more than about five.

Answer 3

short stories are 1 to 50 pages and can have chapters a book has chapters too and is longer

Answer 4

A short story is generally what you read in magazines. They can have from 6 to 10,000 words. They usually don't have chapters, just breaks. A book for adults is usually 50,000 words or much more. For children they can have from 50 words to 20,000 words (or more for teens).

The difference mainly lies in where it is published. If it is published as a book, with no other stories in that book, then it is a book. If it is published in a magazine, journal, anthology, or anywhere that it isn't the only story in the book, then it is a short story.

Answer 5

Short Story, fictional work depicting one character’s inner conflict or conflict with others, usually having one thematic focus. Short stories generally produce a single, focused emotional and intellectual response in the reader. Novels, by contrast, usually depict conflicts among many characters developed through a variety of episodes, stimulating a complexity of responses in the reader. The short story form ranges from “short shorts,” which run in length from a sentence to four pages, to novellas that can easily be 100 pages long and exhibit characteristics of both the short story and the novel. Because some works straddle the definitional lines of these three forms of fiction—short story, novella, and novel—the terms should be regarded as approximate rather than absolute.

Microsoft ® Encarta ® Reference Library 2005. © 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Answer 6

there's a great difference. A domestic dog desires housebreaking. you could not try this in case you're away 8 hours an afternoon. A domestic dog desires to be socialized. you could not try this in case you're no longer domicile. A domestic dog desires loads of time and interest throughout the time of the day to give up it turning out to be distructive. in case you're at artwork all day the only thank you to circumvent the distruction is to go away it in a crate all day. through the time it turns right into a dogs it somewhat is going to already be housebroken and function greater administration of it somewhat is actual applications so yet it may bypass from the time you bypass to artwork till the time you get domicile. A dogs ought to be socialized through the time it somewhat is a dogs and now no longer a domestic dog. A dogs frequently could fairly sleep all day and be waiting for play and interest while it somewhat is proprietor gets domicile. it additionally should be knowledgeable so it heavily isn't distructive as quickly as you're long previous so it won't ought to be left in a crate for 8 hours an afternoon.

Answer 7

a short story could have 5 chapters or maybe less, or it could be a two page thingy, a book can have chapters up to 20 or maybe more

Answer 8

There can be as many Chapters as you want, I mean they can only have one and it can still be a novel. Don't know what the difference is either, good luck finding out.