How long is a short story?

Answer 1

Authors NEVER discuss work in terms of pages - only in words. A short story can start at two words (Yes, there are actually competitions for that.) Then there are 100 and 500 word competitions. You can go probably as high as 20K words in some anthologies but 15K is about the limit for magazines. Then you start hitting novella territory until you get to about 90K when it becomes a complete novel.
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They're, Their, There - Three Different Words.

Careful or you may wind up in my next novel.

Pax - C

Answer 2

How Long Are Short Stories

Answer 3

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How long is a short story?

Answer 4

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A story is as long as it needs to be. Short stories don't necessarily have to be short, but they do have to have a clear beginning, middle and end.

Answer 5

A short story is a narrative, rarely, over 10,000 words or below 500 words, more commonly 1,500-5,000 words -- a single-sitting read, but with enough time and weight to move the reader. It is narrow and focused to produce a singular effect, the story's meaning, most commonly thru events affecting some change or denial of change in an individual. All aspects of a short-story are closely integrated and cross-reinforcing; language, POV, tone and mood, the sounds as well as the meanings of the words, and their rhythm.

Answer 6

Determining what exactly separates a short story from longer fictional formats is problematic. A classic definition of a short story is that one should be able to be read it in one sitting, a point most notably made in Edgar Allan Poe's essay "The Philosophy of Composition" (1846). Other definitions place the maximum word length at 7,500 words. In contemporary usage, the term short story most often refers to a work of fiction no longer than 20,000 words and no shorter than 1,000.

Answer 7

For what it's worth, Writer's Digest magazine has competitions for short stories.

The "Short Short Story" competition is for 1500 words or fewer.

The "Short Story" competition is for 4000 words or fewer.

Book and magazine publishers each have their own specifications.

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Answer 8

robotbiz, most magazines--the only places that buy single short stories--define it by word count. A short story can range anywhere from 1500 words or so up to 7,500 or even 10,000, depending on the magazine.

There aren't hard-and-fast rules--each magazine's Submission Guidelines are the rules for that publication--but here's enough to give you the general idea:

Micro fiction--under one hundred words.
Flash Fiction--100 to 1,000 words.
Short short--1,000 to 2,000 words.
Short story-- 2,000 to 7,500 words.
Novelette--7,500 to 15,000 words. (Up to 17,500 words at some publications.)

Answer 9

There are many ways a story can be short. Some short stories are 300 pages long, and still leave you with' a... "what?" In our own minds, our stories are always short. How important do you feel your words are? What type of "patients", do you have, and do you "have "a, begining, a middle ( moving towards your ending) and a "solution", ending". Its all about how much you have to say or write about to make your ( complete thought ) point. Now" this, is a short story. Peace.

Answer 10

I once about 40 years ago read a novel called Short Story or something like that. It had about 500 pages. It depends on what you write, how terse you wish to make it and how long or short you wish to make it, in my opinion.