Short Story-Writing Tips: When an Essay is Too Short and a Novel's Too Long

Over the counter in the neighborhood deli hung a sign that said, "One sandwich not enough? Two sandwiches too much? Try a sandwich and a half!" Adapted for a writing class, it might be accurately transposed into, "An essay too short? A novel too long? Try a short story." This is an in-between genre of writing that allows for the development of more modest ideas, or big ideas developed in more modest or more suggestive than overt ways.

Let's consider the metaphor of a cake. A whole, big, round, two-layered and frosted cake. That cake might be the dessert equivalent of a novel. The whole schmeer. The poetic equivalent might be an epic of some kind. Either would be some form of an entire cake. "War and Peace" is no more a lengthy or complex work than is the "Illiad." They are two forms of a whole cake.

A short story, or, depending on the era we might be focusing on, the novella or "nouvelle" from the 17th century French, might be the equivalent of a slice of that cake. It is less ambitious. There are fewer (if any) sub plots or 'lite motifs.' The span of time covered is, generally more limited and it has far fewer calories and is much appreciated by the attention challenged because it can be finished in a single sitting. Just like a slice of that cake. The reading dieter's delight.

At the minimalist end of the spectrum from which I have chosen only a few representative examples, are essays (half-a-slice of cake, like that asked for by the person trying to watch their weight but wanting to enjoy just a tad of dessert too), mid-length poems that could compare with anything between a crumb (a haiku), a 'sliver' (something between a half-slice and a 'smidgeon')or one fork full (a sonnet or poem with five-ten stanzas.) There are also cupcakes, miniatures of the full sized cake, but reduced in quantity with similar design. A novella? It all tastes good. The question is how much you want to eat or how much you want to create.

Short stories, like cupcakes, have their own styles and conventions. However, in the same way that the quality of a cupcake has everything to do with the recipe, ingredients and care in preparation - so does the short story.