The Elegance Of The Short Story

A short but complex style of story telling.

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There is a surge of serialised fiction here on SubStack that I can’t help noticing lately, or perhaps it’s just my algorithm. Don’t get me wrong, I love each and every one of them. I'm devouring it all like I've just found a never-ending buffet. Some of my favourites? I’m so glad you asked.

Jack & The Beanstalk Cafe by

Happy Nielsen

Maynard’s War

The Bloomsbury Trilogy

Are just two I’ve been following along with.

Serialised fiction has just got such old-world charm. It makes me think of a family huddled in front of the radio in the 1920s, glued to their seats, waiting for the next thrilling instalment of ‘Flash Gordon’ or ‘Little Orphan Annie’.

Then there's SubStack’s poetry posse (— another group I’ve happily been following recently). The photographed images of handwritten poems they leave in the notes section often give me chills.

But the point of this article is to ask, where are the champions of the humble short story? Am I the only one feeling a bit like this is the forgotten item on the menu? In this age of lightning-fast, short-form consumption. TikToks and reels and SubStacks dreaded new video section (— I’m sticking to pretending it’s not there in the hope that it will just magically disappear one day). Amid all this, isn’t the short story arguably the perfect form? A short story is such a juicy, bite-sized piece of prose, and it feels like it’s being neglected.

“Add Another World to Yours with RADIO,” The Indianapolis Times), January 7, 1925. Source.

According to Archer¹, “Short stories are great for exploring any new concept you want to try. They’re quick, low-risk, and packed with potential.” This can be applicable for writers and readers alike.

Have a great idea for a story, but not sure how it’s going to roll?

Want to try reading science fiction, but have doubts about whether you’ll like it?

Trying to break out of writer’s block and need a change of pace?

Want to try out a new character before submerging them in your work in progress?

The short story is the answer to all of the above.

It’s important to note, though, that the form of a short story differs from the full-length novel as much as it differs from poetry. (—I think perhaps the name itself, ‘short-story’, can be misleading.)

The brilliance of a short story lies in its elegant economy. While a novel can wander through continents and decades, building worlds brick by painstaking brick, a short story often finds its magic in a single room, a single charged encounter, or even just a fleeting moment in time. Every detail in the setting, every creak of a floorboard, every rustle of leaves, has to sing.

And the dialogue? Oh, the dialogue! In a novel, characters can chat for pages about the weather, their inner angst, or Aunt Mildred's prize-winning zucchini. But in a short story, every whispered word, every sudden shout, every stutter or silence, is a loaded gun. It's verbal shorthand, packing an emotional punch in fewer lines, implying much more than it ever explicitly states.

Even the characters themselves are different beasts. Novels let you live a lifetime with a protagonist, watching them grow old and wise (— or spectacularly unwise). Short stories, though? They zoom in on a crucial turning point, a startling realisation, or just a perfectly captured slice of a life. You get a profound glimpse, often a single defining moment, and then you're left to imagine the rich tapestry that lies before and after. It’s a magic trick, really, making you feel you know a whole life from a single, sharp focus.

Some of my favourite short story collections.

Short story collections might not always fly off the shelves like the latest blockbuster novel, and that's a crying shame, truth be told. They're like those amazing little cafes you stumble upon while on holiday – everyone raves about the big, fancy restaurants, but the perfect little cafe is something special.

So, here's my desire for this week: let's give a bit of love to the short story, shall we?

Read 'em, write 'em, share 'em.

They might be short, but they pack a real punch. And hey, while we're at it, keep devouring those serials and those poems (– the more stories in the world, the better, in my humble opinion).

I hope you have a wonderful week.

See you next Friday!

C M Reid at The Ink-Stained Desk

Frances B Johnson. Self portrait. 1896. Source.

1. Are Short Stories Worthwhile for Novelists? by R.M. Archer on Kingdom Pen website.