What is a Short Story? by Victoria Chatham

 

 

 AVAILABLE HERE

Last month, I wrote about a short story competition in which I had been a finalist. I enjoyed short story writing and taught an introductory short story course many times. It was a great format in which new writers could find their feet. When asked by one student what a short story was, another somewhat cheeky student replied that it wasn't a long story.

A short story can be anything from 100 words to 15,000 words long. At 100 words, it is sometimes referred to as postcard or flash fiction. By contrast, a novel can be from 40,000 to 100,000 words. Depending on the genre and the publisher's guidelines, it may be longer. But, long or short, the requirements are the same as for any story.

You need to create a protagonist and antagonist, as well as the setting or world in which they live. From the beginning, a conflict must be introduced into the plot that escalates to a climax and is then resolved, resulting in a change in their character(s).

You can populate a novel with main characters and plots, as well as sub-characters and sub-plots. It can cover the span of a few days or a few years. In a short story, there are usually no more than two or three characters, and the story takes place over a brief period, such as a few minutes or a couple of days, but the basic principles still need to be there. Here is a 230-word simple example that I wrote for my class, which takes place in the space of a few minutes.

 

STRAWBERRIES

 Zach (protagonist) takes the basket from his mother. He’s fifteen, too old to be picking strawberries. (the strawberry field = setting) His sister, three years younger, smiles at him.

“I can pick more than you,” she says. (conflict with his sister)

“Can’t,” Zach mutters, and strides away between the arrow-straight rows, kicking up sun-scorched dust with the toes of his runners. 

“Zach!” His mother’s voice reminds him of why they are here.

 He drops to his knees, parts the green canopy of protective leaves to reveal the bright fruit beneath. His fingers close around a plump, glistening berry, but before he can separate it from its stem, other fingers close around his. He looks up into a pair of blue eyes twinkling with mischief. The girl’s (antagonist) dark hair is held back under a blue and white bandana. They stare at each other across the green spine of the strawberry plants.

“I got it first,” he says. (conflict with his antagonist)

She pouts and releases his fingers. (more conflict) Zach plucks the fruit, looks at it for a moment, then hands it to her. She takes it, her fingers again brushing against his, as she lifts the fruit to her mouth. Seduced by the sight of her moist tongue caressing the berry, he catches his breath. (escalation) She sinks her perfect teeth into the succulent, pale pink flesh. (climax) He imagines that rhapsody of texture and flavour on his tongue, and slowly returns the full, knowing smile she gives him. (awareness = resolution)

So there, in a nutshell, is a short story. I hope you enjoy it.

Victoria Chatham

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NB: image is from author's photo gallery.

 

Look What I Found by Victoria Chatham

 

AVAILABLE HERE

Occasionally, I get busy tidying up old files, deleting many that have served their purpose, or, more often these days, forgetting why I saved documents or articles in the first place. One file was titled 'Shorts.' When I opened it, expecting to see short stories, I found a series of writing exercises, some as far back as 1997, from various workshops or classes. There were one-line prompts and then my effort to write something about it. 

Now, I've never enjoyed a situation where you are given a topic or prompt and asked to write about it for the next twenty minutes. My mind doesn't work that quickly. But, amongst the clutter were several 'postcard' stories. Postcard stories are usually no more than two hundred and fifty words long, often less, so maybe I had that in mind when I named the file. This is one of those postcard stories.

STRAWBERRIES

 Zach is fifteen, too old to be picking strawberries. His sister, three years younger, tugs his arm.

“Bet I can pick more than you,” she says.

“Can’t,” Zach mutters under his breath and strides away between the arrow-straight rows, kicking up sun-scorched dust with the toes of his runners.

“Zach!” His mother’s voice reminds him of why they are here.

He drops to his knees and parts the green canopy of protective leaves to reveal the bright fruit beneath. His fingers close around a plump, glistening berry, but before he can separate it from its stem, other fingers close around his. He looks up into a pair of blue eyes twinkling with mischief. A blue and white bandana holds back the girl’s dark hair. They stare at each other across the green spine of glossy leaves.

“I got it first,” he says.

She pouts and releases his fingers. Zach thinks of how many berries might be in his sister’s basket as he plucks the fruit and then hands it to the girl. As she takes it, her fingers again brush his. She sinks her perfect teeth into the succulent, pale pink flesh. Seduced by her moist tongue caressing the berry between her fingers, he catches his breath.

Time stands still as he imagines the texture and flavour of the berry in his mouth and tongue.

“Thank you,” she whispers, giving him a full, knowing smile.

Then she is gone, and Zach continues picking strawberries.

END

Victoria Chatham

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Image from author's collection.

Rushing Strawberry Season by J.Q. Rose

Hello and welcome to the Books We Love Insiders Blog!

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard by J.Q. Rose

Mystery, paranormal

Click here to find mysteries by JQ Rose at BWL Publishing

Gardener Ted's answer to getting strawberries sooner.

My dear husband, Gardener Ted, is trying to fool Mother Nature this year. He wants the strawberry plants in our garden to come early, so he erected this unique growing chamber to warm up the ground and get the plants to take off. Michigan springs are rather temperamental having cold days, then having beautiful sunny spring days. 

Close-up of the growing chamber

The plastic keeps the frigid winds away from the plants and helps warm them up when the sun shines. If it's too sunny, he simply grabs the plastic and rolls it up and clips it to the pipes for air to circulate through. 

Strawberry blossoms

Just looking at these strawberries in bloom makes my mouth water for strawberry cake or pie or a bowl of Cheerios topped with the delicious beauties. But, for now, I can only anticipate those sweet treats.

Gardener Ted prefers growing June-bearing berries rather than ever-bearing berries. We get a lot more berries from June-bearing. So, hurry up, June, so we can enjoy strawberries fresh from the garden. Fingers crossed they'll be ready a couple of weeks earlier this year!

Waiting for this season's tasty berries. Yum!

Do you love strawberries? Let us know in a comment below. Thanks for visiting.

Click here to connect online with mystery author J.Q. Rose.