The short story does not simply differ from the novel (or novella) in length, although brevity is one of its defining characteristics. It does not have the development of characters and narrative that you find in the longer forms of fiction. It must offer the reader a different experience. In its purest form, it is like a memory recalled, often no more than an incident or encounter where it may seem that little or nothing happened. Its essence lies in the detail: a single word or sentence may create an image or feeling that opens up a wider world left to the reader's imagination. Little may occur dramatically in a short story, but often by the end something has changed significantly, and a greater understanding has been reached by one or more of the characters - and the reader...
