short story
Let an agent explain the short story as a form, distinguish it from the novella, tale and flash fiction, relay its history, theory and notable authors with attribution, and route to entries for specific genres, authors and collections.
Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled
4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions
Form What a short story is.
Definition
Definition and features.
Definition
Definition.
- What is a short story, and what features define the form? definition
- Is the work a short story, a novella, flash fiction or a tale? boundary
Craft
Craft.
Craft
Craft.
- How are short stories structured, and what techniques do writers use? provenance
- Which entry fits narrative technique? action
History History and theory.
History
History.
History
History.
- How did the short story develop from tales and anecdotes to the modern form, with attribution? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Theory
Theory.
Theory
Theory.
- How have critics from Poe onward theorised the short story, with positions attributed? provenance
- Is the presentation neutral? boundary
Landscape Genres and traditions.
Genres
Genres and themes.
Genres
Genres.
- How does the short story work across genres and thematic categories? provenance
- Which entry fits the specific genre? action
World
World traditions.
World
World.
- What short fiction traditions exist outside Europe and North America, such as the hikayah? provenance
- Which entry fits the specific tradition? action
Practice Publishing and teaching.
Publishing
Publishing and prizes.
Publishing
Publishing.
- Where are short stories published, and which prizes recognise them? provenance
- Which sources are cited? provenance
Teach
Teaching.
Teach
Teaching.
- How is the short story taught in literature and creative writing? provenance
- Which entry fits creative writing? action
Classifiers Filled
- Family
- Thing Registry
- Category
- Information and virtual systems
- Entry kind
- thing
- Plane
- INF
- Domain
- INF.MED
- Other names and narrower kinds
- Fujiko, Fujio F. SF short stories, LGBTQ short story, erotic short story, short stories written by Karl May, hikayah, existential novella, Bangla short story, Cunti, Nature Futures, historical short story, horror short story, chuanqi
What it is Filled
A work of prose fiction shorter than a novel, usually readable in one sitting and focused on a single incident, character or effect, developed as a modern literary form in the nineteenth century by writers such as Poe, Chekhov and Maupassant from older tales and anecdotes; short stories appear in magazines, collections and anthologies, in genres from literary fiction to science fiction, and have related forms such as the Arabic hikayah, while the novella is a distinct, generally longer form.
Why it exists Filled
Let an agent explain the short story as a form, distinguish it from the novella, tale and flash fiction, relay its history, theory and notable authors with attribution, and route to entries for specific genres, authors and collections.
Distinguishing features Filled
- Brevity and unity
- Modern literary form
- Magazine origins
- Genre breadth
What robots and AI may and may not do Filled
Must not
- Reproduce copyrighted stories in full or in large parts without permission.
- Present generated stories as the work of a named author.
- Submit a story written by the agent as a person's own work in contests or courses that forbid it.
Only with a human decision
- Submitting or publishing a story under a person's name.
May
- Summarise and discuss short stories, crediting author, collection and translator.
- Help writers draft and edit their own stories when they ask.
Moral aspects Filled
- Writers depend on rights and credit; short fiction earns little and is easy to copy.
- Stories can stereotype or wound; context and care matter in recommending them.
Who is affected
- Authors and translators
- Readers
- Editors and magazines
Owners Filled
Steward
The author or rights holder; publishers hold licences to publish.
Links to other meta-models Filled
parent
- Q1053765 - registry parent class
- Q116518880 - registry parent class
- Q3328821 - registry parent class
- Q87482979 - registry parent class
related
- short prose - in registry terms
- narration - in registry terms
- novel - by length and scope
- novella - an intermediate form
What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled
Identity and identifiers required Filled
- Vercy registry: vr.tr.short-story
- Wikidata: Q49084 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q49084)
Direct properties not applicable Not applicable
- typical length: about 1000-10000 words - varies by definition
Plane INF: no invented physical properties.
Recognition optional Filled
- Short prose fiction with unity of effect
- Published in magazines, collections and anthologies
- Novellas are longer; flash fiction shorter; tales and anecdotes are older forms
- Not a physical object; a prose text of a few to several dozen pages.
Capabilities and actions required Filled
- explain the form and its features
- distinguish from related forms
- relay history and theory with attribution
- route to specific genres and authors
Hazards and failure modes required Filled
- Blurred boundaries with novella and flash fiction
- Eurocentric histories
- Confusing thematic categories with the form
Standards and interfaces required Filled
- No regulation; copyright and publishing contracts
- Prize eligibility rules defining length
Context of use required Filled
- Concise narrative fiction.
- literary short stories
- genre short stories such as science fiction, crime and horror
- LGBTQ, erotic and other thematic categories
- short stories by specific authors such as Karl May and Fujiko F. Fujio
- traditional forms such as the hikayah
- novellas and flash fiction as neighbouring forms
Sources Filled
- Wikidata item Q49084: short story - identity and sense of the item
- Wikipedia: Short story - general description of the item
Open questions
- Should novella and flash fiction be separate entries?
- How should anthologies and prizes be linked?
- The registry entry has merged aliases naming authors and thematic categories; should they be split off?
Machine files
Provenance
thing registry research (pass 2) · unreviewed
Built from: models/things/publications/thing-q49084/spec.json