The 8 differences between a short story and a novel

These two literary genres have characteristics in common... but also differences.

"Once upon a time...". This well-known construction resonates in our minds as the one that starts a great part of the stories we have heard in our childhood.

The short story, like other types of literary genre, is a form of narration that explains a story in prose form. Another genre that works with prose narration is the novel. Both types of narration have characteristics in common that sometimes cause them to be confused, but nevertheless they also have multiple differences that make them recognizable and different.

In this article we are going to expose the main differences between short stories and novels..

• Recommended article: "The 13 types of text and their characteristics".

Defining concepts: short story and novel

The novel and the short story are, as we have said, literary genres written in prose that tell and transmit a story in the form of a narrative. Although similar in some respects, they have many differences that make them easily recognizable.

A novel is a relatively long narrative that tells a fictional story (whether totally fictional or not). (whether wholly fictitious or based in part on real events), elaborated for recreational purposes. It presents a series of events in which a number of characters will be involved, which will also develop throughout the story. The action is contextualized in a specific point in space-time, even if it refers to non-existent environments or worlds. The themes can be varied and have different structures and ways of being carried out.

As far as the short story is concerned, it is a brief and concise form of narration that relates a specific fictitious situation in which a few characters are involved and whose main function is both to entertain and to transmit certain values or teachings. in which a few characters are involved and whose main function is both to entertain and to transmit certain values or teachings. Their structure is simple, and although there are exceptions, they are generally not set in a specific time or special moment.

Main differences

Although in the previous section some differences between a short story and a novel can already be deduced, we will now proceed to highlight and explain them..

1. Extension

One of the easiest differences to detect between a short story and a novel is the difference in their length.. While the short story is generally brief and does not usually cover more than a few pages, the novel is generally quite long. Nevertheless, it must be taken into account that the length is a confusing parameter when establishing a limit between both types of narration, since there are very long stories and short novels that can be similar in this factor.

Level of concreteness and complexity

As a general rule, the novel presents a high level of complexity.It presents various situations that may be difficult to understand at first and that will be developed and varied throughout the narrative. However, the story tends to be simple and concise, proposing a very delimited and easy to understand situation and without complications beyond those initially proposed.

Thematic variation

While short stories are generally related to a single theme to work on throughout the story, novels can have a variety of themes, in novels, different themes, subplots and plot twists may emerge. that enrich the reading but make it more complex and difficult to follow.

4. Structure

In both narrative genres we find a structure in the form of a beginning, middle and end. However, while the short story adheres firmly to this structure and it is easy to delimit at what point in the story we are at, in the novel there may be plot twists, new beginnings or even a new beginning.**new beginnings or even a series of parallel stories** that make its structure more complex.

5. Characters

The emphasis given to the characters also differs in novels and short stories.. While the short story tends to focus on what happens to a few characters, most of whom are delimited from the beginning, in the novel a wide variety of characters may appear whose role may vary and who will be developed with different levels of depth.

6. Scenario

Another point on which short stories and novels differ is the use made of space and time.. The events narrated in the short story tend to take place in a single setting or place or relate to a single journey, while in the novel the plot can take the characters to different environments that are very different from each other. As for time, although in both types of narration the events can take place in a short or long interval of time, it is more frequent that in the short story things happen in short periods of time while in novels the events are prolonged.

Likewise, often neither the time nor the place are themselves the object of analysis in the short story and are only inferred, while in novels these aspects are usually delimited with greater precision, the story being much more contextualized (even if they are about places and times that have never existed).

7. Purpose

The purpose of both genres is also different. While it is true that both have a ludic element, the novel has the sole purpose of entertaining and, in some cases, making people think, novels have the sole purpose of entertaining and, in some cases, of making people think, while short stories focus on transmitting a teaching (generally in the form of a moral). (generally in the form of a moral).

8. Form of transmission

A final difference can be found in the fact that the novel is a literary elaboration that is transmitted in writing.. On the other hand, although the tale can appear in writing, it has traditionally been transmitted orally.