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1 " While there is some disagreement over the official length of a short story, a good rule of thumb is that it is between 1k and 7k words. Less than that and you get into the area of flash fiction. More than that and you move into the territory of the novelette (7k -20k) or the novella (20k-50k). "
― James Scott Bell , How to Write Short Stories And Use Them to Further Your Writing Career
2 " The “feel” of a short story should be that it follows one trajectory, or arc. It concerns a character (or, in some cases, a group) heading through one primary crisis or concern. "
3 " She arranged her board and began a pen-and-ink drawing to illustrate a magazine story. Young artists must pave their way to Art by drawing pictures for magazine stories that young authors write to pave their way to Literature. "
4 " Sir,” said the young man in intense excitement, “a mystery has been committed!” “Ha!” said the Great Detective, his eye kindling, “is it such as to completely baffle the police of the entire continent?” “They are so completely baffled with it,” said the secretary, “that they are lying collapsed in heaps; many of them have committed suicide. "
5 " The Prince of Wurttemberg has been kidnapped.” The Great Detective bounded from his chair as if he had been kicked from below. A prince stolen! Evidently a Bourbon! The scion of one of the oldest families in Europe kidnapped. Here was a mystery indeed worthy of his analytical brain. His mind began to move like lightning. "
6 " With the Great Detective to think was to act, and to act was to think. Frequently he could do both together. "
7 " A great short story is about the fallout from one, shattering moment. "
8 " Write what you love. That's really the most important thing—and believe it or not, the most important thing to making a living. "
9 " If you write one story, it may be bad; if you write a hundred, you have the odds in your favor. "
