What makes a short story different from a novel is the structure. Ideally, most of the narrative fictions use three-act structures to tell stories. Novels have more time to explore the three-act structure, which divides a story into three parts: the setup, the confrontation, and the resolution. Meanwhile, with a shorter length, short stories usually only have space to write a segment of the three-act structure. This segment will lead up to the major event for the main character.
Explanation:
Apart from its length, the difference between a short story and a novel is the structure. Unlike novels that can range from 50,000 to 65,000 words, short stories usually range from 1,000 to 20,000. If a short story is longer than 20,000 words, it would be considered a novella. Since the length is shorter, short stories have a limited space to explore the three-act structure, which is commonly used to plot narrative fictions.
Three-act structure
Act I – Setup: exposition, inciting incident.
Act II – Confrontation: Rising action.
Act III – Resolution: Pre climax, climax, denouement.
Novels
Since it’s lengthier, novels can contain many characters, subplots, and themes.
That makes novels tend to have a more complex story as they deal with a chain of closely related events.
Novels can be divided into chapters and sometimes volume.
Novels can cover a very long period.
Not necessarily intended to be read in one sitting.
Novels start with an exposition or introduction to the plot (Act I: Exposition) – the plot thickens and things get complicated (Act II – Confrontation) – conflict reaches its climax, questions are answered, and problems are solved (Act III – Resolution).
Short stories
Since it’s shorter, short stories only contains one basic plot and only focus on one or two characters.
That makes short stories have simpler stories.
Most short stories don’t have chapters.
Short stories cover a short period as it focuses more on telling one event.
Intended to be read in one sitting.
Most short stories don’t have exposition since they tend to begin the narrative from the middle of the story.
Learn more
If you’re interested in learning more about this topic, we recommend you to also take a look at the following questions:
What is a short story? -
Main purpose of a novel -
Subject: English
Class: 7-9
Subchapter: Literature
