How a Novel and a Short Story Do the Same in Different Ways - Essay Example

27 July Assignment A great man once said, “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” Since times immemorial, writing stories and telling tales has been a vital part of life. Furthermore, most of these stories have been written down for the benefit of the coming generations, so that they can read, analyse and understand the thought process and point of view of other people as well. Stories may be written in the form of either a novel or a short story; most people prefer both these days because both these versions help to tell tales in a descriptive manner. However, there are certain similarities as well as differences between the two and both novels as well as short stories have certain limitations as well. All this has been discussed within the scope of this paper with examples and comparisons borrowed from relevant literature. A short story, to begin with, maybe a work of either fiction or nonfiction, and is usually written in the narrative form. The length of a short story may differ from author to author, from a few pages to half a hundred pages. It includes various genres and styles of writing and are mostly works of art and integrity. Authors try to express their emotions through short stories and most of them written in the 21st century are a result of abstract thinking and reasoning in the minds of the writers. Most short stories have anecdotes or morals towards the end of them and end in an abrupt manner, leaving the reader thinking to himself what the ending might be. In earlier times, great authors, for example Aesop, even wrote fables which have become renowned in the world today as short stories with morals which are usually read out to children in order to teach them lessons in life. Many spiritual and religious leaders in the world today make use of short stories in order to help people understand the ways of the world and thus pave the way for them. Early writers like Guy de Maupassant and E. T. A Hoffman wrote some of the first short stories in fiction which are read by a vast range of readers in the world even today. There are a number of authors today that write only short stories because they find it easier to tell a story through a few pages and are able to express themselves better. Furthermore, many authors feel that they do not have the capacity to stretch on and write a book because somewhere down the pages they might lose their touch or style of writing and will not be able to carry on writing the book. It is also very easy to adapt short stories into other works of art, namely, plays, theatre productions and sometimes, even films. A short story can be reformed by other authors and script writers easily as they are less complex and leave room for thinking and additional thought as well. They usually take place over a shorter period of time and have fewer characters in order for the author to be able to narrate what he wants to say through the story in a crisp and concise manner. They are illustrative as the author tries to convey all his emotions within a few pages. Short stories begin to falter when the writer or author has a lot to say but has very few pages to say it in. He is thus not able to confine his emotions and spills on to more than 10,000 words, which is the average accepted figure for writing a short story. In such a case, he moves on to writing a bigger work of fiction, otherwise known as a novel. Thus, in a short story, the author must have a specific direction that he is moving in because there is no room for bringing about much change or any flexibility in order to deviate from the topic or theme that has been chosen because of the tight noose on the world limit. Short stories are appreciated by a larger audience as well because of their length and the reader’s considerable amount of maintaining concentration. A short story must be gripping enough for the reader to finish reading it within one sitting. The mark of a good short story is that it leaves the reader wondering what might happen next, or makes him think about a different ending than the one that has been provided by the author. Many authors begin their career by stepping into the world of short stories and thus trying their hand at writing. Writing a short story is not as time consuming and requires a single idea to be spun into a tale. Authors like Stephen King and Alice Munro also began their careers by writing short stories and throughout the course of their work; they have published innumerable short stories which have become some of the world’s most read and most renowned works of fiction. King said in an interview, “The novel is a quagmire that a lot of young writers stumble into. I started with short stories and I got comfortable with that format and never wanted to leave it behind.” Moving on to the field of novels, a great amount of difference steps in with respect to all that has been discussed above within this paper, with respect to short stories. Novels are longer works of both fiction and nonfiction and contain a long narrative and literary prose. They are also written in a variety of genres however the common element that all novels contain is a dramatic structure that helps to hold the attention of the reader. Every novel has a defined plot as well as a number of characters supporting the same. The author’s job is to try and create a world that the reader will be able to identify himself with and then create a plot within the same world in order to keep the reader encapsulated within the same. Every good novel takes a great amount of effort to be made one. Works like J.K Rowling’s Harry Potter series in the modern day and age has proven to be a series of one of the best novels that have ever been written due to its sheer popularity as well as style of writing, usage of language, and elements of mystery coupled with the characters and the plot. The novel witnessed its rise in the earlier centuries as people began reading for the purpose of recreation. In earlier times, women were not allowed to read because people feared that novels imparted too much information which women were not supposed to gain. However, with time, even women began writing novels and some of the best classics have been written by women authors like Jane Austen. Novels provide a lot of scope for authors to write and spill their emotions onto paper. However, this scope is limited when the author does not know how to convey his message and begins to ramble with the help of his vocabulary and language. Novels may also be converted into movies and plays and short stories may also be written with the help of the characters that have been described within novels. Novels help students in the modern day and age to write essays and take quotes from as well. This scope is limited within a short story because the author does not have much room for improvisation with respect to the plot or characters and is thus restricted to one line of thought. However, this is not the case in novels because in long works of writing, the author can also deviate from his line of thought somewhere along his writing. He can later join back the path that he had begun treading on with respect to his thought process and thus novels have a large scope for meandering and flexibility. Long texts have been used by businessmen, politicians as well as people studying the various sciences in society in order to research from and gain knowledge and information from. These novels have also been converted into e-books in the modern age and people can access them online by either purchasing or downloading the same. Novels help a person to transverse upon his line of thought and have instigated large sections of people since the past. In history, there have been novels written by all kinds of people, for example the Nazi book or Hitler’s autobiography, Mein Kampf, which has terrorized a large number of people all over the world. Words have the power to move minds and hearts as well as scare and frighten them. Novels are the thus the best way for an author or a writer to get across his message to people. The book titled ‘The Help’ by Kathryn Stockett is a novel that helps people to understand the plight of maidservants and domestic helpers of African American origin and descent. Novels like these, thus, help people to comprehend and think about social issues and take some action. Novels are not merely stories; they also might be accounts of experiences and incidents that people have undergone in their lives, which have taught them a great deal about living and surviving in different kinds of situations. Reading a variety of novels makes for an excellent habit as it helps people to enjoy as well as learn and enrich one’s knowledge with the ways of the world. Books like ‘The Management of Grief’ written by Bharati Mukherjee help people to overcome sadness and emotions related to grief. Authors are thus able to impart personal knowledge regarding dealing with emotions and living everyday life situations in a manner that helps people to relate to the same. Eudora Welty, a famous author puts forth her views regarding the novel and the short story by saying in an interview that, “I like the fiction writer’s feeling of being able to confront an experience and resolve it as art, however imperfectly and briefly – to give it a form and try to embody it – to hold it and express it in a story’s terms. You have more chance to try it in a novel. A short story is confined to one mood, to which everything in the story pertains. Characters, setting, time, events, are all subject to the mood. And you can try more ephemeral, more fleeting things in a story – you can work more by suggestion – than in a novel. Less is resolved, more is suggested, perhaps.” In conclusion, both the novel as well as the short story counts for works of expression through the experiences and thoughts encountered by an author or a writer. Every author has a certain potential and capacity to be able to convey his message and his emotions to his reader in an appealing manner. The mark of a good author is a good storyline along with the use of good language which most people are able to understand. Also, an author must be able to move the heart and mind of the reader and create an impact in the same way. This paper helped in understanding how a novel and a short story do the same in different ways as well as the limitations and the capacity that both of them possess. They have their own merits and demerits and attempt to bring about a change in society in their own ways. Works Cited "What’s the Difference Between a Novel and a Short Story?" One Minute Book Reviews. 1 Aug. 2007. Web. 27 July 2011. . Read More