What is the purpose of short stories?

[davidlevine]

I'm off to the Cascade Writers workshop this weekend, where I'll be an instructor. One of the things I'll be doing is giving a talk on "The Purpose and Practice of Short Stories." I have a few ideas, but I thought I'd ask you as well: what do you think is the purpose -- or, indeed, the point -- of writing short stories these days?

Comments

[redbird]

This may not be what you're looking for, but from my viewpoint as a reader, part of the point of short stories is that I can read and enjoy them when I don't have the time and concentration for a novel. That includes both distracting circumstances, and being too busy with something else to read the novel relatively quickly: putting a novel aside in my head for three days works better than three weeks, and three months can be completely untenable.

[snippy]

As a reader, not a writer, I reject the premises of the question. Why do short stories have to have a purpose? They entertain me, they are the right length for the idea the author is working out, they leave room for me to think my own thoughts about the characters and the situation. I like short stories. Some authors are far better at that length than anything longer, just like some people can whip together a quick meal out of what's in the fridge but others need recipes and a shopping list and a formal meal to make.

Some lives are long, that doesn't make short ones less worthy. Some stories are short: they serve their entire purpose as short prose. Nobody asks whether short poetry has to have a purpose or point, so why ask about short stories?

Hey my brain my actually be coming back online after surgery. I think this is the most I've written as a comment in the last 8 days (since surgery).

[bibliofile]

Also a reader, but I've been attending conventions for decades now. If you're writing novels but having trouble selling them, maybe short stories are another way to try to get some/any of your work out there?

I've also heard that the shorter length can help with writing muscles & discipline, looking for the bones of a story and removing extranaeity (if that's a word).

At any rate, it'd be interesting to hear what other options come up during your conversation.