10 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN SHORT STORY AND NOVEL (WITH EXAMPLES) - LITERATURE - 2025

Among the differences between the story and the novel, variations in length, the structure of the narrative and the unit of action stand out, among other factors. Although both genres are characterized by being constituted by the story of a fictitious action, the ways of narrating are different in each case.

One should not be too light to say that the story is a smaller genre than the novel, and that it only serves as a practice exercise for it. Each genre has its own values ​​that must be appreciated differently.

One of the main differences between a short story and a novel is that the first is usually much shorter than the second. Source: pixabay.com

The novel is characterized by being a usually long narrative, written in prose and with a broad development of the central plot of the plot. On the contrary, the story is a short story that can be written or oral and that presents a development of a much less complex plot, basing the story on a few characters.

10 main differences between short story and novel

-Origin

Origin of the story

It can be said that the story is much older than the novel, since its first manifestations come from oral culture.

We can suppose that the story, understood in the broad sense of "short story", began to exist practically since man developed the ability to communicate through language.

Many ancient tales of the oral tradition have been compiled in writing, managing to be preserved as part of the history of literature. Some examples are: Aesop's Fables (Greece, 4th century BC), The Thousand and One Nights (Middle East, 9th century AD) and Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales (England, 14th century).

In the Middle Ages different forms of the popular and literary tale developed. Some had a worldly and humorous meaning, while others - such as the apologist, the exemplum and the fable - had a marked ideological-didactic function.

Origin of the novel

The term novella comes from the Italian Renaissance and initially designated narrative writings a little longer than the story, made in the manner of Giovanni Boccaccio and with a realistic and satirical theme.

The novellas or nouvelles in their beginnings were not as long as the romances, great compositions that recounted events of a historical or mythical nature.

However, the term novel was soon used to designate any narrative text that exceeded the dimensions of the story.

Although the first antecedents of the novel go back to the times of ancient Greece, the novel did not reach the form that really characterizes it until the sixteenth century. For this reason it is considered a late-appearing genus.

-Extension

The main characteristic that differentiates stories from novels is their length. The story is a short story; on the contrary, the novel is a long story.

However, categories such as "short" and "long" can create ambiguity. Hence, there are categories such as short novel or long story.

Examples

For example, a classic story like Anaconda (1921), by Horacio Quiroga, has about forty pages. Another equally classic, House Taken (1946) by Julio Cortázar, does not reach ten pages. Likewise, there are stories that do not have more than one page.

Unlike the story, the length of the novel has no limit. A novel can reach proportions that some would consider inordinate. An example is Guerra y Paz (1864) by León Tolstoy, a book that has approximately 1200 pages.

-Characters

A novelist generally focuses on working through all the physical, ethical, social and psychological characteristics of his main characters.

These aspects must be well developed through an evolutionary process in which the character changes according to the events that happen to him during the story.

On the other hand, a story writer should use just a few gestures, details, or brief explanations to give an idea of ​​a character's character. The narrator of a story should focus on the concrete exposition of the character's conflict, not on the infinite causes or connotations that it may have.

In the story, more attention is paid to the correct structural functioning of the plot so as not to wander and lose the shocking effect that is required. Generally, the character, rather than a being that comes to life in fiction, is reduced to a cog in the narrative structure.

Examples

In the novel Robinson Crusoe (1719), Daniel Defoe focuses his narrative on the construction of an exemplary character that demonstrates the values ​​of the good Christian in modernity. This character grows in all aspects of his life due to the difficulties he faces during the story.

On the other hand, if we read the short story The Taken House by Cortázar, rather than identify ourselves emotionally with the protagonists, we are surprised by the fantastic nature of what happens to them (they are evicted by unknown entities) and by the suspense generated by the author with his narrative techniques.

-The description

The conciseness of the story requires that the narration be fast-paced. For this reason, the storyteller prefers to use actions before descriptions, since the latter slow down, delay, pause the development of the plot.

If it is necessary to describe a situation, the storyteller generally uses the resource of dynamic description. This consists of describing through actions, predominantly using verbs instead of adjectives.

Instead, novels often have long descriptive digressions that serve to set the scene and emphasize the symbolic meaning of certain elements.

Examples

In a story, instead of describing a scenario with a phrase like: “Carlos lived in a noisy, polluted and violent city”, the storyteller could express the same thing in this way: “The noise of the bugle and the insult of the collector saved Carlos of being run over by a bus that was skipping red lights and leaving everything impregnated with its trail of smoke ”.

In the case of the novel, some novelists tend to place great emphasis on the sensitive nature of their descriptions, as is the case with Marcel Proust and the famous scene in In Search of Lost Time, in which everything the man feels is described. character eating a cupcake

-The structure

The narrative structure of the story is very rigid, generally the presentation scheme of the problem-middle-climax-outcome is used.

The novel gives the writer more possibilities to play with the narrative structure. Prolepsis, flashbacks and interlocking of different narrative threads can be done.

Example

A paradigmatic case of novelistic experimentation is Rayuela (1963) by Julio Cortázar, since its chapters can be read in different orders without the work losing meaning.

-Unity of action

The story generally presents the development of a single event that usually has a relevant, particular or extraordinary character.

The novels present a great diversity of actions that are generally related for a reason. Sometimes juxtaposed episodes can be seen that have little to do with the main plot of the play.

Examples

In the story Poe's Stolen Letter the writer only sticks to the investigation of the theft. On the other hand, in Don Quixote the narration of events that do not have much relation with the central theme is observed; such is the case of interspersed novels.

-The unit of time

Chronologically, the story in the tale is usually limited to a short period. The narrated event is presented as a shock, a parenthesis in the daily life of the characters.

In the novel the stories represented span long periods of time. For this reason they usually describe great changes in the context and subjectivity of the characters.

Examples

In Ernest Hemingway's The Assassins, the story time lasts for just one afternoon, which takes the intervention of the mobsters in the restaurant.

On the other hand, the novel One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) by García Márquez, is the story of the vicissitudes of a family through seven generations.

-The place

The action of the story usually occurs in a single space where the extraordinary event that is related is concentrated. On the other hand, in the novel very wide universes are usually built in which the characters move.

Examples

An example of this characteristic is the story Casa taken by Cortázar, since the entire narrative takes place in an old house in Buenos Aires.

In the case of the novel, in Gulliver's Travels (1726) by Jonathan Swift, the plot focuses on the protagonist's journey through different fantastic countries.

-The atmosphere

Generally, the short story has only one type of atmosphere that is consistent with the theme and the effect that the story tries to convey.

On the other hand, the novels usually show nuances that are consistent with the development of the plot and the characters.

Examples

In the stories of HP Lovecraft an atmosphere that is characterized by being dark and terrifying always predominates.

On the other hand, in Goethe's novel The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774), the atmosphere of the narrative changes according to the mood of the protagonist, who at times is enthusiastic but then sinks into melancholy over his love conflicts.

-The reading

The way to read a story and a novel are completely different. Edgar Allan Poe said that the story should be read in a session lasting between 30 minutes and 2 hours. In other words, the reader must be able to access the entire work immediately.

On the other hand, the reception time of a novel is extended and interrupted; it gives rise to rest and reflection during reading. The reader can pause the reading of a novel and resume it some time later without diminishing its aesthetic effect.

References

1. Bosch, J. "Theory of the story" (1967). Mérida: Universidad de los Andes / Faculty of Humanities and Education.
2. D'Angelo, G. (coord.) “Masterpieces of the short story”. Barcelona: Editorial Oceano.
3. Myers, W. "Effect and method in the short story" (1913). State University of Iowa. Retrieved on April 15, 2019 from State University of Iowa: ir.uiowa.edu.
4. Zhukov, E. "The difference between a novel and a short story" in Writers' Corner. Retrieved on April 15, 2019 from Rincón de los Escritores: larmancialtda.com.
5. "The story and the novel" at the Department of Education, University and Professional Training. Retrieved on April 15, 2019 from the Ministry of Education, University and Professional Training: edu.xunta.gal