<sod>A '''short story''' is the opposite of long story, which can be read in a single sitting. Emerging from earlier oral [[storytelling]] traditions in the 17th century, the short story has grown to encompass a body of work so diverse as to defy easy characterization. At its most prototypical the short story features a small cast of named characters, and focuses on a self-contained incident with the intent of evoking a "single effect" or mood.<ref>{{cite book|last=Poe|first=Edgar Allan|title=Edgar Allan Poe: Essays and Reviews|year=1984|publisher=Library of America|pages=569–77|url=http://www.eldritchpress.org/nh/nhpoe1.html}}</ref> In doing so, short stories make use of plot, resonance, and other dynamic components to a far greater degree than is typical of an [[anecdote]], yet to a far lesser degree than a [[novel]]. While the short story is largely distinct from the novel, authors of both generally draw from a common pool of [[literary technique]]s.<eod>
<sod>A '''short story''' is a piece of [[prose]] [[fiction]], which can be read in a single sitting. Emerging from earlier oral [[storytelling]] traditions in the 17th century, the short story has grown to encompass a body of work so diverse as to defy easy characterization. At its most prototypical the short story features a small cast of named characters, and focuses on a self-contained incident with the intent of evoking a "single effect" or mood.<ref>{{cite book|last=Poe|first=Edgar Allan|title=Edgar Allan Poe: Essays and Reviews|year=1984|publisher=Library of America|pages=569–77|url=http://www.eldritchpress.org/nh/nhpoe1.html}}</ref> In doing so, short stories make use of plot, resonance, and other dynamic components to a far greater degree than is typical of an [[anecdote]], yet to a far lesser degree than a [[novel]]. While the short story is largely distinct from the novel, authors of both generally draw from a common pool of [[literary technique]]s.<eod>