The Mind Creative DEC 2013
Writing short stories is a craft that is sometimes considered to be
more complicated than writing a novel. One reason is that the
author has to work within the confines of a limited number of
words. The other factor that can be a challenge is that the reader
starts reading a short story with the presumption of the story
being “short”. This challenge, of course, multiplies when one
writes short stories that are extremely concise; a skill that is a
definitive combination of imaginative craft and art.
It is widely believed that a young Ernest Hemingway once wrote
the shortest story ever, with only six words, as an answer to a
challenge by friends. This “shortest” short story was:
For sale: Baby shoes. Never worn.
Later, this was proven to be more of a myth and it is now known
that Hemmingway never wrote this “shortest short story”.
However, here’s an authentic one from Fredrick Brown called
“Knock”:
The last man on earth sat alone in &