A short story is a work of fiction, that is, a nonfactual work of the imagination. Short stories are briefer than novels and often focus on a central theme. You can read them in magazines such as The New Yorker, in literary journals such as Ploughshares, and on blogs; they are also published as collections in book form. (For more information on literary journals, see the list published by Poets & Writers.) Fiction authors—whether they’re writing a novel or a short story, serious literature or a bodice-ripping romance—generally use specific elements, such as plot, characters, and setting, to tell a story.

If you’ve taken an introduction to fiction course, you have probably read classic stories such as “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor or “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, or more contemporary works such as “Brownies” by ZZ Packer or one of the stories from Jhumpa Lahiri’s collection Interpreter of Maladies. Whether you are a reader, an aspiring writer, or both, the following guidelines will help you look at short fiction with a critical eye, examine the conventions and rhetorical contexts of the genre, and experiment a little with your own work of narrative fiction.