What are the essential features of a short story?

We must have noticed that most discussions of literature concentrate on the novel, drama and poetry. The short story is often regarded as a sort of poor relation, not worth consideration. Katherine Mansfield a famous short story writer was once asked:

‘What do you do in life’?

‘I am a writer’.

‘Do you write dramas?’

‘No’. it sounded as if she were sorry she did not.

‘Do you write tragedies, novels, romance?’ I persisted, because she looked as if she could write these. ‘No’, she said, and with still deeper distress; ‘only short stories; just short stories’.

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