Those of you who subscribe to my newsletter will know that I put a short story in each issue: one I write specifically for my newsletter.

I say ‘short’, but I’ve never yet managed to get under 4,500 words, and I average around 7,000.

What keeps a story short is limiting it to one plot line and a tight focus on the main characters. No haring off in a dozen different directions as I so love to do in novels, and no time for deep examinations of the character’s motivations and past history. Beyond that, a short romance — one just long enough to read over a cup of coffee — should still give that ‘aaah’ moment.

A novelette — 10,000 to 15,000 words — allows more characterisation and a plot line that takes longer to wind to a conclusion, but not more than one. In a novella — 15,000 to 45,000 words, let’s say — the writer can stretch a bit more, with interesting secondary characters and maybe one subplot.

And so we go. I’ve also written short novels (45,000 to 80,000 words) and long novels (anything over 80,000 words). What I haven’t done — yet — is a short short. Very short stories are an entirely different animal. They comprise The best take the shape setup, complications, twist, with the twist coming in the last paragraph. I love to read well written short shorts. I really really want to write one.

Meanwhile, I’m beginning to write my short story for the September newsletter. It is called The Ruby Cuff links, and stars a man who is marrying an ugly duckling heiress in order to save his impoverished estate. Until he hears that the ruby cuff links he once loaned to a friend might once again be within his reach. Want to hear more? Subscribe to my newsletter.