Transcript of “The Difference Between a Novel and a Short Story”
I came across a great conversation online between authors Anne Patchett and Elizabeth McCracken, and they were talking about the difference between a short story and a novel.
And Grant, you’re going to love this. Elizabeth McCracken said, a short story is a blow to the solar plexus. A novel is a lingering illness from which you may never recover.
Oh, beautiful. I love it. Somebody who’s fond of inventing his own metaphors, and I wish I could have invented those. That was so good.
Say it again, please. A short story is a blow to the solar plexus. A novel is a lingering illness from which you may never recover.
It’s so perfect. Sometimes when you read a great book, you do feel like they’ve inflicted something upon you.
Mm— Yeah, it becomes chronic.
It does, yeah. The author has left you with a problem to deal with because you’ve got to sort it out mentally, maybe physically.
We’re always open to hearing about what you’re reading, whether it’s a novel or a short story.
