SK DJ GM short story, brief fictional prose narrative that is shorter than a novel and that usually deals with only a few characters.PanchatantraPanchatantraSee all mediaKey People: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Mark Twain Olga Tokarczuk Miguel de Cervantes VoltaireRelated Topics: literatureThe short story is usually concerned with a single effect conveyed in only one or a few significant episodes or scenes. The form encourages economy of setting, concise narrative, and the omission of a complex plot; character is disclosed in action and dramatic encounter but is seldom fully developed. Despite its relatively limited scope, though, a short story is often