Centered around themed writing prompts, these short stories range across all forms, genres, and topics of interests. Simply filter by the genre that appeals you most, and discover thousands of stories from promising new writers around the world.
Very few stories in The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis are longer than a few pages, and many are a single page, like prose haiku or short vignettes. Her stories are usually less about narrative and more about observation, seemingly insignificant details, and a refusal to sentimentalise. Indeed, her stories are almost clinical in their precision and emotional tautness.
Short Fiction Stories To Read Online
If you're feeling overwhelmed by the number of great short stories out there, you can also take our 30-second quiz below to narrow it down quickly and get a personalized short story recommendation ?
Want more quick reads? Check out these 11 interesting short stories that may change the way you think. Or try something a little different (but just as fast) by picking up some of the best graphic novels!
Please enjoy these great stories, fairy-tales, fables, and nursery rhymes for children. They help kids learn to readand make excellent bedtime stories! We have hundreds of great children's stories for you to share.
The magical author of The UglyDuckling,The Princess and the Pea, andThe Brave Tin Soldier, Andersen also wrote poignant short stories enjoyed by readers of all ages, includingThe Last Dream of Old Oakand the tender, bittersweet Christmas classic The Little Matchstick Girl.
Teachers love using short stories for so many reasons, and short stories found online offer added convenience and motivation! A great short story can get our students thinking and making connections. Short stories are perfect for teaching literary terms and vocabulary. Plus, students enjoy discussion around the conflicts and themes in short stories. And because these gems can be taught in a few class periods, students gain some solid literary momentum when we add several to a unit.
The Antioch Review rarely publishes more than three short stories per issue, but its editors are open to new as well as established writers. Authors published here often wind up in Best American anthologies and as the recipients of Pushcart prizes.
Another one high on the prestige list, The Georgia Review features a wide variety of essays, fiction, book reviews, and more across a wide range of topics. You can read specific requirements for each in the submission guidelines, but the common theme among them all is quality, quality, quality.
A diverse publication that features both award-winning and emerging writers, VQR accepts short fiction (3,500 to 8,000 words) but is not a fan of genre work like romance, sci-fi and fantasy. It also takes nonfiction (3,500 to 9,000 words) like travel essays that examine the world around us.
Update (5/5/2021): If you like the short stories listed above, I have more recommendations in this post, and some short stories featuring LGBTQ+ characters here. Enjoy!
Q: What about the Creole or other dialectal expressions? I love Kate Chopin, but at places in the short stories, I really struggle with understanding what her characters are saying. How do I deal with that?
A grieving cameraman visits different neighborhoods of Los Angeles to film sensational stories for a Spanish-language television show, documenting the ever-blurring line between truth, fiction, and the responsibilities we hold for each other.
Stories to Grow By is a non-profit organization. We dedicate ourselves to providing the best treasury of stories and reader's theater scripts. Each one is kid-tested, providing children a meaningful experience that will last a lifetime.
Bedtime stories are a story told to a child once they have gotten into bed for the evening. Reading a bedtime story every night is beneficial for children and parents, too! Reading stories each night to your child has been proven to improve reading and vocabulary skills. Read a special story for children tonight!
Reading bedtime stories each evening to a child promotes positive sleep habits. It builds on reading skills, vocabulary size as well as the imagination. It calms a busy child and engages their mind into a world of magic and sweet dreams. The bedtime story is the best way to end the child's day and lead them into a night of wonderful rest.
What better way to teach morals then through magical short stories for kids. Our bedtime stories have been kid-tested and kid-approved. Kids loves our stories and parents love the special time they spend reading with them each night. Our bedtime stories and all our stories for kids are read by children of different ages to ensure reading level as well as understanding are accurate.
In addition to our bedtime stories, we also offer a multitude teaching resources! This includes over 100 free bedtime stories, fairy tales, folk tales, readers theater play scripts, and performance notes!
Not only is The Metamorphosis one of the greatest short stories ever written, but it was an important forebearer of the Surrealist movement that would emerge shortly after its publication in 1915. The story of a salesman who wakes up one morning to find, much to his alarm, that he has turned into a beetle, there has been much debate over its meaning, but all agree that it is a masterful look at alienation in the modern age.
Papa Hemingway wrote several short stories that could be ranked among the best of all time, but Hills Like White Elephants is perhaps his most brilliant effort thanks to how he talks directly about a subject without ever bringing it up at all. The story of a young couple waiting for a train as they discuss some never-clarified operation, it is nevertheless obvious that the man is attempting to pressure the woman into having an abortion. It is a masterpiece of subtlety and simplicity from a writer who is perhaps the greatest at packing an abundance of meaning into a minimal word count.
Which journals are accepting short story submissions right now? There are tons of fiction journals out there looking for stories like yours, and finding where to submit short stories can leave you with too many options.
LampLight Magazine is a quarterly journal of dark fiction and horror. This short story magazine regularly seeks literary fiction with a bizarre, The Twilight Zone-style twist. Lamplight pays 3 per word for all fiction it publishes.
Dark Magazine pays 6 a word for horror and dark fantasy fiction. This journal much prefers stories that deviate from an expected ending and play with new styles and ideas. This is a great place for horror short story submissions!
Typishly accepts short fiction and tries to publish both new and emerging voices. Best of all, they aim to respond to all submitted works in under 24 hours! This is a great journal for both expanding your readership and trying your look at a fast-paced publication.
Want to know where to submit short stories for money? Many of the following journals pay for work from previously published writers. A publication in any of these online fiction journals could catapult your writing toward a larger, more reputable audience!
The Threepenny Review publishes literary and inventive works of fiction. They are open for submissions from January through June, and they pay $400 per accepted story. Among the best journals for short story submissions, Threepenny Review is reliably expedient.
The Sun Magazine loves fiction that is literary, unflinching, thoughtful, and darkly funny. This competitive journal pays anywhere from $300 to $2,000 for their stories, and a publication in The Sun will be sent out to over 70,000 readers of the journal!
Produced out of Beloit College, the Beloit Fiction Journal publishes contemporary short fiction. Short story submissions open between August 1st to November 16th, and submissions are free if you send your submission by mail.
The Antioch Review is a competitive publication out of Antioch College in Ohio. This journal has high literary standards and expects highly polished, ready-for-print works. Each publication of the journal only includes 3 short stories, and all submissions must be sent via mail.
The publishing world is tough, fast, and competitive. With so many voices and publications in the literary world, writers have a tough time finding the right journal. You may encounter one rejection, five rejections, or fifty rejections before you find a home for your short story or flash fiction.
Whatever your level of experience and goals for your short stories, the instructors at Writers.com can help you perfect your fiction and find new homes for them. Take a look at our upcoming online fiction writing courses and one-to-one coaching options, and take the next step in your fiction writing journey.
I am from South Africa and are always looking for magazines that accept international submissions regarding short stories. Are now looking where I can submit my 2000 word angel-encountering story, based on true events.
Any short stories you pulled out of textbooks need a citation in your works cited. Many times, textbooks have multiple authors or editors. Therefore, you include the author of the short story and include the editor as a contributor after the title.
One of the most popular websites to read short stories on, Electric Literature is a nonprofit digital publisher focused on unveiling elevating new voices. Their interest lays primarily in writing that operates at the intersection of different cultures, genres, and media.
A short story can be submitted by anyone through Submittable, as long as it meets specific criteria described on the website. It is later reviewed by Electric Literature editors and, if chosen, the author is paid and their work published. As of today, there are about 380 short stories on their website.
Fictionaut is a vibrant literary community designed specifically for short fiction and poetry. It is a friendly creative hub that enables users to discover new authors, publish their own works, get feedback and connect with others. 2ff7e9595c