Over at Sterling Editing, we have our usual roundup of links for writers. The most interesting, for me, is the BBC Story link to thoughts by brilliant writers and editors and publishers on what a short story is and how it works.
Here, for example, is a quote from the publisher of Salt:
We see short stories as one step away from poetry; the public and book world see them as one step away from novels. This, I reckon, is the general crux of the matter: they have an identity crisis. Neither fish nor fowl, they don’t easily fit and, perhaps because of this, are sadly misunderstood and overlooked, possibly by both camps.
I think stories can be either. Brilliant stories (the kind of thing Kelley writes) can be both. You?
Nicola Griffith 
I love short stories, particularly horror (Poe), and humor. God, I still chuckle when I think of Welty's 'Why I Live At The PO'.
I grew up on the short stories of Poe, Asimov, Bradbury, Sterling, Thurber, Conan Doyle, et al.
They can be either, both, or neither — sometimes, for examples, short stories are second cousins to essays.
I enjoy short stories, like Angela Carter's “The Bloody Chamber” collection and the Esther Friesner edited “Chicks in Chainmail” anthologies.
I think novellas are a step away from books.
Short stories are the water of literature, they can fit into any mold, can transform into other states, but in the end there is nothing else like them. They are uniquely malleable to whatever purpose the writer wishes, and are a bit more forgiving to someone trying to build up a bag of writing tricks. They allow for a lot of experimentation that would be very difficult anywhere else.
jennifer from p, I'm embarrassed to admit, once more, that I've never really read Welty. Wonder if that story is available anywhere online for Kindle…
Dianne, like essays? Tell me more.
transceptor, yep, I taught myself a lot writing short fiction–great for learning about story arc and various basic techniques. But quite different, in essence, to writing a novel.
Nicola —
First we'd have to agree on our terminology — or at least agree on what we're talking about. I'm not even sure I know what makes poetry poetry. Or what makes a short story a short story.
For example, poetry can be either fiction or non-fiction. It can have a plot — or not. It can tell a story (or not), or simply create an image or mood — but the same thing could be said about (some) short stories and novels.
Short stories and novels are (generally) fiction. Essays are generally non-fiction. Essays, short stories and novels are (generally) prose. But not always…
Pope's Essay on Man is poetry, for example.
Ian Frazier's “essay” Coyote v Acme (a legal brief filed on behalf of Wile E. Coyote after being irreparably harmed by Acme's products while pursuing the Road Runner) is fiction.
James Thurber, who mixed autobiography and fiction in many of his most memorable pieces, referred to his short works (fiction, non-fiction, essays, whatever) as “casuals.”
And then we have “novels in verse” such as One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones.
All the lines are blurred.
The novel The Girls by Lori Lansens begins with beautiful poetry (the carriage returns are mine):
I have never looked into my sister's eyes.
I have never bathed alone.
I have never stood in the grass at night
And raised my arms to a beguiling moon.
I've never used an airplane bathroom.
Or worn a hat.
Or been kissed like that.
I've never driven a car.
Or slept through the night.
Never a private talk.
Or solo walk.
I've never climbed a tree.
Or faded into a crowd.
So many things I've never done,
But oh, how I've been loved.
And, if such things were to be,
I'd live a thousands lives as me,
To be loved so exponentially.
The Sones is lovely.
But I still don't see how an essay is like a short story. Sure, I think some short stories can be fictitious essays, but I can't see an essay as a short story.
I imagine this is one of those times when I'm being too literal…
Nicola — you want me to think and present a succinct and cogent argument with MY brain? OK…
How 'bout, a short story is like an essay? Both short stories and essays have a theme, a main idea which is to be proved. The plot of the short story is the argument, and the characters' actions the points of the argument.
For example, if the theme of After You My Dear Alphonse is “don't judge a book by its cover,” the various wrong assumptions Mrs. Wilson makes about Boyd and his family (due to the color of Boyd's skin) are the points of the argument.