Short Story Length

OK guys, here's the thing: I've been working on this short story and while I know the length of a s.s. is debatable, I am looking for some input & opinions as to how short a s.s. should be. I want to make sure this story should stay in that realm or if I should consider more of a novel feel.

Thanks,
SlurpyNinJa

 

It always bothers me when I see 'short story' shortened to 's.s.' or 'SS'. Abbreviations like that are bothersome.

I believe it's Poe who quotes the short story as two to twenty thousand words in length.

Most of us here consider that you should just write the story and let it go to whatever length it needs to be written to.

 

Poe? Isn't that the guy who married his underaged cousin?

 

In most professional venues, you'll find that the upper limit for a short story is about 5,000 words. Sometimes it can go up to 10,000, but that's quite unusual. Anything under about 1,000 words is usually considered flash.

 

yup!... banzai's nailed it... for best chances of getting accepted for publication, keep it under 5k...

 

Thanks for all the insight guys.