How Long Is Short?

I have dived into the short story format with a new detective short. Although I've read short stories since I learned to read - I think Dick and Jane was actually a short story - I realized I knew very little about the format overall.

For instance: How long is short? More importantly: How long is too long?

I did an Internet survey of writing blogs on the subject, so let's start with the second question first. Writers posting generally believe that a word count of 10,000 is long, but 20,000 is acceptable. If you are hitting 50,000, it's not a novel yet, it's that elusive "novella." Over 50,000, it's either a novel or it's damn boring!

So how long is short? The most common answer: It depends. I guess this makes sense if you're writing to order for a magazine submission, or if your publisher wants X number of short stories but the book can't go over Y words. Then it's obvious. But the answer, "It depends," is also the easy way out. For a writer to answer this way is indicative of a need to assert the writer's position, often taken with an editor, that the length is what it is because it makes the story work out. It's also another way of saying that - oops! - I may have gone over a few times more than I want to admit.

Getting back to short and shortness: The gist I get is that, if it's 2000 words, it's either a children's book and you need an illustrator, or it's just not a good enough story to give it more bulk.

So when I finish my short story (a Charlie Komensky mystery tentatively titled The Case of The Pyrophoric Pathfinder ), I'll let you know.