Which do you prefer - anthologies or short stories? (Mar '23)

Post by **Heidi M Simone** » 01 Mar 2023, 22:59

Do you prefer to read anthologies or short stories? Why?

What makes one better than the other or do you feel the same toward both?

Post by **Heidi M Simone** » 04 Mar 2023, 23:08

I prefer short stories versus anthologies. When I read the next chapter of a book, I prefer it to be a continuation of the same story than a completely different tale. Sometimes, I want more of a text if it ends up being too short.

Patty Allread · Post by **Patty Allread** » 12 Mar 2023, 15:23

My ideal scene is an anthology or collection of short stories! I enjoy short stories because, unlike an entire novel, the author has a brief opportunity to tell a story and bring characterization, scene setting and other elements into it. If the author is a talented writer and storyteller, a short story can strongly impact the reader.

An anthology can be simply a collection of completed work, or it can have only passages of work. I don't often encounter anthologies in my book reading, and I'm not aware of OBC having that category to choose from. I absolutely love short stories, and though there are occasional books of short stories on OBC, they don't have their own category. I thought the reason must be that there are few short story collections, even if written by just one author. I suppose a publisher would be the key operative in the collaboration of several authors in an anthology of stories.

Post by **Heidi M Simone** » 14 Mar 2023, 20:23

Patty Allread wrote: ↑12 Mar 2023, 15:23 My ideal scene is an anthology or collection of short stories! I enjoy short stories because, unlike an entire novel, the author has a brief opportunity to tell a story and bring characterization, scene setting and other elements into it. If the author is a talented writer and storyteller, a short story can strongly impact the reader.

An anthology can be simply a collection of completed work, or it can have only passages of work. I don't often encounter anthologies in my book reading, and I'm not aware of OBC having that category to choose from. I absolutely love short stories, and though there are occasional books of short stories on OBC, they don't have their own category. I thought the reason must be that there are few short story collections, even if written by just one author. I suppose a publisher would be the key operative in the collaboration of several authors in an anthology of stories.

Those are good points! I guess it does depend on the author's ability to write a short story with enough plot and character development to make it worthwhile.

I don't read many anthologies either. If I did, they would be a collection of short stories, but even then I don't think I've read very many. The books discussed here don't have to be exclusively OBC ones. There is one, though, that was featured as BOTD a few months that is a collection of short stories that I started and would like to finish it for this month.

Would you mind sharing a couple of your favorite short stories and/or short story collections here: viewtopic.php?f=282&t=289797 Maybe there will be one that I could try!

Thank you!

Jackelyn Olayon · Post by **Jackelyn Olayon** » 15 Mar 2023, 02:06

I preferred Short stories.

Tamara Bengesai · Post by **Tamara Bengesai** » 15 Mar 2023, 05:30

I prefer short stories. Short stories usually give the author a chance to describe the characters and bring a story to life in short space of time. It's a summary of a story.

Patty Allread · Post by **Patty Allread** » 15 Mar 2023, 10:30

Would you mind sharing a couple of your favorite short stories and/or short story collections here: viewtopic.php?f=282&t=289797 Maybe there will be one that I could try!

I'm most familiar with classic short stories and haven't read any new ones except the recent book of the day by James Hanna.