A short story can hold a novel’s content if uncluttered
Evidence
The stories vary in length between a few wry paragraphs and what used to be called a novella. The best of them have a novel’s worth of content, without clutter or digression. They are capacious stories, like soft leather bags, and they carry within them the present and the past of America, enfolded like twins in the womb. — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 503
Categorization
- XREF: The ‘capacious stories, like soft leather bags’ image is a model for how to describe compression in Mantel’s own historical fiction. — connects to: Generous books overflow rigid categories and continuously exceed reader expectations — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 970; Compelling chapters require a satisfying narrative arc and resolution. — Tilar J Mazzeo, How to Write a Bestseller, 417; Books are best constructed as flexible collages of movable fragments. — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 1077 (+2 more)
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Hilary Mantel, A Memoir of My Former Self- A Life in…, 503
Related
Broader Connections
- Compelling chapters require a satisfying narrative arc and resolution.
#expands(0.50) — Tilar J Mazzeo, How to Write a Bestseller, 417