Definition of micro-story – What it is, Meaning and Concept

A short story it’s a story from very short extension. The term is formed with the prefix micro- (referring to something very small) and the noun story (story).

It is called a short story, therefore, a narration containing few words. This type of text usually uses the Ellipse to provoke a surprise: that is, it eliminates certain elements of the discourse without affecting the sense of the narrative.

Usually the reader has to assume a active role in the micro-story. This is because many times you need to reconstruct the ending or conclusion, or even imagine what is not explicit in the text.

While traditional tales are usually structured with a introduction, a knot, a developing and a outcome, the micro-stories appeal to a more limited scheme. The climax comes with something surprising or a turn unexpected.

The origins of the short story are in the parables, the fables and others plays that were born a long time ago. As a modern genre, the short story has its own characteristics, such as extreme brevity, the condensation of time and the simplicity of its structure.

Important Latin American writers have ventured into the short story, including Augusto Monterroso, Julio Cortazar and Juan Jose Arreola. Monterroso, in fact, he is responsible for one of the most popular micro-stories, which consists of just seven words: “When he woke up, the dinosaur was still there”.

It should be noted that social networks contributed, in recent years, to a boom in the micro-story. Above all Twitter, which imposes a limitation of 280 characters per post. Within this framework, several competitions arose that reward the best short stories.