Brief fictional prose narrative.
It usually presents a single significant episode or scene involving a limited number of characters. The form encourages economy of setting and concise narration; character is disclosed in action and dramatic encounter but seldom fully developed. A short story may concentrate on the creation of mood rather than the telling of a story. Despite numerous precedents, it emerged only in the 19th century as a distinct literary genre in the works of writers such as E.T.A. Hoffmann , Heinrich Kleist , Edgar Allan Poe , Prosper Mérimée , Guy de Maupassant , and Anton Chekhov .