Even if you’re focused on writing a novel, writing short stories can be a wonderful creativity tool to help you strengthen elements of your fiction, experiment with characters and simply stay loose.

You’ve probably been taught that short stories follow the time-revered rule: Limit your story to a specific time, place, event, interaction, or character’s evolution. I say, do the opposite. Here's how.

BY ANNE R. ALLEN Bite-sized fiction has moved mainstream, and today’s readers are more eager than ever to “read short.” Here’s why writing little stories is paying off in a big way.