| Introduction | vii |
| The Short Story, as against the Novel and the Sketch | 1 |
| Character and Action | 5 |
| Fixed Action, as against Moving Action | 7 |
| As the Story Begins and Ends | 10 |
| Loss of the Last Chance to Change | 13 |
| Recognizing the Crucial | 14 |
| Naming the Moment | 17 |
| "Epiphany" as a Literary Term | 19 |
| The Inevitability of Retrospect | 24 |
| Enhancing the Interaction of Character and Plot | 26 |
| Techniques of Foreshadowing | 27 |
| Foreshadowing and Suspense | 33 |
| Techniques of Suspense | 37 |
| Mystery and Curiosity | 37 |
| Conflict and Uncertainty | 38 |
| Tension and Anticipation | 40 |
| "Agreement" in Character and Action | 43 |
| Movement of Character | 45 |
| The Character Shift, as against Movement of Character | 47 |
| Slick Fiction, as against Quality Fiction | 49 |
| Moving Characters, as against Fixed Characters | 53 |
| The Series Regulars, as against the Guest Stars | 56 |
| Types of Character | 58 |
| Types as Exceptions | 61 |
| Type Characters, as against Stock Characters | 62 |
| The Dichotomous Stereotype | 65 |
| Differentiating from Types | 67 |
| Knowing a Character | 70 |
| Motivation | 74 |
| The Stress Situation | 76 |
| The Importance and Unimportance of Plot | 80 |
| Plot in a Short Story, as against Plot in a Novel | 82 |
| Selection in Plot | 86 |
| Scenes | 92 |
| Plot Structure | 95 |
| Beginning | 98 |
| Middle | 104 |
| Ending | 106 |
| Sequence and Causality | 108 |
| The Frame, as against the Flashback | 109 |
| Pattern in Plot | 112 |
| Choice as Technique | 117 |
| Point-of-View Methods | 120 |
| Limitations and Advantages in Point of View | 124 |
| When Point of View is "Wrong" | 128 |
| The "Question" of Point of View | 130 |
| Point of View and "Involvement" | 135 |
| The "Moved" Character and Point of View | 140 |
| The Focusing Power of Point of View | 145 |
| Monologues, and the Pathological First Person | 149 |
| Irony and Point of View | 154 |
| Setting | 158 |
| Style | 162 |
| Theme | 165 |
| The Short Story and the New Criticism | 171 |
| The American Short Story "Today" | 178 |
| Afterword: Writing in General | 191 |