A short narrative is normally 5,000 words long, although it can be as lengthy as 10,000 words or as little as 2000 words. Flash fiction is defined as stories of 500 to 1,000 words (here's an example). Microfiction is defined as stories of fewer than 500 words. Novellas are novels that are generally longer than 20,000 words. The term "short story" has no fixed length. However many fall within the range of 100 to 7500 words. Anything longer than this is considered a novel or serialized piece of work. Short stories were originally published in magazines, which allowed for more content per issue than a newspaper could accommodate. In fact, some magazines today include only short stories! Short stories are also known as pocket books, bean bags, or cinder blocks. The name "short story" comes from the fact that these narratives are usually less than one full page in length. In English-speaking countries, the short story was born out of necessity. Before the advent of mass printing and cheap paper, the average reader received their news from small local newspapers that were often closed down after publishing one edition a day. These papers had enough space to include anecdotes, interviews, reviews, and other content not suitable for publication in larger journals but still worth sharing. Thus, the short story became vital for authors to receive attention in these early publications.