sketch story
A sketch story, literary sketch or simply sketch, is a piece of writing that is generally shorter than a short story, and contains very little, if any, plot. The genre was invented after the 16th century in England, as a result of increasing public interest in realistic depictions of "exotic" locales. The term was most popularly used in the late nineteenth century.
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for sketch story. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.

Has Genre · incoming
Alexander Prokhanov
Author
originally posted to Flickr as PICT0008

Has Genre · incoming
Antonio de Trueba
Author
Own work
Has Genre · incoming
Lyubomyr Dmyterko
Author

Has Genre · incoming
Mikhail Sholokhov
Author
Own work

Has Genre · incoming
Nikolai Uspensky
Author
book scan
Has Genre · incoming
Oleg Volkov
Author
In this article
Style
Style
A sketch is mainly descriptive, either of places (travel sketch) or of people (character sketch). Writers of sketches like Washington Irving clearly used the artist as a model. A sketch story is a hybrid form. It may contain little or no plot, instead describing impressions of people or places, and is often informal in tone. In the nineteenth century, sketch stories were frequently published in magazines, before falling out of favor. Such stories may focus on individual moments, leaving the reader to imagine for themselves the events that led to this occasion and to wonder what events will follow. Writers from Sherwood Anderson to John Updike used this form, often as a hybrid. In short, a sketch story aims at "suggestiveness rather than explicitness".
Modern usage
Modern usage
In modern usage, the term "short story" embraces what was once popularly termed "the sketch". Short stories of extreme brevity still exist under the names flash fiction or microfiction.
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Sketch story, revision 1371421977 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.The Penguin Henry Lawson Short Stories (first published 1986); with an introduction by John Barnes, Camberwell, Victoria: Penguin Books Australia, pp. 1-16
- 2.Literary sketch (literary genre). Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2013.
- 3.Hamilton, Kristie. America's sketchbook: the cultural life of a nineteenth-century literary genre - Athens, Ohio: Ohio Univ. Press, 1998
- 4.Reese, Madelyn. TaleHunt App to promote very short stories. The Daily of the University of Washington. 2016-02-03.
Connections
Knowledge graph
Connections
Each connection was recorded deliberately, with the basis for it kept on the internal record.
Genre
4- Alexander ProkhanovAuthor
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
- Mikhail SholokhovAuthor
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
- Nikolai UspenskyAuthor
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
- Oleg VolkovAuthor
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 26 September 2026.
Elsewhere in General
22,760 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Skarżysko-KamiennaPlace
- SkegnessPlace
- SkelmanthorpePlace
- Skerry's CollegeOrganisation
- SkettyPlace
- Ski MunicipalityPlace
- Ski videregående skoleOrganisation
- SkibbereenPlace
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with sketch story?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.