For a short story to be truly great, it must possess characters that seem more like real people than puppets imagined by the writer. One important way a great writer humanizes her characters is by giving them clear and universal needs. Since a short story writer has less time to do so than a novelist, needs must be declared quickly. All of the fundamental needs that a human being possesses, from the need to eat and drink to the need to receive love and affection, contribute to the development of a humanized character. Fundamental human needs are at the heart of human nature. By reading a short story about characters who share such attributes, you’re able to examine yourself and learn what elements all humans share.
In addition to concrete needs, a truly great short story writer will also give her characters distinct wants. The wants and needs of a character drive the plot of a short story forward, and by examining the humanized wants and needs of well crafted characters, you can realize that your own life is driven forward by the same or similar intrinsic wants. Whether it is the desire for power, friendship, sex or love, by experiencing a truly great short story, you’re given a brief but important glimpse into a character or many character's lives, which forces you to examine your own life and wonder which of your wants are intrinsic, tied closely to human nature, or are driven by an external influence.
Conflict is at the heart of survival. An animal in the food chain must constantly rely on its instincts to avoid being eaten, and even though the human being has separated from the food chain, much of a person’s life is dominated by fighting with other human beings. A truly great short story will reveal this truth about the human experience, and highlight the fact that human nature forces people to engage in conflict to drive life forward. Conflict drives a short story forward because it pushes life forward, too, and since a short story is brief, the conflict is addressed, developed and prominent quickly and with great clarity, adding to its power.
Fundamentally, human beings search for patterns in hopes of finding meaning. It is an intrinsic part of human nature. Whether it is searching for the existence of God in everyday experience or searching for certain mathematical patterns that exist in an enormous amount of naturally occurring systems, the human being is drawn to patterns instinctively. A great short story will cater to this element of human nature, and provide you with an experience that, like life, seems to be dominated by patterns.