The fewer the words, the harder they come....

Woah 250 words? That is super short.

I had to write a story that was 366 words long for a Scholastic Anthology this year for the National Year of Writing (366 stories, 366 words long - 366 days this year) and I found it very challenging.

I think for me I like to approach the short word count as a bonus. Not as something that is curbing my creativity, but something that lets me, in a way be even more creative. To create something really different, touching, and clever in 250 words is very very difficult. But like a brilliant short poem, the work can be all the more effective.

However I am not sure it is wise to cut an existing story down to 250, unless the story was already rather short, at like 500 or something. It makes more sense to start from scratch and to write a story that embraces the restrictions, rather then try to cull a story down to its bare bones and leave nothing of the meat.

Since the word count is so small, writing a new work would not be out of the question.

Tips wise, I say try to look at the story in the most non traditional way possible. Instead of telling it "Once upon a time. . . " beginning middle end, why not start at the end, and reveal the beginning? This is just an example, but I think with such short word counts it's about changing the actual structure of the story, playing with what actually makes a story a story. Don't get trapped into convention. So many authors are used to telling a linear story. With so few words, you have to be original. Read some poetry. See how poets explore stories without having to tell things in a straightforward manner.

And just play. With 250 words you could write a dozen different stories, or versions of the same story. Screw up, write crap, have fun with it!

I do this all the time.

I like to write short and do it for fun as well as profit. My method is to write the story as I see it first, even if it comes in at 2, 4 or even 8,000 words.

Then the real fun starts - I go back and start paring the story down to its essentials. It's a short story to start with, so there is only one plot point, few speaking characters (three maximum,) and maybe a twist ending. If there are more plot points, then I don't really have a short story yet, and more surgery is required. If I have a cast of thousands and they are all delineated speaking characters, then maybe I have something other than a short story and need to rethink it.

Once I have it down to what I think is the bare minimum, I review it for length. If it tops 1,000 words, I go back and tighten it up even more. I like to write at just around 500-1,000 words.

For specific venues requiring fewer words, I pare down further, sometimes rethinking my theme into a more simple format.

I had a 54-word mystery published once. I like to write for Flashshot and Flashes of Speculation - they both require 500 or less. I like to do less. After all, I'm not getting paid by the word in most venues.

It is challenging, but not undoable. I once turned a 146-word flash into a 99-word piece for a contest -- it's about editing. But I don't try to "fit" a story into the word count. Some stories simply need more words to fully develop them. I usually look at the word count requirement (say, under 250 words) and focus on a story that is succinct enough to be told in 250 words. The shorter the piece, the more confined the story (e.g. one character, one incident, one minute of his life, etc.). Also, the shorter the piece, the stronger the theme should be. I usually go by the theme -- if you have only 100 words to tell a story, you'd better come up with one with a very strong, identifiable theme. There's no room for anything else.

Think of writing short as being a bit like copywriting. You have to find one point and make it by hitting a couple of the highlights, then write a strong conlclusion.

I think strong story concepts are somewhat scalable. They might be more engrossing and satisfying in a longer form, but you can probably pare away everything else and have it still work. (Though 250 words is really, really, really short...)

Sounds like fun. It'd be tough, but I know it can be done.