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Word Count for Short Story Competition

edited March 2017 in Writing
I'm still new to writing and would appreciate your advice please.

I'm entering a short story competition and the only guidance on length is 'up to 2000 words'. Any thoughts on what is an acceptable minimum length? I've written 1650 words and my story feels complete but I wonder whether I should add another paragraph to get nearer 2000.

Comments

  • edited March 2017
    I'd leave it as it is unless it needs another para. Dont pad it unnecessarily. My guess would be anything 1500 or more. Good luck!
  • I agree with Lizy.

    Good luck, Keith!
  • If the story is complete don't pad it out!
  • No, don't pad your story, but do take another look in case you can add anything to improve it. I read somewhere that comp judges often expect to read entries close to the max word count.
    Having said that, a few years ago the Bristol Short Story winner was a tiny piece of flash fiction. The max length for this comp is 4,000 words!
    So... quality, not quantity.
  • I would leave it as it is.
    The Bristol Prize win seems to be an exception (that was the year I was shortlisted!) and I have often seen judges say 'why would you not use all the words at your disposal?'. But my answer to that would be 'because it is complete as it is'.
    Having said that, I wouldn't take the risk of entering something that would probably better suit a different competition.
    But 1650 is well within the bounds of reasonable for a 2k comp.
  • I believe the best stories have a life of their own. Each story is just as long as it is. Leave it alone at 1650. If it wins its the right length. If it loses its still the right length but perhaps the story isn't good enough. Good luck.
  • Or the story was good enough but not to the judge's taste.
  • Yes that's more likely, Lizy.
  • I'd probably contact the organisers of the comp. and ask.
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