Not a word more, not a word less
Can YOU write a better 100-word short story than Jeffrey Archer’s?
WHEN it comes to writing stories, Jeffrey Archer knows a thing or two – he’s produced a string of novels that have sold an astonishing 300million copies around the world.
And now he has issued a remarkable challenge to Mail on Sunday readers – to beat him at his own game. The author has published a new collection of short stories, Tell Tale, which includes a tale of just 100 words – and he wants readers to equal or beat his effort.
The writer of the best entry, which will be selected by Lord Archer, will receive £250 in book tokens. And the top ten best entries will be published in The Mail on Sunday.
Lord Archer, whose first novel, Not A Penny More, Not A Penny Less, was published in 1976, hopes the competition will appeal to anyone who considers themselves a budding writer.
He said: ‘Many people think they can write a book. Many would like to write a book. I am saying write a 100-word story and see if you can beat me. I think it is true that if you can do a 100-word story you can do more.’
Archer warned that the task is not as simple as it seems. But he offered some tips for readers after the experience of writing his own 100-word story, called Unique.
He said: ‘It took three or four hours to think of the idea of my story with its beginning, middle and end.’
After hitting on the basic idea Archer then turned his attention to the title. He said: ‘That is vital. If you have the correct title you are telling the reader something immediately.’
The next step was to keep continually reworking the piece until he ended up with exactly 100 words.
‘I got up at six at the morning and started work. The first draft was 116 words. The second was 104. The third was 98 words. Then I had to work out which two words to put back in.
‘However long your first draft is, you have to start pruning.
‘Economy of language is vital and every single word counts. You have got to get rid of words that are not needed.
‘I wrestled with it and I had it double spaced so I could look at each and every word.’