Jeffrey Archer’s dare: write a 100-word yarn

Author included one in a recent collection, then issued challenge

IT WAS a challenge from Jeffrey Archer that proved irresistible.

More than 2,000 put pen to paper after the best-selling author challenged them to come up with a 100-word short story to rival his own effort, titled Unique, published below right.

Here we have ten of the best including Steve Harris’s story The Container judged the best by Mr Archer.

The author, who recently published a collection of short stories called Tell Tale, said: ‘The secret to a damned good short story, whatever the length, is that it must have a beginning, middle and the end.

‘Some people can do one or two but they can rarely do all three. The Container does just that.

‘It has a beginning that sets you up, a middle that takes you in and an end that knocks you on the nose.’

Archer said the response was proof people are still passionate about literature, adding: ‘It shows people care about story-telling.’