Not a word more, not a word less: Can YOU write a better 100-word short story than Jeffrey Archer's?
Jeffery Archer will decide on the best entry in this competition where
the winner will receive £250 in book tokens for their 100-word story
_________________
Contest
HOW TO ENTER
TO
ENTER, send your work to shortstory@mailonsunday.co.uk or write to
100-Word Short Story, The Mail on Sunday, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry
Street, London W8 5TS. Entries must be received by midnight on Friday,
November 17, 2017. Entries must run to exactly 100 words, excluding the title.
The top ten stories will be published in The Mail on Sunday and the
winner will receive £250 in book tokens.
_________________
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 300 million 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.’
______________________
Sample by Jeffery Archer:
UNIQUE
BY JEFFREY ARCHER
Paris,
March 14th, 1921. The collector relit his cigar, picked up the
magnifying glass and studied the triangular 1874 Cape of Good Hope.
‘I did warn you there were two,’ said the dealer, ‘so yours is not unique.’
‘How much?’
‘Ten thousand francs.’
The
collector wrote out a cheque, before taking a puff on his cigar, but it
was no longer alight. He picked up a match, struck it, and set light to
the stamp.
The dealer stared in disbelief as the stamp went up in smoke.
The collector smiled. ‘You were wrong, my friend,’ he said, ‘mine is unique.’
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