SOURCE: Stern, Jerome. Introduction to Micro Fiction: An Anthology of Really Short Stories, edited by Jerome Stern, pp. 15-19. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 1996.

In the following essay, Stern considers the unique challenges in writing short-short stories.

A short time ago I got a phone call from a man in New York who saw the announcement of Florida State University's World's Best Short Short Story contest. He said, “It said 250 words maximum. What is that? A misprint? I thought maybe it should read 2500 words. 2500 words is pretty short.”

“No,” I said, “250 words is right. It's a challenge, a problem in narrative. And it seems to be working out. We've been running the contest since 1986, and every year we get thousands of entries.”

“Oh, well, thanks.” I could hear the grumble in his voice. I didn't blame him, really. This is a strange little form, demanding fictional strategies...