I wrote a short story for a contest at my local library. The only rule was that it had to be less then 800 words. This one clocked in at 566, but I felt like it was still too long for the concept. The story shares the thoughts of someone who believes they’re about to die. There isn't much time for thought, so I made some revisions and got it down to 393 words. Still too long, but better.
Originally this was the beginning of a much larger story I had in mind, but I changed the outcome to fit the assignment. The story didn’t win, but was included in a volume of all submitted entries that you can borrow from the library. I'm counting that as being published. I really liked the exercise in brevity, both the writing and the editing.
You can read it at https://marcintosh.linefeed.app/initiating-safety-protocols-f6131d
