About Writing: Words Counts

In line with a number of online sources, I recognise the approximate word counts listed below in categorising the length of a piece of writing. I’m not pedantic about it, which is why I say 'approximate' counts. If, for example, a piece is 104 words, I'd probably still categorise it as Micro rather than Flash. Likewise, if a piece is 1055 words, I'd probably go with Flash instead of Short Story. And, also, I realise all of these could perfectly fairly generally just be called short stories anyway. But I feel these categories can provide a useful way to organise my writing to help readers find what they want. So you’ll see these categorisations reflected in the layout of this blog, and I hope you do indeed find it helpful - 

Short Story – usually between 1,000 and 7,500 words

Flash Fiction – generally 1000 words or less

Micro Fiction – up to about 100 words