Speeding to the Word Limit

Why breaking word count limits in writing competitions is akin to breaking the law

A limit is a limit, whether it’s speed or a wordcount. © Simon Whaley

For the past decade or more, I have been administering the Doris Gooderson Short Story Competition, which is run by the writers’ group I attend. We invite short story entries that must not exceed 1200 words, on any theme, written in English. The entry fee is £5, and the prize money is £200 (1st), £100 (2nd) and £50 (3rd). We donate at least half (and usually a bit more) of any profits to our local hospice charity, especially since one of our founder members benefitted from their care for a few weeks before she died. (Details of the competition can be found here.)

I hope potential entrants noted the word count: entries must not exceed 1200 words. It’s not 1210 words, or 1205 words, or even 1201 words. the maximum is 1200 words.

You’d be surprised how often we get entries of 1,250 words, or 1,225 words, or 1,215 words.

So, as the competition administrator, what do I do?

Well, contrary to popular belief, I am a relatively decent chap. I understand that some word processors count words differently. Therefore, if an entry comes in that his over 1200 words (especially if it’s between 1,201 and 1,215 words), I paste it into a series of the most popular writing…