Ever wonder why all short stories are called short, when in fact some of them are medium-length and some are long? These days, many editors of literary journals, especially online literary journals, are putting increasing emphasis on short short stories—that is, short stories that don’t exceed about 3,500 words.

Word count matters to editors. If you want to slim down your short stories, we’ve got some word-fat busting exercises for you! Soon you’ll be showing off your trim short shorts all summer (and winter) long!