Drabble: write a 100-word story
Exactly one hundred words, not one more or less. Write on the card; the fuse burns out at 100.
Start writing and the fuse burns.
How to hit exactly 100 words
- Draft long. Write 130–150 words without counting.
- Cut the throat-clearing. The first two sentences are often warm-up. Start at the third.
- Kill filler verbs. "She began to walk" → "She walked". "He could see" → "He saw".
- Trade adverbs for stronger verbs. "Ran quickly" → "sprinted".
- Adjust the last few words with contractions or a single added detail.
Why the limit helps
A fixed count forces choices. Every word has to justify its place, which is why drabbles are a favourite exercise in writing classes: after twenty of them, your longer prose tightens too.
Need a starting point? Grab a flash fiction prompt or generate a 100-word example with the story generator and try beating it.
Questions writers ask
What is a drabble?
A story of exactly 100 words, not counting the title. The term spread through British science-fiction fandom; the Birmingham University SF Society set the 100-word rule in the 1980s, taking the name from a word game in Monty Python's Big Red Book.
Does the title count in a drabble?
Traditionally no. Some contests allow a title of up to 15 words on top of the 100.
What is a double drabble?
A story of exactly 200 words. A "drabblette" or dribble is 50 words.
Is a drabble the same as a 100-word story?
Nearly. "100-word story" is sometimes used loosely for anything up to 100 words, while a drabble is exactly 100.