When they request 100-250 words

[JoyRCalderwood]

When a client requests articles of only 100-250 words, isn't it taken for granted the article will seem a little vague?

I've had rejections based on my theme not being developed enough, but if that's what the client wants shouldn't he decide?

[Celeste Stewart]

There's a place for short pieces such as blog posts, quick movie reviews, and product descriptions. Is there a current request in that range? If so, a narrow focus is probably in order. Ed will understand if he has read the request's description and if the submitted piece conforms to the request.

[JoyRCalderwood]

These are a bunch of requests from "walentino"

Example:

Parenting
Description
Canadian Employee Website

Additional Details
Request Date: 2010-05-17 09:13:18
Number of Documents: 10
Subjects:
Extra Notes:
Price Per Article: $30-40
Length of Article: 100-250

I've had 2 rejected - one on this topic one on another with the same problem saying I don't have enough information to offer a reader.

[AmyT]

Joy,

I also wrote an article in response to this article. In my opinion, it is a pretty lame article because it doesn't cover much. However, I did choose a few tips and go pretty deep into each of them. I structured the article like this:

Opener (50 words)
Body paragraph #1 (75 words)
Body paragraph #2 (75 words)
Closer (50 words)

Make sure to weed out any unnecessary information and to be as concise as possible. Also, choose original information over common sense. Look for unusual tips or solutions.

Beyond this, I'm not sure what to do. My article got accepted using this format though... although the customer didn't buy it.

Hope that helped!

Amy

[Celeste Stewart]

Okay, just checked out some of those requests (and wrote an article for one too). When the word count is so short, you have to have a narrow focus and make every word count. I wrote for the "house cleaning tips" request. My article covers three tips for using white vinegar in house cleaning. First draft was 260 words which would have been fine but I knew I could trim it down by cutting out unnecessary words (such as "about a cup or so of white vinegar" to "a cup of white vinegar"). After cutting, I was able to add another sentence containing additional info. My total word count came to 232 words. I was able to describe three different tips as well as introduce and conclude the article. It's short and not overly detailed, but I'm pretty sure it will meet CC's criteria for completeness despite the low word count.

As AmyT said, weed out unnecessary information and be as concise as possible. We had a couple of challenges last year with exercises like this assignment. Let me see if I can find the link. I love having word count requirements like this because it forces us to write concisely.

Here's the challenge link:
http://www.constant-content.com/forum/v ... =4&t=14276

(In reading the challenge details, I see I exceeded the 300-word limit on my own submission - sheesh! It's still a good challenge though.)