Short pieces between 250 and 1,000 can be a good way to break into new markets and create a steady flow of income. Content marketers are often hired to write 500-word Welcome pages, many publications publish and pay for short essays, and front-of-the-book shorts are a good way to see your name in print. If you can explain a complex idea in a brief, or rally brand enthusiasm in less than 400 words in a corporate newsletter, you may even get a regular gig. But writing short pieces is one of the more difficult things to do. Each short piece requires a tight focus, emotion, a setting, evocative details, and even a character or expert source. Getting all of that to work in a 500-word piece is challenging, but with practice, you'll get better at it and the skills you learn will make all of your writing better. Listen in to learn strategies to write powerful, shorts and join the Simply Write community at https://simplywrite.substack.com for tip sheets and columns about the writing craft and crafting a writing life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices