A short story lives or dies on compression. There is room for one real turn, maybe two, and every sentence before that turn has to be doing quiet work to set it up. That is a structural problem long before it becomes a prose problem.
Most of our writers come from anthologies and magazine backgrounds. When writing, they seem to keep in mind a word limit, and they ax toward it. You get the story, an outline of what’s been cut, and the rights as well.
Most ideas get distilled down from situations. The writer will see the character, image, and perhaps the first line, and hunt the internal pressure around it. Who wants/suffered what? What stood in the way? What could/would change everything? Beyond the first few lines, the writer looks to see if something is lost at stake.
Generated short fiction literally resolves everything. You’ll find a tidy epiphany presented in the last paragraph, a character that literally states the theme, and a repetitive group of stock names and lighthouse imagery that nearly each model resorts to whenever they are asked to be literary.
Drafting occurs in as few sittings as possible, ideally in one. The draft is allowed to rest overnight. The goal is to capture a writer’s draft as they are able to write unedited. During this initial process, the draft is marked up by the editor for clarity, bearing in mind that 15% of the draft may be cut. The process is then handed off to the editor for review.
Most short fiction edits are for subtraction. The editor marks places where the prose explains a feeling already presented by the scene. The editor flags spots where the reader is ahead of the narrator and checks that the closing line does not restate the story’s conclusion. You may see the tracked version if you want.
One rate, whatever the format: $10 per 100 words. You are paying for the writer’s time and judgement, so the price scales with the words rather than with a package tier.
| Typical short story | Words | Writing | Fee (1%) | You pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magazine-length story | 2,000 | $200 | $2 | $202 |
| Standard short story | 4,000 | $400 | $4 | $404 |
| Long short story | 7,500 | $750 | $7.50 | $757.50 |
The writer receives 100% of the writing price. Our 1% fee is added on top of it, and 0.5% is donated to tree planting. Full pricing breakdown.
We match the brief to a writer who has already worked in that subject area. If you have worked with an Articled writer before and want them again, name them and we will check their availability first.
Fill in the order form with your brief and email address. No account needed. You get a confirmation by email, then the finished piece as a document within 3 days.
Yes, send the call and the writer crafts within its ceiling, its theme, and whatever you want of anonymity in regard to names in the document. While we cannot guarantee a placement, anyone claiming that they do is contracted to sell something that they cannot be in control of.
Common genres are literary fiction, crime, horror, speculative fiction, and historical fiction. A brief goes to someone who enjoys reading in that genre. Ask for something outside that range and we will clearly state that we cannot assist.
Completely. Copyright transfers to you on delivery, with no attribution requirement and no licence back to us. Nothing written for you is resold, repurposed or republished.
Reviews from completed, paid orders in this category.
For my dad’s eightieth, I wanted him to have a short story written based on an old famliy vacation from 1974. I was not expecting a literary masterpiece since I just needed something to read to the family after dinner. However, there is a part where he breaks a deckchair and I didn’t even include that and it is just perfect.
I asked for some advice with a plot that I have been tweaking for years. The suggestion was to fix the mess in the middle and to just leave the ending the way it is. I guess they were right and I wouldn’t have arrived at that conclusion on my own.
I described my vision of a happy ending. Now, I have their version in return which is quieter and more sad. They included an explanation, a reasoning behind their choice, and a way for me to have it my way by writing a different (happy ending) version if I prefer. I kept their original.
We do not ask you to take the no-AI promise on trust. Each draft is run through these platforms and the reports are attached to your delivery email.
Originality.aiAI detection + plagiarism
GPTZeroAI detection
TurnitinAI detection + similarity
CopyleaksAI detection + plagiarism
Winston AIAI detection
ZeroGPTAI detection
SaplingAI detection
Content at ScaleAI detection
Send the brief, get a human draft back within 3 days. No account, no subscription, no AI.
$10 per 100 words · all of it to the writer · 0.5% to trees