Some time ago, I entered a library competition. The idea was to create a short story of 150 words or less, not including the title. It was a fun concept and I decided to see whether such a "Micro-Novel" could be a thriller. Here's the result:
Seconds From Oblivion
The oncoming truck veered across the dark, waterlogged road...
I swerved hard to avoid collision and my car spun wildly. My rear right bumper smashed through a barrier and I plunged backwards over a cliff. The vehicle jolted, still arcing. A great tree limb burst through the back window and thrust past my left shoulder—
The chaos abruptly stopped and I found myself looking down towards crashing waves. My car was dangling on the intruding bough... but gradually, horrifically, the wreck was slipping free...
My mind screamed. The car's controls were useless. Trying the buckled door might make the vehicle break loose. Rescuers could never arrive in time...
The vehicle was dropping faster.
I unbuckled my seatbelt – then grasped at the nearest branches...
The car fell away and, in a bludgeoning rush, I was drawn out of the back window... into open air...
Slowly and carefully, I started to climb...
As an creative exercise, the project was good fun: stripping down what could have been pages into so few words. Since the word-limit was so tight, every word had to be the right one. Descriptions has to be tight, almost bare. And the 'story' had to be extremely simple, in this case taking place over a matter of seconds.
For anyone who is interesting in creative writing, I recommend giving such an exercise a try.
Here are two previous drafts of the story. They're very subtly different, and give an idea of the editing/polishing process...
Very Early Version:
The oncoming truck veered across the dark, waterlogged road...
I swerved my car to avoid it, smashed through a barrier and plunged over a precipice. The car jolted against rocky protrusions and spun in an arc. A great tree limb burst through the rear window and thrust past my left shoulder-
And I stopped, the car pointing down into the canyon. Only the intruding bough prevented a lethal drop... but that grip was slackening...
My mind screamed. The car's controls were useless. Trying the buckled door might cause the vehicle to break loose. I could sound my horn – but could a rescue possibly arrive in time..?
The vehicle was slipping faster.
I unbuckled my seatbelt – then grasped desperately at the nearest branches...
The car fell away and, in a bludgeoning rush, I was drawn out of the back window... into open air...
Slowly, carefully, I started to climb...
Later Version
The oncoming truck veered across the dark, waterlogged road...
I swerved hard to avoid collision and my car spun wildly. My rear right bumper smashed through a barrier and I plunged over a cliff. The vehicle jolted, still arcing. A great tree limb burst through the back window and thrust past my left shoulder-
The chaos abruptly stopped and I found myself looking down towards crashing waves. My car was dangling on the intruding bough... but gradually, horrifically, the wreck was slipping free...
My mind screamed. The car's controls were useless. Trying the buckled door might make the vehicle break loose. Rescuers could never arrive in time...
The vehicle was dropping faster.
I unbuckled my seatbelt – then grasped at the nearest branches...
The car fell away and, in a bludgeoning rush, I was drawn out of the back window... into open air...
Slowly and carefully, I started to climb...
Notes On Some Changes:
Original the fall was into a canyon - altered to 'crashing waves' for a more dramatic effect.
Driver's panicked thoughts in italics shortened to save words and be more direct.
'Precipice' changed to 'cliff' for simplicity.
Crash changed to include the car spinning - once again, to add more drama.
Addition of 'backwards' is for extra clarity. Not really needed, just personal choice.