I thought these letters together made a (long) ‘oo’ sound. Wizard 1:They can make both sounds when you put them together. They can be a long ‘oo’, or a short ‘oo’.

Everyone has a story. That's the tag on the masthead of SMITH, our online magazine. ... Short on words, deep in meaning. By Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser . Feb. 5, 2008 12 AM PT .

As with most art forms, the label is somewhat malleable. When it comes down to it, though, it’s all about word count.

Brady Dennis was a night cops reporter in the Tampa bureau of Poynter’s St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times when he started writing “300 Words,” a series of short stories about ordinary people, in 2004.

Very short stories can get very, very short and still be good. The most famous example (supposedly written by Ernest Hemingway) draws a little sigh with only six words; it's a sales ad.

Each author must submit a poem or short story under 1,500 words, inspired by one of the ten photographs taken by event sponsor Dr. William Demray of Preservation Dental.