Writing the short story

A lot of you, for reasons I guess I understand, are shy about writing for our short section, Radar. In practice, a lot of those stories are longer stories that end up being cut down either early in the assignment process or later simply because the final version doesn't have enough weight to justify a full page.

That's too bad, because some of our best stories are shorts born that way and never expected to go beyond 300 words. Take a look at the great short online now by Latin Trade Spanish Editor Andrés F. Velázquez, about a Colombian company branching out into selling clothing to gay men. This story worked in part because it's a startling -- although fairly obvious -- business decision: Sell to people with money. But it also has nice twists, like that it crosses borders (Colombia to USA), involves generations (it's the kids of the owners who are selling the line) and spins forward (flush with success, they are already looking to a broader segment).

Did I mention the part about how we pay more for shorts? You'd think that was enough incentive, but it's worth mentioning just the same. Bring on your funny, short, but well-reported ideas, please.