I might have missed what the purpose of this mini-essay is, but I would strongly advise against breaking the word limit, and especially advise against drawing attention to the fact that you've broken the word limit by including a note setting out your excuse! Assuming this is being marked in some academic context, the ability to identify a key aspect of the question and answer it succinctly is one of the skills typically examined in these type of questions; they tend not to care a hoot about the particular topic. Assessors are not looking to be wowed by RAFAT and their amazing teamwork; they are looking to be wowed by your insight, clarity and (in the case of 200-word submissions) brevity. How do you think historians distil decades or even centuries into a few hundred pages? Academic establishments of my acquaintance have strict policies such as automatically scoring zero for breaking the word limit.
On the other hand, if it's for publication in a magazine or newsletter, and the word limit has been set by the editor, prepare to have your over-length submission edited down - and you can guarantee that they'll edit out the bit you were most proud of! Best to come in on-length and have it published the way you intended.