And I would highly encourage you to log into STIMS a couple of days ahead and get familiar with it, make sure everything works, etc.
AND - don't rely on Microsoft's character count. For whatever reason, in the past, we've seen that MSWord count is different from the FIRST awards submission count, so give yourself at least a 100 character buffer (or more).
As for the creativity, you can get creative with how you write the essay, it doesn't have to be vanilla and just explain your team.
Check out 842's for a classic example of a very creative winning essay.
Good luck & have fun!!