Category Archives: Writing Contests

2010: Time for a Short Story Challenge

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I’m constantly debating with myself whether or not it’s worthwhile to enter writing contests, since I hate paying the entry fees when I have no idea how many potential contestants I’m actually up against. It seems a bit unfair not to know your odds. I mean, even people playing the lottery can at least envision their one-in-10-million chances and decide for themselves whether it’s worth the buck or two to just go for it. Should short story writers not receive the same courtesy when they’re gambling?

Anyway, mostly I guess it comes down to two things: the cost of the entry fee and the amount of potential prize money. While NYC Midnight’s Short Story Challenge 2010 is a bit costly to enter ($49 US), it does offer a potentially meaty prize of $1,250 for the first place winner, plus $500 for second, $250 for third and $100 for fourth. Not bad, right? You could at the very least double your money if you took fourth place, so that seems pretty good. It’s just too bad they don’t offer you some kind of a freebie for signing up, so at least you could get something positive out of the experience if you lose. Y’know, a nice “How to Write Short Stories” e-book or some such? All the cool kids are doing it, after all. Just look at the recent Funds For Writers annual contest, where contestants could choose between NO entry fee or a $5 fee with the potential to win some helpful Tweetebooks. Now that’s news you can use.

But back to the NYC Midnight contest: If you’re interested in signing up, the deadline to mail in your payment is coming up fast. Wednesday, January 13 is the last day to register, and there are plenty of rules you’ll have to read too, so get cracking!

End of novel, feeling fragmented

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"Shards" (photo by Flickr user nualabugeye - back again soon)

“Shards” (photo by Flickr user nualabugeye — back again soon)

So… I finished my 3-day novel (and wrote about the experience for the Fuel Your Writing website here). It’s more of a long short-story than a true novel. But that’s about all I want to say about that, for now. I feel kind of drained, kind of disappointed, kind of silly. But ultimately, I think it was good to do it. It gave me an excuse to turn off my phone and not talk to anyone (except my husband, obvs) this weekend. And there’s nothing better than a good reason to be a hermit.

Of course now it’s back to work, and I’ve got some deadlines for assorted projects, so I’d better get to it. The day looks so grey already that I’m contemplating a walk down by the canal instead. Or an epic cleaning of the apartment, seeing as we need to move in a little over a month. What to do, what to do?

It’s back to school for most of the kids, which always makes me feel a bit weird, not being in school anymore. Maybe I should hit up the Staples for some last-minute deals on school supplies. That always cheers me up, somehow: shopping for stationery. But you probably already figured that out, based on my WP theme, right?

P.S. I’m moving, so I’m selling a ton of books. Please check out the list in the sidebar to the right!

Day 3: 3-Day Novel Contest

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I look nothing like this photo, at this point. Picture my hair in the world's messiest bun, and this shirt covered in stains and you'll be approaching the look of the 3rd day of novel-writing.

I look nothing like this photo, at this point. Picture my hair in the world’s messiest bun, my shirt covered in stains, and you’ll be approaching the idea.

It’s the final day of the 3-Day Novel Writing Contest. It’s 2:40 PM. I haven’t written anything since 8:30 yesterday morning. The short story is that my husband and I went to the gym, and I had the World’s Worst Workout, and managed to hurt my neck/shoulder area somehow. I ended up laying on the couch most of yesterday, wanting to write, but feeling way too Hunchback of Notre Dame to do it.

Maybe this is just a physical manifestation of my own fear and loathing. Whatever the case, I’m way behind. But I do aim to crank out at least 10,000 more words before this contest is over. It won’t quite be a novel, but it might qualify as a novella, and that’s good enough for me. After all, you can always add more later.

I think the concept of the 3-day novel is an interesting one, as it’s much more about quickly pencilling out rough sketches than hammering away long and hard at a chunk of rock destined to be a massive sculpture. Unless you have been thinking about this novel all year long, to finally spew it forth in a burst of 72 hours, it won’t quite be fully formed anyway. And that’s totally fine. Rough drafts should be shitty. They shouldn’t be perfect and well-crafted. They never will be. There might be a few lines here and there that are well done, and overall the thing could be a diamond, but it’ll always need polishing and tumbling and a good belt sander to take the edges off and finally make it beautiful. And that, my friend, takes far more time and effort than 72 hours will ever allow.

In any event, I’m back to the salt mines for now. I’ll be there until 11:59 tonight. Wish me luck!