How do you grow as a writer when you don’t have the time or money to take classes?
You enter writing contests.
I considered this idea over the summer, but the contests I
saw, with their rules and entry fees, seemed so….professional, even the ones limited
to authors who had never been published.
I was overwhelmed. And stuck.
Then I saw the post in our village’s performing arts
Facebook group last fall. An arts commission
in a neighboring town was seeking entries for their annual short story contest. Each year they picked a theme, and this one
was “Weather.”
It was fate. In sixth
grade, The Weather Channel was added to our cable system. I was hooked, watching hour after hour of
forecasts from around the world. The
weather became such an obsession that until my senior year in college, I wanted
to become a meteorologist. Plus, the contest
was local, community-based, and fairly open in terms of rules, perfect for a
beginner just trying to get her feet wet.
I had to enter.
Perhaps even win some prize money.
Writing is best when the focus is on the process of creating,
rather than the end result, so I put the idea of prizes and winning out of my
head and got to work. Besides, if I didn’t win a prize, I could
always publish my entry on my blog. I
felt like I couldn’t lose as I started to brainstorm about times when my life
was affected by the weather. I remembered
an encounter I had during my days as a road warrior consultant, and started to
think, “what if…” The story flew out of
me, and I spent the next three weeks writing and revising, honing my craft.
The night before the deadline, I read through the final
draft and was proud of my efforts. I
filled out the paperwork and submitted my very first writing contest entry.
I ended up winning first place.
Not bad for my first short story contest.
It won’t be my last, either.
Here’s the link so you can read my story, “Truck Stop.”
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