Monthly Archives: May 2015

Writing Contests

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Writing Contest imageTiming is everything. When it comes to writing contests this is particularly true. One of my goals is to keep entering writing contests, but it always seems my timing is off or my short catalog of work is lacking when it comes to contest rules.

It’s frustrating because entering contests gives a different insight into my work and can lead to better things in the future: the notice of editors and publishers, because they might want to see more work, or because a critique that I received during a contest helped flesh out and improve the writing.

I’ve entered two contests, since my writing journey began in 2008, the Lone Star Writing Competition and the RWA’s Golden Heart Awards contest. Recently, I found the Writer’s Digest Annual Writing Competition, which I really want to submit to, but the problem is I don’t have a piece that is 4000 words or less and the deadline to have something done is May 1st.

Pushing my frustration away, I ask myself, what can I do to be ready for contests matching my goal to become a published romance author? The answer is simple. Research. To prepare, I have to think ahead a year. First, I need to find contests that are appropriate for my goal. Second, I need to read the rules. Third, I need to plan a strategy for the upcoming “contest circuit” in the following year. Finding contests for completed work is ideal, but I also want to expand my project list. In considering contests, I don’t want to sacrifice works in progress, I want to add titles that relate and meet contest criteria.

Usually when browsing the internet for contests, it is spur of the moment, which doesn’t help. Without planning, I’m just going to be racing to try to catch elusive deadlines that are already too close to meet.

Therefore, looking into the future, here’s what is on my agenda:

  1. Find contests that coincide with my goals.
  2. Prepare a schedule of writing and editing to meet the rules for each competition, without compromising what I’m currently working on.
  3. Submit to at least three contests each year.
  4. Make entering contests a habit.

Here are some reasons why writing contests are important to me. As with any type of business, I have to meet deadlines and contests have deadlines. Plus, judges in most contests, rate and/or critique work. So, if I have something to improve on, and I didn’t place, I can dig back into the work. I can make it shine with the proper luster, and resubmit to another contest or go the agent/publisher angle.

As luck would have it, I recently came across a contest whose deadline was on April 30: The Maggie Awards. I met the rule requirements, so submitted my manuscript. There will be a critique. I hope that something will come of it. In the event that it doesn’t I will keep moving forward with my writing, enjoying each story as it unfolds watching my hero’s and heroine’s come to life on each page.

What writing contests have you entered in the past year? If you need some help, finding what is right for you, just Google “writing contests 2015” or below you can hit the links of some I found while doing my own investigating:

 

Help Wanted – First Sentence

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Look, my old friend, my opening sentence . . . things are not working out. The other sentences are having to work overtime to make up for you. You’re not doing your share of the work, and your fit with the rest of the story is not what I expected. I thought you were the one. But I’ve changed and you are . . . still the same bunch of words I wrote last year. I’m sorry, but you have to go. You’re deleted.

Help Wanted: New first sentence needed in short story. Must be a team player, innovative, hard working, and dependable. Preferred applicants will have experience in attention grabbing, mood creation, and innuendo. Relocation possible.

A first sentence creates curiosity. In a short story, the writer wastes no time and no words delivering the beginning of the story. The main character incurs conflict almost immediately and begins in the action or mood of the piece. First sentences can deceive to intrigue the reader. Others warn of impending troubles. Point of view and narrative distance add richness and texture to the story and the voice of the writer. The theme is almost tangible in the first paragraph if not the very first sentence.

When I need a new sentence, I reference my favorite openers. Why does the sentence work? What is the unanswered question? Do words like beautiful, murderous and homeless lure readers? Can a sparse statement say more than a long sentence? How does Wolfe or Faulkner paint broad brushstrokes of the scene’s details? The collection below of short and long sentences demonstrates the magic of a powerful opening line.

“It seemed to Myop as she skipped lightly from her house to pigpen to smokehouse that the days had never been as beautiful as these.” — Alice Walker, “Flowers”

“One day you have a home and the next you don’t, but I’m not going to tell you my particular reasons for being homeless, because it is my secret story, and Indians have to work hard to keep secrets from hungry white folks.” — Sherman Alexie, “What You Pawn, I Will Redeem”

“In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits.” — John Updike, “A&P”

“Anders couldn’t get to the bank until just before it closed, so of course the line was endless and he got stuck behind two women whose loud, stupid conversation put him in a murderous temper.” — Tobias Wolfe, “Bullet in the Brain”

“‘Tell me things I won’t mind forgetting,’ she said.” — Amy Hempel, “In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried”

“Bill and Arlene Miller were a happy couple.” Raymond Carver, “Neighbors”

“As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect.” — Franz Kafka, “The Metamorphosis”

“They discovered the first one in a cupboard above the stove, beside an unopened bottle of malt vinegar.” — Jhumpa Lahiri, “This Blessed House”

“When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old manservant – a combined gardener and cook – had seen in at least ten years.” — William Faulkner, “A Rose For Emily”

“Do not go outside.” — Ander Monson, “To Reduce Your Likelihood of Murder”

“The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge.” — Edgar Allan Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado”

“On the third day of rain they had killed so many crabs inside the house that Pelayo had to cross his drenched courtyard and throw them into the sea, because the newborn child had a temperature all night and they thought it was due to the stench.” — Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”

After reading successful first sentences, I interview several job applicants for my new first sentence. I try each one in the vacant space at the beginning of my story. The new sentences are so eager to please, changing to fit with the rest of the piece. Then, one sentence works harder than the rest.

Applying for the open position? Your application says you’re flexible with change. Good, my edits might move or change you. You might not even recognize yourself when I’m finished. Here’s where you will work. Sit down. Try it out. Think you can do the job?

 

What Have You Learned from Reading?

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For me, reading is an adventure, which sometimes extends beyond the pages of the books I select. You never know what you can learn from a book of fiction.

I met Mary Higgins Clark at a Book and Author’s Luncheon after reading her second book, a mystery, Where Are the Children? From the story, I learned that an unnoticed child’s shoe was one clue to an unsolved crime. Clark is great at dropping seemingly insignificant clues that the protagonist misses early in the story. This soft spoken, petite author, who didn’t seem like the type of person to “commit murder” even in a novel, encouraged me to pursue my dream of writing.

After reading the first line of Dr. Bertice Berry’s steamy novel, Jim & Louella’s Homemade Heart-Fix Remedy, I promptly purchased her book. Written with folksy humor, the book tells the story of the boring love life of an elderly couple who are helped by Louella’s departed ancestors. Jim and Louella’s improved love life also gives them intuitive powers to help their neighbors with their various troubles. Dr. Berry, a sociologist, inspirational speaker, and author also encouraged my aspirations of writing.

Lee E. Meadows discussed the plot of his Silent Conspiracy, a Lincoln Keller Mystery, at a mystery writers’ workshop. In 1955, the Sentiments, a fictional rhythm and blues singing group disappeared without a trace after a gig in Detroit. The five men haven’t been seen since and Lincoln Keller, a private eye, has been hired to find out what happened to those five men forty years ago. Meadows, while on a book tour, discovered that the real-life disappearance of a singing group happened in another state. Life can be as strange as fiction.

Sometimes reading a book in public leads to dialogues with strangers. We may exchange quick reviews of books and offer suggestions on other book titles and authors to read.

At an airport, a man saw me looking at the book he was reading and asked if I liked mysteries. That’s how I discovered Harlan Coben books, which are intricately plotted, well-crafted mysteries.

While waiting for a lacrosse game to begin, I sat in the stands reading Elmore Leonard’s short stories, A Fire in the Hole. My husband officiates lacrosse, so I arrive early with him and use that time to get in about thirty minutes of reading. A pleasant, soft spoken woman sat next to me and asked if I liked the book.

“Yes, I do.” I said. “This is a collection of Elmore Leonard’s short stories. I like to write and wanted to study his style of short story writing.”

“I’m glad you like it. I’m Elmore Leonard’s daughter,” she said with a smile. “Have you read my father’s 10 rules of writing?”

I promised to check it out. There are so many rules to good writing, that I thought it wouldn’t hurt to check out what he thought was important. Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing were evident in his writing style.

Have you met any authors or learned any useful tidbits from your reading?

 

 

 

 

A Tale of 3 Bookstores in Seoul–Part Three

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Kyobo Books

교보문고 광화문점

South Korea, 서울특별시 Jongno-gu, Jong-ro, 1

This has been a fun trip for me to relive the experiences I had visiting these three bookstores in Seoul, South Korea. With one more to share, I’m hopeful to return to them someday and spend more time. If you get there before me, please send pictures of the stores, and you’re favorite books in Korean. Would love to hear other’s experiences at these places, and recommendations for other bookstores in the area that one should visit.

The third bookstore, Kyobo Book, was the furthest walk, approximately 3 blocks from the subway, which in the downtown area, street blocks are long. There are several vendors in small structures, selling magazines, food, maps, and other items that you might find useful in an urban area. I almost did not find the last location. The first person I asked for help, one of the vendors, only spoke Korean, and I only knew a few words. Need to brush up for any future trips. I showed the name of the store on the map, but she could not help. She called on someone else on the street to help, but no luck there. A pair of police officers pointed me in the right direction: 30 yards away, stairs went down. From a distance, one would not know there were stairs. Below was the store logo. Glass doors opened into what can be best described as a mall. Rows of books, jewelry, technology, clothing, food court, and…did I mention books. The space was larger than the other stores. There was much activity and merchandise that it would take hours to fully appreciate it all.

The English Language section was expansive enough to compete with a small bookstore in the US. It was in this store that I purchased my keepsake: The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien, in Korean. Like the stores previously shared in posts, the store was well organized and pristine. This store had a feel of elegance beyond the other stores that from my experience is only rivaled by Books Kinokuniya in Sydney Australia (a future post). The place is only one level, but expansive. It’s the place to take your family and friends where they can find something to do while you peruse the books to your heart’s content. Get a coffee drink, a snack, or meal while passing the time with a book, as your partner is shopping for clothes, jewelry, or any of the other many options that this store provides. I’m sure there are other stores like this one and the other two in the world. I hope to have the opportunity to share those with you some day.