Writing Contest Mentions
If you’re a regular to my little blip of cyberspace (do we still call it that, or is it only old people like me?), you’ll know I enter Janet Reid’s writing contests pretty much whenever she runs them. Of late, however, I’ve been expanding my horizons, and participating in other writing challenges. This is good for a number of reasons:
- Different challenge parameters force me to think in different ways.
- Different judges look for different things, again pushing my creativity.
- The more I enter, the better chance of winning.
Okay, so that third one doesn’t sound very arty, but, hey, let’s face it, contests aren’t all about art. We like winning too, don’t we? 🙂
I didn’t win any contests this past week, but my submissions got honorable or special mentions in three of them. That’s a first for me, so I’ve decided to collect them here on the blog for you:
Three Line Thursday
I’m particularly pleased with this mention because this contest is the newest to me, the challenge is tough (a 3-line piece, no more than 10 words per line, based on a photo prompt), and there are usually a lot of good entries. Here’s the prompt, my submission, and the judge’s comments (the judge was Jacqui from East Coast Ink):
[Picture by Matt Adamik]
It was only when I broke free to fly,
I realized your withered drapes and weathered frame
Were there to keep me safe.
“This poem was a close runner-up because the story it forms in the reader’s mind is just aching to be expanded—from the photograph prompt with these three lines in consideration, I now have a million questions: Was the speaker a captive? Were they an unwilling captive, or is this an unreliable narrator? Who kept them? What were they being kept safe from? This amount of story put into three lines is just excellent; you can’t help running away with the possibilities, with the assumptions drawn about the two characters, especially with the developed care the captor apparently has for the speaker.” — Judge’s Thoughts
[Here’s the original Contest Article and the Results Article]
Flash! Friday
I’ve been entering the Flash! Friday contests for a while now, and while I’ve managed to get a special mention, and even been a runner-up once, I’ve yet to win. Again, though, the entries are usually of very high caliber, so even a special mention is worth a lot. This past week, I flexed my poetry muscles (and I’m no poet), to offer a Jabberwocky parody for their ALICE IN WONDERLAND week, and I was quite pleased with the result. Here’s my entry, and the judges’ comments:
| >Title: “The Girl and the Toad” Prompts: man vs. logic/a curious girl ‘Twas Friday, and the slivey child “Where goes thee hence?” a voice said loud, “I go to find my home,” said she, “Fear not thy soul,” said warty toad, ”From neath his cloak a sword he pulled, “What dread, dread task can else it be?” “I am mere toad,” the toady said, “What words of follysome blathering spew!” And with these words she parted hence, |
Judges Comments:
V – Told in rhyme like Jabberwocky, this story is so inventive. I can picture this toad and his epic battle sword. What a strange dream!AJW – poetry is the new flash! Well, not really, but we’ve had a fair few poems in our stint as Team 8. And I for one am not complaining. This presented an entire story in rhyme and I take my hat off to the writer for that* (too clever by half). The dialogue even in rhyme chimed well – I particularly liked the line ‘What words of follysome blathering spew!’ and intend to use the line in conversation at some point this week. [[* I’ve put my hat back on to cover my forklift truck wound – otherwise it frightens the dancing playing cards and the flying mice minstrels |
[Here’s the original Contest Article and the Results Article]
Janet Reid Writing Contest
This one was pure fun. For me, it was all about 1 and 2, and not at all about 3. Even Janet’s mention was more about the theme of my entry, and not about the writing itself, which is fine (given the reason for the contest, I would have felt awkward if I’d been chosen as the winner). I’m particularly pleased I was able to write a 100-word story without using the letter “e” (except in the five words given by Janet). This wasn’t a requirement, and I wasn’t the only one to do this, but I think it raised the challenge to another level. Here’s what I came up with (check out the original contest article for some context and the complete rules):
Mandatory Words: eject, chute, plunge, gape, less
My entry:
Talk about idyllic: sipping margaritas at La Bistro, and It’s just shy of tropical outdoors. Nothing could top this.
A shout. I turn. Barbara P is glaring at Shark with hazy orbs.
“Chute yur mouth!” Shark slurs.
“No!” Barbara snaps back. “Colin‘s signing MY contract!”
Shark’s fin plunges into a bag. I gape, and grip my chair. But Shark pulls out a wad of bills and calls for wait staff. A man in black runs up.
“Twooo addishnul martinis,” says QOTKU with a grin.
“Okay. But less shouting or I’ll eject you both!”
I sigh, smiling. Post-Carkoon is good.
Here’s the results post so you can see all the runners-up and the winner (I was mentioned under “Talk about wishful thinking!”). They really are very good.
Do you enter writing contests? If so, which? Are there any you would recommend to me?
Love the Three Line Thursday example. Very evocative.
Thank you so much! 🙂