My First Writing Contest

For experience, I submitted one of my short stories to a writing contest yesterday. I was (and still am) nervous about the prospect, but my writing guru encouraged me to go for it.

First was painstakingly going over the rules and regulations. I certainly didn’t want to deter from what is required since the slightest infraction could cause an unread dismissal.

Next comes the agonizing process of choosing which child to send to slaughter. Giving up a story to my writing group is one thing, the “tough love” they dish out is okay because I know everyone well and we all try to encourage each other. But to hand one over to perfect strangers is very different. They don’t know me. They don’t know how sensitive I am. They don’t know how much I work at crafting the right phrase or selecting just the right word… or do they?

After much consideration and mulling, one of my early stories was selected. Actually, it was on the short-list because it’s a favorite of mine, but I thought one of my later ones would be more polished and “professional.”  However, my writing guru said it is one of my strongest stories and is also one of her favorites, so off it went to the digital literary gallows.

It’s from my Strangers You Know collection, stories of simple everyday people telling about what happened when their lives turned around. The one sent is about a jazz musician who went to Korea as a soldier. He came back home physically wounded and emotionally heart broken. But after his return, he discovers what really matters in life.

It’s a solid story and I hope it does well, I’ll be sure to post it when it’s all over.

Wish me luck…