Hey everyone, M here!
I told you earlier that I'd keep you updated on how I did in the short story contest I entered, so....................I WON! I'm really excited because my story will be published in the local newspaper and I get to go to a special banquet dinner this summer. Plus, I get a big bag of books!
This contest has been such a great writing experience for me. I started out with a good concept and worked very hard to revise my work before submitting. I really proved to myself that if I work hard and follow through, great things can happen. I suggest that everyone enter contests because who knows? You might win!
Here are the steps I took when writing my short story:
1. Come up with an idea. This step is a must for every story, for obvious reasons. Finding your idea can be as simple as listening to things people say in your everday life.
2. Write the first draft of your story. I wrote the first draft of my story in one sitting. It didn't take long, but the first draft was pretty messy.
3. Revise. I went through and cleaned up as many mistakes as I could see and improved language here and there. I also tightened up the plot by adding extra details.
4. Find a trusted friend to read your work. My first reader picked out all the parts that they thought I could improve on or that were confusing.
5. Repeat Step 4. I repeated step 4 countless times. It was an involved process, but it paid off in the end.
6. Have your family read your work. My family pointed out things they thought were confusing and I fixed them up.
7. Copy edit. I went over my story several more times and checked for grammar and punctuation errors.
8. Submit. I submitted it to the contest! Make sure when you do this that you follow all the rules, including the word count, the genre, and the number of copies you need to submit.
Last friday night, a woman from the contest called me to tell me that I'd won. It kind of felt like I was in a dream. At first I was even afraid to tell people because I thought it was all in my head - seriously, it's a crazy feeling, you can comprehend it until you experience it. Basically, I screamed for a little while and then called my family and the other group members to tell them the news.
So, find a contest in your area, and enter it...you never know how it will turn out!
Happy Writing,
-M
I told you earlier that I'd keep you updated on how I did in the short story contest I entered, so....................I WON! I'm really excited because my story will be published in the local newspaper and I get to go to a special banquet dinner this summer. Plus, I get a big bag of books!
This contest has been such a great writing experience for me. I started out with a good concept and worked very hard to revise my work before submitting. I really proved to myself that if I work hard and follow through, great things can happen. I suggest that everyone enter contests because who knows? You might win!
Here are the steps I took when writing my short story:
1. Come up with an idea. This step is a must for every story, for obvious reasons. Finding your idea can be as simple as listening to things people say in your everday life.
2. Write the first draft of your story. I wrote the first draft of my story in one sitting. It didn't take long, but the first draft was pretty messy.
3. Revise. I went through and cleaned up as many mistakes as I could see and improved language here and there. I also tightened up the plot by adding extra details.
4. Find a trusted friend to read your work. My first reader picked out all the parts that they thought I could improve on or that were confusing.
5. Repeat Step 4. I repeated step 4 countless times. It was an involved process, but it paid off in the end.
6. Have your family read your work. My family pointed out things they thought were confusing and I fixed them up.
7. Copy edit. I went over my story several more times and checked for grammar and punctuation errors.
8. Submit. I submitted it to the contest! Make sure when you do this that you follow all the rules, including the word count, the genre, and the number of copies you need to submit.
Last friday night, a woman from the contest called me to tell me that I'd won. It kind of felt like I was in a dream. At first I was even afraid to tell people because I thought it was all in my head - seriously, it's a crazy feeling, you can comprehend it until you experience it. Basically, I screamed for a little while and then called my family and the other group members to tell them the news.
So, find a contest in your area, and enter it...you never know how it will turn out!
Happy Writing,
-M
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