Published Update Marco Polo 100 X 100

This entry started as a contest for the now defunct 100 words or fewer. And then it became another case of when losers become winners.

I resubmitted a slightly modified version and made it to Marco Polo Online Literary Arts Magazine

See it here:

Year End Review 2012

I had a lot of fun this year entering various competitions and I know I grew a lot as a writer. To recap:

• I came up just short of 52 contest entries (counting over half from the Writer's Digest Poetic Asides Poem A Day Challenge)
• Just over half of my prose entries were flash fiction.
• I tried eleven different contest sponsors: Midway Literary Journal, The First Line, Switchback, Creative Competitor, Fan Story, Writer's Digest, 100 Words or Fewer, On the Premises, Writer's Weekly,  Kazka Press, and finally I'm submitting to Writer's Village and the Society of Actuaries Speculative Fiction contest.
• I haven't won any major contests, just a minor headline contest.  My prize was a nice resource for writers. However...
• I had a couple journals accept my work for publication: The Binnacle accepted The Butler's Waltz, Marco Polo accepted The Open Box, From The Depths accepted a 13 word horror story, and Underwater New York accepted a handful of flashes.
• Finally I wrote a bunch of articles I'm very proud of and I hope you find them useful.

My favorite contest sponsor this year is Writer's Weekly.  They offer a seasonal contest where writers have 24 hours to bang out a short story.  They limit the number of entries to 500 writers.  Lastly, there are tons of prizes.

My favorite piece of writing this year was: The Intricacies of Cherry Cola.  And while it might not be a winner (yet), I've revised it once and I look forward to revising it again for future competitions.

On top of the work on the blog an with contest entries, I've finished the first draft of my first novel and that feels good from a personal perspective.

Hopefully you had just as fruitful of a year and will have an even better one in 2013.  I know I'm looking forward to it.  On New Year's I'll be posting my goals for writing competitions and we'll see how it all shakes out.

Published Work! From the Depths 13 word story

A 13 word story by yours truly can now be found in the latest issue (Free!) of From the Depths by Haunted Water Press.

Page 42 has me listed among other 13 word horror stories

Some great reads in this journal for this spooky time of year.

When Losers Become Winners

Just because you lost a writing competition does not mean that your writing is complete garbage.  DO NOT throw it away and never look at it again.  You spent valuable creative energy to make the story/poem/script. So.... 

What do you do with a contest entry that didn't win?

1. Edit it one more time.  Take another look at your work.  Really scrutinize it, find that lingering word that slipped by, that rogue comma, that passive voice, etc.
2. Find a place that will publish it.  Use a resource like duotrope (I wrote about it here) and see if anyone is looking for writing of the same theme/genre/length of your piece.  You may need to tweak it here and there.  I did this and have taken two "losers" to print (although one is just online).   A modified version of "The Butler's Waltz" will be appearing in The Binnacle.  A revised version "The Open Box" will be featured on Marco Polo literary online magazine. (I'll update to actual links when published)
3. Use it for inspiration.  If you don't want to rework or re-purpose the thing, what about the story really intrigued you the most.  Was it a character, a line, a theme?  take that element and write a new story from it.
4. Enter it into another competition!  There A LOT of competitions that are open genre/open theme.  Cast a wide net and give your piece a chance.  If you believe in it, get it out there.  Just make sure you read contest policies on publication/concurrent submissions.
5. Burn it.  If indeed you are so disappointed by the work that it is too painful to read/rewrite/think about, use it as a therapeutic exercise.  Print it out.  Set it on fire.  Tear it up.  Feed it to a goat.  Whatever it is that will help you move past your loss and get on to the next competition.

Published Pieces for Underwater New York Flash Fiction

I had some pieces published online feel free to check them out.  These were written in response to a call for submissions from Underwater NY.  They try to pair writing with a photo/description of a random object that was discovered near a body of water.  All my entries were accepted, which is kind of neat (but also a little disheartening because I wonder if they actually rejected anything).  My favorite entry was the lottery ticket one.

The following items made it:
Item: A wounded seal named Gowanda
Story: Gowanda's Sacrifice - a request made to a magic seal

Item: Silicone Breasts
Story: Way To Freedom - a woman seeks redemption


Item: Doll Heads
Story: Of Dreams And Dolls - s story in three short scenes

Item: A bag of lottery tickets
Story: The Wrong Numbers  - reflections on a relationship that didn't work out.

Item: An 1897 Pocket Watch
Story: Waiting