Category: Contests

The Shortlist is Out And I'm On It

4/9/2016

Ontario Writers' Conference Story Starter Finalists Are In!

Yesterday, the Ontario Writers' Conference Announced the 2016 Shortlist. My name was on it! Yay!

The Story Starters judge — Canadian author, teacher, poet James Dewar — had an even tougher job than in previous years. This year, there were 64 long-listed pieces (submitted between September 1 and February 29) – about 268 entries in all! From those 64 long-listed pieces, James selected the following writers who should be commended for their talent, bravery and unique ability to discover a story within another artist's creation.

The 2016 Story Starters Contest finalists are:

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Write to Win

1/12/2015

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Remember Resolution #8?

8.) Write more short stories (not just novels) and submit them to contests. You can’t win if you don’t enter the contest. You need a publication resume. Apparently. This is the perfect way to accomplish that task. ~ Lori Twining

To see all my 10 Writing Resolutions For This Year, go HERE.

Conquering Resolution #8

Grey-Bruce County snowstorm

In order to write more short stories, I decided I needed to learn how to write them properly. If I'm going to enter these short story writing contests, I want to win. I don't want to be throwing my money out the window (yes, most contests have a fee, so hopefully, you have another job, besides being a writer, so you can pay your entry fee).

How do I go about winning a writing contest?

Obviously, I should seek advice from the best: Ruth E. Walker and Dorothea Helms (a.k.a. The Writing Fairy). These two amazing ladies created the "Write To Win Workshop". So, I drove through a heavy Grey-Bruce County snowstorm on Saturday, all the way to Trent University in Oshawa, for a five-hour workshop, that offered many tips and secrets on how to write contest-winning fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

Was it worth my time?

You betcha! I learned quite a few things. Lots of secret things. Things I'm not willing to share with you, because, quite honestly, why should I? Remember, I want to win the contest, so if I told you everything that these two ladies told me, then, I would have too much competition. Can't have that now, can we? Because I want to win.

Although, I will share a few reasons why you should take the workshop too.

Top 10 Reasons To Take the "Write To Win Workshop":

You will find out all the secrets and tips about writing a winning short story.
You will meet new writing friends, which becomes important if you are a writer.
You will learn how it feels to be a judge, receiving a huge pile of submissions and trying to determine what entry should win first or second prize, or whether it is worthy of an award at all.
You will be forced to try something new in your writing, and you may be surprised that you actually like it!
You will understand why your contest submission was thrown in the garbage before anyone read beyond the first line or paragraph.
You will realize that entering contests makes you work to a deadline, and in turn, it makes you write MORE!
You will create an author bio, which will make you look at your accomplishments and decide how to promote yourself to the world. Do you bore people to death with your lengthy resume? Or do you add some personality to it and make people think or make them laugh? Your choice... but the workshop helps you decide.
You will get truthful feedback on your writing. This is a valuable asset for any writer.
You will find INSPIRATION and MOTIVATION to continue to write your short story.
You will find the COURAGE to submit your work to a writing contest.

Not only do I know the secrets to writing a winning story now, but I am now working on a new short story, that never would have been created before taking this course. I'm writing a Western! How weird is that?

Plus, I won one of their many small contests... I won a new book to read! I am now reading Living Underground by Ruth E. Walker. You know how much I love books, so yes, Saturday was a great day for me!

If you are interested in other writing workshops, visit Writescape.