Fiction Fundamentals

Note: I took a few weeks off from this site, but during 2008 I plan to post every Monday and Friday and perhaps have guests occasionally on Wednesdays.

(It’s a new year, and spring is “contest season” for many groups, so I decided to post a guest blog I did in November for my friends from The Seekers, a blog all about contests.)

I must confess, I’m not the contest junkie that some writers are. In fact, I’ve always been a bit afraid to enter contests, so I just didn’t. It’s one thing to get a critique back from my crit partners, who love me no matter how many prepositional phrases I try to squeeze into a sentence, and quite another to throw my work before the red pens of strangers.

The first contest I entered was the 2007 American Christian Fiction Writers Genesis, and I was amazed at how well it went. The response sheets I received were informative and encouraging. I found myself nodding in agreement to things I knew were my weak points as well as a few “aha!” moments when they offered suggestions on things I’d never noticed in my writing.

Ever the all-or-nothing personality, I decided if I was going to enter a contest, I’d better do it right, so I submitted three manuscripts in three genres instead of just testing the waters with one submission. Two finaled, one placed. I was thrilled. Not only did I learn from the feedback, the fact that two of the three pieces did so well encouraged me. Maybe I CAN write fiction.

My own submissions aside, I think the biggest blessing I received from the Genesis contest was the opportunity to help others. I was shocked when a subject line in my e-mail in-box read “Invitation to Judge.” Who, me? The unpublished? Judge a fiction writing contest? Not only did I enjoy the feeling of giving back to an organization (ACFW) that has blessed me so much, I think I learned more from judging than I did from my own entries.

I was a rookie judge, so I found several online articles about contest judging and did my best to be fair but thorough. Patterns emerged in the entries I scored, so I went back to my own manuscripts and made notes of things to watch for, things to change.

Blessed by the positive experience, I immediately entered another contest. And, Lord willing, I hope to continue entering and judging contests in the future. Who knows, I may soon find myself joining the ranks of contest junkies!