Write a scene where two characters of different backgrounds (think Romeo and Juliet) fall in love at first sight.
Write for fifteen minutes. When you’re finished, share your practice in the comments section. And if you share, be sure to leave feedback for a few other writers.
In my creative writing classes in college, probably the most productive exercise is when we spent the class reading each other’s pieces. Reading the work of your peers causes you to ask two very important questions:
Reading the work of your peers teaches you to write. It shows you what you like about other people’s work and what you don’t like. You can read published authors too, you can read the classics, but there’s something about reading an in process draft of your peers that helps you see behind the veil of writing at the underlying framework beneath.
Once a month, we stop practicing and invite you to show off your best work.
Are you interested in being published (in print)? Would you like to get better at the writing craft by working with an editor? Do you enjoy a little friendly competition? And are you a fan of The Write Practice?
Then this writing contest might be for you.
Well, the time has come to once again pick a winner of this month’s writing competition. I’m never sure how to do this, this announcing the winner thing. I’d like to console everyone who didn’t win, hold their hands and say, “You’re still a good writer. Don’t worry.” But compassion often looks like pity and who wants to be pitied.
Sometimes it’s better to just get it over with.
Submissions for the Show Off Writing Contest: Spring Edition are now closed.
What I’ve learned from these contests is that we have to practice submitting our writing just as we practice creating it. Submitting is not easy. It’s painful, scary. You feel vulnerable when you do it. I like what Christy said, “I have been reading The Write Practice for months but have not had the courage to submit anything until now.”
I think the biggest winners of this contest are those of you who have never entered anything before. Now, you can say you have. You took a shot at something. Even if you don’t win, you’ve practiced taking a risk on the chance you might. That’s a valuable thing to learn.
