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.
This short story by Bob Vander Lugt won our “America Is…” Show Off Contest. Bob writes short fiction and lives in Michigan.
One hallmark of nearly every great writer through history is that they supported, and were supported by, a larger community of writers. I hope you show Bob the full support of The Write Practice community by reading and sharing this story. I’m honored to publish it here. Enjoy!
Most people are their most creative when they’re not creating.
Bob Dylan wrote the chorus for “Like a Rolling Story” after he quit music. Hemingway wouldn’t allow himself to think about his novels when he wasn’t writing because he wanted his subconscious to work on it without him. One screenwriter had been blocked for months, when he was woken up by the sound of an imaginary woman’s voice. He started writing, and the screenplay ended up winning Academy Award. Twice in the last two years, I’ve gotten to a point in a project that I was so frustrated I wanted to quit writing. Both times, a break through came just a little while later while I wasn’t working.
Metaphor is a speeding train, pulling readers down the tracks of your story.
Simile, on the other hand, goes down easy like a glass of iced tea, but it’s forgettable like the canned lines in a greeting card.
Are you making full use of the power of metaphor in your writing? Or are you leaning on simile?
Just a reminder, if you didn’t win this writing contest it doesn’t mean:
You are a writer if you choose to be one. You are good because you practice by writing hundreds of pieces like the one you submitted to this contest. And your words are powerful things.
