Submissions to Show Off: Winter Solstice are closed. Forty of you battled through your fear of failure and submitted something to the contest. That, in itself, is a huge accomplishment. You should be proud.
Submitting work is no easy thing. I once submitted a story to The New Yorker and labored for days to make sure every comma was in the right place, every word perfect. When I finally hit SUBMIT, it felt like my stomach crawled out of my mouth and finally quit me I was so nervous. The story didn't get chosen and I got a rejection letter to hang on my wall. This is the writing life.
You must hit SUBMIT. You must release your work into the world. All the practice in the world is worthless unless you do. As Steve Jobs said, “Real artists ship.” Forty of you proved this week you are real artists. Well done.
Now, to Business.
Photo by Duane Tate
1. Go “LIKE” Your Favorite Story
Acquisitions editors have the challenging job of choosing one manuscript out of hundreds or even thousands. Can you imagine having to say “no” to so much great writing?
Today, let's practice imagining it.
Go through and read a selection of the stories. If you want, you can start reading from the end or the middle so everyone doesn't skip over the same ones. Then, choose your favorite by clicking “LIKE” in the bottom-right corner of the post.
Your vote will add somewhat to my decision about whose story wins the contest. Let’s say 24.786% of the judging will be based on votes.
2. The Winner
The winner will be announced later this week or early next. The winner will then work with me to edit their piece to perfection (but since I don't believe in perfection, we'll just do our best to make it shine like a fresh layer of ice on the pond).
Then, the finished piece will be posted here at the end of the month day, and be included in our forthcoming Write Practice anthology.
Very exciting.
PRACTICE
Practice your acquisitions editor skills:
1. Read three or more entries from our Winter Solstice Writing Contest.
2. Vote for your favorite (by clicking the “Like” button at the bottom-right of the post).
Enjoy the stories!
That was the hardest thing I did. I’ve never submitted anything. And after I hit submit, I wanted to hide under my blankets. I still do.
Ha! Proud of you for clicking submit anyway.
i agree with kinelta. submitting is like sitting naked on the subway
I’d stand. I’m quite positive, if I were to sit my hairy cheeks down on one of those seats, I’d walk away from there pregnant. And I’m a guy.
Ew.
🙂
Are we only supposed to hit like under one story?
Yes. Technically. But it’s not the end of the world if you “liked” more than one. You just won’t get the full acquisition editor experience if you choose more than one.
I understand. It must be really hard to decide. You’ll be needing to take on “readers” like the have at the big literary magazines.
Yes, it’s hard.
Readers would be fun. Patricia, who won the contest last month is helping. She’s great.
That’s a good idea, have the winners become readers (if they have time) then you will have good writers helping you judge the contest. It would improve the resulting anthology, and help you with what must be a tedious, time-consuming and emotionally difficult task. It might also be good to have only contestants vote. I did better voting last time because I had written on the topic and was “closer” to the subject. I don’t know. It’s just a great way to get us writing and I hate for you to have to spend so much time on it. I would be worn out.
I appreciate your empathy, Marianne. Don’t worry about me, though. It’s good practice, and that’s what we’re here for, right?
Right!
What is wrong with me? I cannot get to the stories. Teach me young wise one.
Try this link, lynna:
https://thewritepractice.com/show-off-winter-solstice/
Then scroll to the comments.