Two days ago, I got the results of a short story contest I entered
back in February and I'm still in a state of happy surprise.
The NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge is indeed a challenge. Unlike other contests, it's a timed writing with an assigned prompt, and there are three rounds--with the alloted writing time decreasing in each round. The judges also give every writer feedback on his or her story.
Round 1 was in February. I had a week to write a fantasy story about an astronaut and a fishing trip. Having read very little fantasy and having never before written a fantasy story, I spent the first 24-48 hours of my writing week in a panic. By the end of the week, I had a story that was really more science fiction than fantasy. Only the writers of the top five stories in each category move on to Round 2, and I doubted I would be one of them--simply because I didn't nail the genre.
I was right--I didn't finish in the top 5 of my group of 32--but I did better than I expected. My story got an Honorable Mention! (That means I finished 6th, 7th, or 8th--numbers weren't assigned after 5th place.)
I do like the story a lot, so I'm not putting this one away. I'm going to revise based on the feedback I got and see if I can get it published in a sci-fi magazine somewhere. Stay tuned!
The NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge is indeed a challenge. Unlike other contests, it's a timed writing with an assigned prompt, and there are three rounds--with the alloted writing time decreasing in each round. The judges also give every writer feedback on his or her story.
Round 1 was in February. I had a week to write a fantasy story about an astronaut and a fishing trip. Having read very little fantasy and having never before written a fantasy story, I spent the first 24-48 hours of my writing week in a panic. By the end of the week, I had a story that was really more science fiction than fantasy. Only the writers of the top five stories in each category move on to Round 2, and I doubted I would be one of them--simply because I didn't nail the genre.
I was right--I didn't finish in the top 5 of my group of 32--but I did better than I expected. My story got an Honorable Mention! (That means I finished 6th, 7th, or 8th--numbers weren't assigned after 5th place.)
I do like the story a lot, so I'm not putting this one away. I'm going to revise based on the feedback I got and see if I can get it published in a sci-fi magazine somewhere. Stay tuned!