28
The Wednesday my short story somehow won a local contest I forgot I entered
I submitted a 500 word piece about a guy who repairs pocket watches to a library contest in Portland on a whim and then a month later they called saying I won a $200 gift card to Powell's, has anyone else had a win come from something you almost didn't bother doing?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
parker_hall55d ago
Practical tip on this: keep a folder somewhere of all the random small pieces you write for yourself. Most of my published pieces started as rough drafts I almost deleted because they felt too simple. The pocket watch thing probably worked because you weren't trying to hit some judge's checklist, you just wrote a story that felt true to you. Set a reminder on your phone to enter three small contests every quarter, the library ones usually have no entry fees and way less competition than the big national ones.
7
brooke_murray6d ago
Oh MAN that's such a great feeling though isn't it? I had a similar thing happen with a photography contest I forgot I even entered, I just wanted to get a free print and ended up winning a whole exhibition at a local coffee shop. It's so WEIRD how the stuff you do without thinking about it too much sometimes turns out better than the things you agonize over for weeks. Like the pocket watch story probably had this authentic little voice to it because you weren't trying to impress anyone, you just wrote it for fun. Now you get to storm Powell's and grab a stack of books which is basically a perfect outcome in my book.
5