So, I entered my first writing contest this week. I found out about it through one of my critique group members. It was #PBParty sponsored by Michelle Hauck and Sharon Chriscoe.
I entered a story that I had written in my third week of the 52 First Drafts Project. The story had gone through my critique group and been rewritten and refined many times. It was ready to see the sun.
Authors had the opportunity to submit a query and first 50 words of a picture book. These were reviewed by Michelle and Sharon. Their top 21 were displayed on Michelle’s blog so they could be seen by agents and editors. The process took about a week. This is where the party part of #PBParty came in. Many of the participants gathered each day on Twitter to exchange ideas, wait for contest updates and offer each other support.
How did I do? Well, I was not chosen as one of the top 21.
Was I disappointed? A little. I’m pretty good with rejection having been an actor for so many years, but it’s still nice to be recognized for your hard work and ideas. I’m not saying I deserved it more than anyone else. The top 21 were terrific and I’m sure that everyone who entered worked just as hard and believed in their manuscripts.
Even without being selected, I learned many things.
1. As children’s book writers, we belong to an incredible community. The enthusiasm and support that poured out of the participants, tweet after tweet, was heart warming and inspiring. It made me want to write more, and participate more.
2. There are amazing, dedicated people out there like Michelle and Sharon who truly want success for all of us. This contest was not about competition, but support.
3. Agents aren’t that scary. Ha. Being a fairly new writer, I’m just in the very beginning stages of looking for agents. Taking the time to read about some of these agents, and looking at their comments during the party put me at easy. They show themselves to be very supportive members of this community.
4. I learned to use Twitter. I had an account, but I never touched it. Now I follow a few people, make my own voice heard, and have even use it as a tool to look up folks in the industry.
5. The query. I’m not disappointed with mine. It says what it needs to, but in reading some of the others, I have gotten ideas to make mine even stronger.
6. The first 50 words. This was a fantastic exercise I will use with all of my stories. When you put only you first 50 words out there with nothing to back them up, they have to be good. Mine should have been great in the first place, but his made me look at my story fresh and improve upon it.
7. Consider what the contest asks for. I am happy with my first 50 and with my query. I didn’t consider, however, how to effectively use them together. Mine both kind of said the same thing. A missed opportunity to offer more information. Next time.
8. My work is good. After reading the final 21, I didn’t feel intimidated. My thought was that I was on the right track. Persistence! I plan to keep my eye out for more of these contests.
By the way, I have reached week 30! My 30th first draft was tricky, I had an idea (More a concept) that I loved. I wrote it out and found it had a major flaw. I rethought it and rewrote it only to have a whole new set of problems. The idea is still good. I need to let it rest, then come back to it fresh. Maybe much later.