I have been very good about keeping to my book revision (average of 1 chapter a day) and blogging (twice weekly, Tuesday and Thursday) schedule, but I'm going to have to deviate for a week or so. I have once again entered the Cafe Doom short story contest.
I entered it last year and it was fun so I did again this year. Cafe Doom is a Sci-fi/Fantasy publication that specializes in horror. The guidelines for the contest were that stories had to be unpublished (including online), under 3,000 words and could be of any sub/cross genre of horror as long as they were scary. I could only find a few previously unpublished stories in my arsenal that were under 3,000 words - and none of my stuff is really scary. So my story really isn't qualified, but I entered anyway.
This is why it's fun: The judging is done by the entrants. All contest entries will be posted on the website and everyone who entered is required to read every story and chose their 3 favorites (1st, 2nd and 3rd place). Last year there were 60 stories ranging from 3-12 pages and they were all unique. I mentioned this experience in a previous blog, Rejection Disclaimer.
Last year my story only got 1 third place vote, but that didn't bother me at all. There were some that didn't get any and most of the stories were incredible in some way. Even the ones I hated had some spectacular features.
Another great thing about this contest was that at least half the entrants/judges gave some kind of critique of most stories. Whether they liked or hated it they made comments to help the author. Sometimes only a sentence, sometimes several paragraphs, but most critiques were well-done and unbiased.
I was not able to critique the stories. I was too overwhelmed by the whole experience, but I did say what I loved about the 3 I chose - and choosing only 3 was hard, especially trying to place them! But it was such a fun experience that I want to try again. I will take notes and try to offer useful opinions for at least some of the stories. (And it would be nice if my story gets more than 1 pathetic vote, but I don't see how it can do worse than last year's story, which I realized was totally outclassed.)
We only have a week, starting November 1, to read and critique however many entries there are. Hopefully, the experience will give me some new insights to share in a future post.
www.jennifermballard.com
www.daylightsend.weebly.com
www.trustindarkness.weebly.com
Showing posts with label Cafe Doom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cafe Doom. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Rejection disclaimer
Anyone that has had a piece of writing rejected by an editor, publisher or agent is familiar with some form of the following statements: "Our rejection of your story is in no way a reflection on your writing", "We read a lot of great stories we are unable to take", "It might be a perfect fit for someone else".
Any and/or all these statements might be true. Or it could be that your writing sucks. This phrase used to be as pointless to me as, "This isn't right for us". Thanks to an experience I had last year, words like those above now serve as a confirmation and reminder that any rejection of my work does not mean it isn't great.
I entered a short story contest (Cafe Doom) in which all entrants had to read and judge all the contest submissions. We were to pick our top three choices for first, second and third place and provide feedback when and where we could. I have to say this was an incredible experience that all writers should participate in!
There were 60 entries, ranging from 3 to 20 pages and the stories were mainly of the fantasy/sci-fi/horror/paranormal variety. A lot of them I just hated. However, I loved a lot of them, too. Choosing the 10 I liked most was hard, cutting it down to 3 was impossible. Even among the 3 I finally settled on, it was hard to decide which I loved best.
The most difficult thing was figuring out why. Some I loved everything about. Characters, setting, writing style, plot. Some stories I loved one or more things about, but not other aspects of the work. How do you decide what facet of a story should be more important?
What I did learn first-hand from this was how hard an editor's job is. Most importantly, the statement "Our rejection of your work does not mean it isn't great" is no longer ambiguous to me. I know exactly what it means and that it is true.
www.jennifermballard.com
www.daylightsend.weebly.com
www.trustindarkness.weebly.com
Any and/or all these statements might be true. Or it could be that your writing sucks. This phrase used to be as pointless to me as, "This isn't right for us". Thanks to an experience I had last year, words like those above now serve as a confirmation and reminder that any rejection of my work does not mean it isn't great.
I entered a short story contest (Cafe Doom) in which all entrants had to read and judge all the contest submissions. We were to pick our top three choices for first, second and third place and provide feedback when and where we could. I have to say this was an incredible experience that all writers should participate in!
There were 60 entries, ranging from 3 to 20 pages and the stories were mainly of the fantasy/sci-fi/horror/paranormal variety. A lot of them I just hated. However, I loved a lot of them, too. Choosing the 10 I liked most was hard, cutting it down to 3 was impossible. Even among the 3 I finally settled on, it was hard to decide which I loved best.
The most difficult thing was figuring out why. Some I loved everything about. Characters, setting, writing style, plot. Some stories I loved one or more things about, but not other aspects of the work. How do you decide what facet of a story should be more important?
What I did learn first-hand from this was how hard an editor's job is. Most importantly, the statement "Our rejection of your work does not mean it isn't great" is no longer ambiguous to me. I know exactly what it means and that it is true.
www.jennifermballard.com
www.daylightsend.weebly.com
www.trustindarkness.weebly.com
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