Anyone Saving Their Best For Later? -- Strategy

zeprosnepsid said:

Did everyone just put their best piece in the audition? Or did anyone hold out in case they made it to the top 10? Any strategy going into this thing? (Like bribing the judges!) How did you approach the word count issue? Anyone write something specifically for the contest?

how did you choose your piece?

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Hi Zepro. The piece I entered ("Nobody Loves Me Better") is something that recently received recognition from a national organization of markets like the one that published it about a year ago. So I would say that I haven't held out at all. My strategy was to submit the best thing I have. No, I didn't write something special for the contest. The piece was 696 in its original form and the word limit helped narrow possible entry choices.

How'd I figure out what was the best thing I had to submit? This piece had external recognition, flowed like an Amazon rainfall when I wrote it and, when someone tells me that my work made them laugh and cry at the same time, then I know it did what I wanted it to - convey and evoke emotion. That's usually a good sign I think.

Knowing that Jenna and/or the judges (I'm not sure who) will be setting themes as the weeks progress, I figured I'd take it one competition at a time, so to speak. And, if I get to move on to the next phase, I imagine that's what I'll keep doing - just submitting the best I have that meets the basic rules.

I can tell you, I'm terrified to have to write in some categories!! But fear can be a GREAT motivator!

Good luck to you.

I used one of my poems that I especially like and that had already been published, so as not to mess up first rights on anything I'd already written. I'll take my chances on future rounds, if I get that far.

And as for saving the best for later:

"One of the few things I know about writing is this: Spend it all, shoot it,
play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good
for a later place in the book, or for another book, give it, give it all, give
it now ... Some more will arise for later, something better. These things fill
from behind, from beneath, like well water. Similarly, the impulse to keep to
yourself what you have learned is not only shameful, it is destructive.
Anything you do not give freely and abundantly becomes lost to you. You open your safe and find ashes." --Annie Dillard

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Well, back when I entered there weren't any prizes yet so I was just entering for the fun factor without any strategy (there was a lot less competition back then too!yikes!). I don't have anything 700 words or less and didn't want to do an excerpt so I thought up something that I could excecute in a very short flash piece and tried to have a little fun with it. I really don't think I'll survive the first cut so haven't really thought about how I'd handle the competition from that point if I did. It's been a good writing excercise for me already, and I've found myself producing a couple new works and getting into the swing of submitting again.

Hi Mommie 4a,

I entered a short piece titled, Sea Cameo. For all but the title of our pieces, I could have written your exact post---I submitted a piece that has just received national recognition too. But, going forward, well I think you said it all . . . "I'm terrified to have to write in some categories!! But fear can be a GREAT motivator!"

Ditto. National recognition aside, we are only as good as our next piece. When it comes to facing a blank page, all writers are equal.

Good luck and kudo's for your honest and heartfelt post,

I, too, entered a previously published piece, one that had received positive feedback and had a good hook. Only problem: that the whole piece was (is) 3000 words :Smack:

I started at the beginning and picked what I thought was a good out; I had to trim about 40 words, so I began with adverbs and moved along from there. I hadn't looked at the piece in a couple of years, and I was relieved to find that it wasn't too difficult to cut. If anything, I probably could've made it a little tighter.

I considered entering an excerpt from the manuscript I just finished, which is technically better-written. I couldn't find a good stand-alone 700 words, though.

About the weekly component: I gather the top 10 will be getting assignments (poetry, magic realism, nonfiction, children's...), so holding back doesn't make much sense. What I submitted is a fair sample of my ability, so if I make it to the finals, I have to trust that I can match or exceed that level. Easier said than done

As someone else pointed out, fear is a great motivator. The level of competition here - the level of talent - has me on my toes. Or fingertips, as it were.

Cheers, and good luck to all,
-Sarah

I grabbed one of the short-shorts I wrote for fun. I doubt it'll make the top ten, but it's a neat little tale. I could have put in a snippet from my novel, but hey, I used the one I used and by gum, I'm going to let the little tale stand on its own.

Strategy?! I knew I'd forgotten something...:Smack:
Can someone lend me one?

Trapped in amber said:

Strategy?! I knew I'd forgotten something...:Smack:
Can someone lend me one?

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Sure. You can have mine.

I am an expert in strategery.



Brady H.

BradyH1861 said:

Sure. You can have mine.

I am an expert in strategery.



Brady H.

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Is it a cunning strategy? Is it legal? How much are you charging?

Trapped in amber said:

Is it a cunning strategy? Is it legal? How much are you charging?

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It is indeed cunning. As far as the legality goes......all things are legal unless you get caught.

(" I have no idea how that got there.")


Brady H.

I entered just for fun, from my WIP and what I had in front of me. I am thinking I should have waited and entered something else--but oh well.

Shawn

SRHowen said:

I entered just for fun, from my WIP and what I had in front of me. I am thinking I should have waited and entered something else--but oh well.

Shawn

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I did the same thing, and now I'm also wondering.

SRHowen said:

I entered just for fun, from my WIP and what I had in front of me. I am thinking I should have waited and entered something else--but oh well.

Shawn

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Me too, and I was focusing on story, rather than pretty words, but never mind. I still see it all as a bit of fun.

Strategy?! I knew I'd forgotten something...:Smack:

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Ha! I have a really good one. I'm going to have all the little kiddies who like my poem make their mommies and daddies vote for me. So there!


See, I submitted a kid's story. So it...oh, never mind.

Julie Worth said:

Since I was submitting from a novel, the only thing I thought about was finding something that could stand on its own, without being too confusing.

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Same here...fortunately, there was a good cutoff under the word count limit in my first chapter. At least I thought it was pretty good at standing on its own.

Shawn said:

I entered just for fun, from my WIP and what I had in front of me. I am thinking I should have waited and entered something else--but oh well.

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I entered just for fun to begin with, and I'm not going to try second-guessing myself...I have no expectations of being one of the ten best writers on this site...but it gave me something to shoot for, and heck, it's kicked my butt into gear in my other writing endeavors...so that much has been a positive, at least.

I knew "Mad World" was my best work to date, and from there, I just tried to pick the most powerful scene that was also the least confusing...Sure, I'm sure it would have better if I could have included the context, but I thought it was fine even without the context.

I too entered for fun. And so far I have not been disappointed. Unfortunately, I have not been previously published. Those that entered off of published material are very lucky. They already know their work is good! Kudos and congrats to all of them. I wish them the best.

Even though what I submitted probably cannot stand on its own, I submitted a piece (though heavily edited) I thought would make the reader want to continue, or at least ask themselves why. This manuscript is complete and is in the process of being edited as we speak. It was put out to a test market of twenty people (Author's name withheld) and got an excellent response. So for that reason I felt a piece from this work might stand a chance even though I realize it is probably more of a commercial value rather than aesthetic. Now I'm not so sure.

At this point I'm just hoping to be involved in the discussion. The next time I believe I will think before I leap.

mistri said:

I was focusing on story, rather than pretty words

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I'm not one of the judges, but without story, pretty words mean nothing. And sometimes they can take away from the impact of a story. So stick with the story thing. (2 cents Canadian isn't worth very much, but there it is.)

-Sarah

I submitted one the few pieces I had that fit in the word count.

I submitted a poem that had been previously published (Apex Digest Online #2). It fit the word count. Probably not my best, but it was there, handy. I just noticed that the font changes mysteriously halfway through. Oh well, with the extremely talented competition here, there will be no shame in not making the finals.diana

I didn't save anything for later. I mean, I have other works, but they probably won't be hauled out for later, as I'd rather write something new for the contest. I also kind of got the impression that in later weeks there would be themes, so in that case, I would be likely writing from scratch.

As for how I picked my piece: It's a short piece, slightly over 400 words, but I felt those 400 words were used well and more efficiently than some of my more descriptive works. Setting is established pretty quickly, various characters are introduced or mentioned, and a conflict is already being set up and alluded to. Granted, we don't yet know who the opening narrator is, but we can make some guesses based on the information given. And the snippet itself was rather fun to write.

As mentioned before, I have other stories--but one of my besetting sins (or so I feel) as a writer is that I don't often use words as sparingly or as efficiently as I could. I have short stories which have somehow ballooned up to 10,000 words and shown no sign of stopping. They keep trying to turn into novellas, but frankly, I feel that the shorter form would actually lend them more impact. Sometimes I have NO idea where the story is going. I have a chapter in one of my books that turned into an entire chapter's worth of exposition, and while it is good for me to know that information, I'm not sure it's good for the characters or the readers to have it so baldly spelled out. So I picked this piece because I think it worked well on an efficiency level.