A Writing Competition

Yesterday, I was thrilled to read on my fellow writer, and Positive Words subscriber and contributor, Julie’s blog http://allpoetryandcreativewriting.wordpress.com/ , that she has won the FAWQ Poetry Competition 2012. Congratulations!

Julie is understandably excited ‘if we keep writing it really can happen, hey??’ YES 🙂

I should add that Julie was also the Equal Second Prize winner in the 2011 Positive Words Short Story & Poetry Competition 🙂  I’m glad she’s continuing the great work.

It’s easy to feel like giving up after countless rejections (or worse, no reply), and not even a mention on the competition winners lists but keep trying, keep submitting, keep entering and one day it could be you saying it really can happen!

In 2003, I won a short story competition for the first time. I was tutoring a group at the Traralgon Neighbourhood House and many of us had sent entries to the Yarram Community Learning Centre Short Story & Poetry Competition. 

The day before the presentation to announce the winners, the co-ordinator at TNH (Jenny Poon) came into the group and asked me to attend as their representative on the day, as she was ‘busy’. Our group had visited the Yarram group previously, spending a wonderful day writing, swapping experiences and enjoying the scrumptious lunch they provided, so I looked forward to a wonderful afternoon catching up with some lovely friends.

One of our group members, Bob, offered to drive me and we happily set off on a perfect sunny day. As always, we received a wonderful welcome from the Yarram group and chatted until it was time to announce the winners. I scanned the faces, wondering who would be lucky then realised Dana, the co-ordinator, was looking at me…and that was my name!

At last, said Bob, beside me. It’s been so hard keeping it secret all the way over here! My wonderful friends at Yarram and Traralgon had cooked up the story about attending to make sure I came. I was over-the-moon but there was another surprise, one Bob didn’t know about – I also won second prize in the Poetry section.

But there was a downside 😦 The Yarram group always put on the most amazing spread – homemade cakes and slices etc, all worthy of prizes, but I was so stunned I couldn’t eat a bite!

That win changed my life in a number of ways; charged with confidence I made some long-overdue changes…but that’s another story!

The Annual Yarram Community Learning Centre Short Story & Poetry Competition is on again, so why not enter? You can find details at www.yclc.com.au

And, if you live close enough…go to the presentation. Great food. Great company. What more could you ask for?

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Encouraging Young Writers

Today’s writing prompt…

No…these are not my trophies 😦  they belong to my youngest son who started Gymnastics at a young age along with his sister and one of his brothers. The boys (young men) still coach new young gymnasts. Gymnastics was great for my children and I’d recommend it for any active youngster and even the not-so-active as it is terrific for co-ordination.

But children need encouragement in anything they do…a few years ago I received a letter from a proud Grandmother who told me what a huge boost having his poem published was to her grandson. Apparently, the rest of his siblings, and many of his school friends, had made great achievements in their sporting pursuits and he often felt left out. The eight-year-old got his chance to shine when his copy of Positive Words arrived and he took it to school for show-and-tell.

If you know of a budding young writer, encourage them as much as you can. Submissions are always welcome…Positive Words magazine, PO Box 798, Heathcote 3523, Victoria, Australia. (see full details at right)

Spreading Good News :)

I’ve had two letters and one email in the past two days from readers telling me they enjoyed particular pieces (all different) of writing in the April issue. One of the letters contained a separate letter for me to pass on to the author and for the other two I’ve sent email messages to let the writers know about the responses.

It feels wonderful to be able to pass on sincere words of appreciation and I know the recipients will be thrilled to hear that their words touched another person.

For me, it is also wonderful feedback knowing I’ve chosen some worthy pieces to include in the magazine 🙂

Keep the feedback rolling in – it’s the very best kind of encouragement you can give your fellow writers!