On Writing

I entered the Iron Pen competition again this year (I did it in 2010), with a poem and a fictional story.  Essentially, it's a speed-writing contest.  You're given a "visual" writing prompt (a picture) and you have to come up with your submission based on that photo. 

The writing was a BLAST!  I had so much fun with the story and waiting to see where it would take me next.  I have to say, though, at first I was stumped.  The photo was not particularly inspiring.  Then I started brain-storming a bit.  First I was going to write a murder mystery, but I quickly shelved that plan.  Too many questions to answer in too few words (there's a 4000 word limit).  For a murder mystery, you have to have a victim, who has a life that led to his/her death.  You have to have a reason for the crime (I suppose it could be random, but where's the fun in that?!).  You have to have a murderer, and a connection between the two.  And it can't be obvious or the story's no fun.  Way too complicated for this contest. 

So the new story was born, out of the old one.  I thought it was really good.  And it was a crazy, wild ride, writing and seeing where the story went.  It truly had a mind of its own.  I did find myself doing a bunch of internet research, and I'd have LOVED to do more in-depth research using historical documents and the like, but at midnight on a Friday night, well, that's not possible.  I pored over maps, after rounding them up from 3 different vehicles.  I went back to National Parks brochures saved in my scrapbooking piles. 

And the story was born.

And it was good.  My neighbor did some proofing for me, since it's nearly impossible for me to do that when I was so close to it....I knew what I meant to say, so I wound up reading that on the page, whether or not those words were actually ON the page!  LOL!

Neighbor loved the story and added some crucial comments; questions left unanswered, that sort of thing. 

I turned it in. 

And I didn't win.

Disappointing, for sure.  But it wasn't about the destination.  The journey was very important for me.  I haven't been writing much in recent years.  The contest was a challenge I *almost* bailed out of at the last minute.  Simply completing the story was a victory.

And yet.

Dh thinks that the judges were looking for something specific.  The contest is in conjunction with a local arts festival, and there is a bit of an environmental leaning to it.  Dh he asked me who my audience was.  When I answered that it was your garden-variety historical fiction buff (just like myself), he pointed out that perhaps I should remember the judges. 

Which brings up something very interesting.  Do I write the story that is emerging, or do I write something I think will win?  Obviously, I chose the latter.  I was hoping that a good story would trump the (admittedly assumed) bias of the judges. 

Of course, there's always the possibility that mine was one of a number of good entries.   Perhaps it made a short list, but a few typos and at least one run-on sentence tanked me.  All things being equal, I suppose those things could've done me in.  I'm hoping that the winning entries are posted online (the author would need to give permission for that and some don't) so I can see what won.  I'm sure I can be objective....right?

It's also possible that it's not as good as I think it is.

Naaaaah!